City of High Point history

Secession and the politics of the Civil War, 1860–65The coming of the warThe political course of the warMoves toward emancipationSectional dissatisfaction

Long before it was the daily newspaper we’re familiar with, the High Point Enterprise got its start as “The Pioneer,” published first in 1882 by W.A. Blair.

The first published copy of the Enterprise in 1885 began informing the 2,400 citizens of High Point about important news headlines and interesting opinions.

Grover Cleveland’s first termThe surplus and the tariffThe public domainThe Interstate Commerce ActThe election of 1888

The Benjamin Harrison administrationThe Sherman Antitrust ActThe silver issueThe McKinley tariffThe agrarian revoltThe PopulistsThe election of 1892

Editor of The High Point Enterprise, J.J. Farriss, published a series of booklets beginning in 1896 which documented early business and manufacturing history.

By 1900, North Carolina had 44 furniture manufacturing factories producing more than $1.5 million in furniture each year.

In 1901, the profits of High Point’s furniture industry went from $1.5 to $8.5 million.

The first exposition was planned in 1905 to happen in the Maddox Building (the corner of West Broad Avenue and North Elm Street). And the industry took off with a boom into the Roaring ‘20s.

High Point’s first city directory is from 1908.

The Heritage Research Center (HRC) has printed volumes of High Point area city directories from 1910 to the present.

High Point University, a Methodist institution, was founded there in 1924.

John Coltrane’s family moved to High Point in 1926, and his dad took a job as a tailor.

Around 1940, when Coltrane’s grandfather, father, and uncle all passed away within a few years of each other, his mother and aunt took jobs.

Coltrane graduated from William Penn High School in 1943, and today you can find a statue honoring his legacy in downtown High Point (on Commerce and Hamilton).

World War IIThe road to warThe United States at warWar productionFinancing the warSocial consequences of the warThe 1944 electionThe new United States role in world affairs

The peak Cold War years, 1945–60The Truman Doctrine and containmentPostwar domestic reorganizationThe Red ScareThe Korean WarPeace, growth, and prosperityEisenhower’s second termDomestic issuesWorld affairsAn assessment of the postwar era

Ezell A. Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), Franklin E. McCain, Joseph A. McNeil, and David L. Richmond leave the Woolworth store after the first sit-in on February 1, 1960.

The 2010 midterm elections

The Iran nuclear deal, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, and the Ukraine crisis

The child migrant border surge, air strikes on ISIL (ISIS), and the 2014 midterm elections

The 2018 midterm elections