Local History (Pre 1880) | Aurora Fossil Museum

History, History of Phosphate Mine, 1880 to Present, Pre-1880

Pre-settlement of the town of Aurora, the region was inhabited by Native Americans that belonged to the Algonquian ("Algonkian") linguistic family.


The Algonquian were a tidewater people who lived along the sounds and in coastal areas. A few sub-groups of the Algonquian people inhabited the area (and nearby) of what is now Aurora, were the Pamlico ("Pomouik"), Bear River (or Bay River), and Machapunga tribes.



Aurora, located in Beaufort County, North Carolina was originally called "Betty Town" and was founded on the location of a Pomouik Indian village.

The land, that is now Aurora, was owned by Christopher Gale, a lawyer and the first Chief Justice of North Carolina. Christopher Gale assisted John Lawson in the founding of Bath Towne (Bath), which lies to the north of the Pamlico River.

In 1880, Reverend William Henry Cunningham (or Cunninggim) incorporated the town of Aurora.



Images and text from:

•Algonquians of the East Coast. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1995. Print.

•Harriss, Frances L, ed. Lawson's History of North Carolina, 2nd Edition. Richmond, VA: Garrett & Massie, Inc., 1952. Print.

•Rights, Douglas L. The American Indian in North Carolina, 2nd Edition. Winston-Salem: John F.Blair, 1988. Print.

•Ross, Thomas E. American Indians in North Carolina: Geographic Interpretations. Southern Pines, NC: Karo Hollow Press, 1999. Print.

•VanCamp, Lous. Images of America: Beaufort County, North Carolina. Charleston, South Carolina: Acadia Publishing, 2000. Print.

•Ward, H.Trawick, and R.P. Stephen Davis Jr.. Time Before History: The Archaeology of North Carolina. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press, 1999. Print.

•Wetmore, Ruth Y. First on the Land: The North Carolina Indians. Winston-Salem: John F. Blair, 1975. Print.