Greensboro, North Carolina: Guilford Courthouse Battle and FW Woolworth Sit-in

Greensboro, North Carolina: Guilford Courthouse Battle and FW Woolworth Sit-in

Greensboro, North Carolina is in Northern North Carolina  Greensboro is an interesting city.  Many beautiful trees line the streets.  An important battle was fought here during the American Revolutional War on March 15, 1781   Because it is situated on the Philadelphia Wagon Road it was an important city to control the road. It was the scene of a phyrric victory by General Cornwallis’ 1,900 troops over Nathanael Greene’s 4,500 men at Guilford Courthouse, about six months before the Battle of Yorktown.  Greene lost the ground and retreated saving most of his men,  Cornwallis, however, lost twenty-five percent of his men and had to retreat to Yorktown for reinforcements, which never came.  The is the high water mark for the English in the Southern Campaign.  The courthouse is operated by the National Park System and is open for tours and visitation from 8:30 to 5:00 daily.  It is closed on New Years Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Greensboro is larger than its more famous nearby city of Winston-Salem.  Like many of the cities of NC, Greensboro is known for its textile mills.  The most famous one is Cone mills, which produced denim for the nation.  The fathers of the city welcomed all minorities, especially Jews, and so the city prospered.  Large homes and parkways dot the landscape.

Greensboro was the last capital of the Confederacy.  This distinction lasted merely five days.  But the Confederacy met its end in Greensboro.

Greensboro also was in the news during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.  FW Woolworth lunch counter was the scene of the first sit-in. Four black students sat at the lunch counter, beginning a sit-in that lasted for months. The original counter was saved and shipped to Washington, DC by the Smithsonian Institution, while renovation was done to the building.  The FW Woolworth Sit-in Museum has recently opened its door as a reminder of the sit-in and the Civil Rights Movement.