Program

Legends & Lore®

Subject

Folklore, Legend

Location

147 S Fayetteville St, Liberty, NC 27298, USA

Lat/Long

35.852364601817, -79.570295896599

Grant Recipient

Friends of the Historic Patterson Cottage, Inc.

The origin story of Liberty, N.C. has been highly contested since its founding. It is known that the town was founded in 1809, but how did it acquire such a unique name? According to local lore, the name was adopted over the course of the Revolutionary War. A stockade had been built to house prisoners near the early crossroads of what it now known as the intersection of Fayetteville St. and Raleigh Ave. After suffering heavy casualties in the Battle of Guilford Court House (1781), General Lord Cornwallis and his British Army retreated towards Yorktown, V.A. As the army fled, American prisoners were released at the crossroads and triumphantly shouted “Liberty! Liberty!”, giving the town its name.