Moss Neck, North Carolina

Moss Neck is located in west-central Robeson County.^[1] The name was coined by Native Americans to refer to a stream in the area, and it was later applied to the community after it was settled.^[2] It began as a center for turpentine distillation, though as local pine forests were depleted the industry moved south. The community remained due to the presence of a post office and a cooperage.^[3] In January 1861, the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad built a line through the village.^[4] A railway station was established, leading to a revitalization of the local community, and it became a center of Lumbee activity.^[5] It was frequented by members of the Lowry Gang during the Lowry War.^[6] In 1892, the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad proposed building a north-south line through Moss Neck, but at the opposition of a prominent citizen the line was moved a few miles west to Campbell's Mill, which shortly thereafter became Pembroke.^[7] By 1909, in addition to the railway station, the community hosted several homes, two turpentine distilleries, a water mill, a sawmill, a hotel, a post office, a school, and a Methodist church. Over the following decades, the community declined as the turpentine industry moved southward and naval stores were supplanted by steel in shipbuilding.^[8] The station at Moss Neck was eventually closed,^[9] and other business migrated to Pembroke. In the 1920s the Methodist church was disassembled and rebuilt in Pembroke. By 1949, the town was largely deserted.^[8]