Greensboro ( or )^[1] is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city, by population, in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. As of the 2000 census, Greensboro was home to 223,891 residents. Its estimated 2007 population was 244,610. On June 30, 2008, Greensboro annexed more than 10,000 residents over an area of slightly more than , bringing its population to 258,671http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/departments/Planning/statistics/cityfactsheet.htm.

The city is located at the intersection of two major interstate highways (I-85 and I-40) in the Piedmont ("foot of the mountains") region of central North Carolina.

In 1808, Greensborough (as was the spelling prior to 1895) was planned around a central courthouse square to succeed the nearby town of Guilford Court House as the county seat. This act moved the county courts closer to the geographical center of the county, a location more easily reached by the majority of the county's citizens.

In 2003, the previous Greensboro - Winston-Salem - High Point metropolitan statistical area (MSA) was re-defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, resulting in the formation of the Greensboro-High Point MSA and the Winston-Salem MSA. The 2006 population estimate for the Greensboro-High Point MSA was 685,378. The Greensboro - Winston-Salem - High Point combined statistical area (CSA), popularly referred to as the Piedmont Triad, had an estimated population of 1,535,926 in 2007 making it the 30th largest metropolitan area in the USA. Source: US Bureau of the Census, Annual Estimates of the Population Table CBSA-EST2007-02

History

A statue of Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene

Early history

The city was named for Major General Nathanael Greene, commander of the American forces at the Battle of Guilford Court House on March 15, 1781.,^[2] The Americans lost that battle but the Pyrrhic victory slowed Cornwallis' British forces enough to allow the Americans to prepare to defeat them at the Battle of Yorktown, where the British were forced to surrender on October 19, 1781, after a 20-day siege, thus ending the American Revolution. Historian David McCullough considers Nathanael Greene to be "the best general" in the American military during the Revolution, including George Washington.^[3]

Greensboro was established near the geographic center of Guilford County, on land that was "an unbroken forest with thick undergrowth of huckleberry bushes, that bore a finely flavored fruit."^[4] Property for the future village was purchased for $98, and three north-south streets (Greene, Elm, Davie) were laid out intersecting with three east-west streets (Gaston, Market, Sycamore).^[5] The courthouse stood at the center of the intersection of Elm and Market streets. By 1821, the town was home to 369 residents.

In the early 1840s, Greensboro was selected by the state government at the request of then Governor Morehead (whose estate, Blandwood is located in Greensboro) for inclusion on a new railroad line. The city grew substantially in size and soon became known as the Gate City due to its role as a transportation hub for the state.^[6] The railroads transported goods to and from textile mills, which grew up with their own mill villages around the city. Many of these businesses remained in the city until the 21st century, when most of them went bankrupt, reorganized, and/or merged with other companies. Greensboro remains as a major textile headquarters city with the main offices of International Textile Group (Cone, Burlington Industries), Galey & Lord, Unifi, and VF Corporation (Wrangler, Lee, North Face, Vanity Fair). The importance of rail traffic continues for the city, as Greensboro serves as a major regional freight hub, and four Amtrak passenger trains stop in Greensboro daily on the main Norfolk Southern line between Washington and New Orleans by way of Atlanta.

A Picture of Blandwood Mansion, an Alexander Jackson Davis designed Tuscan Villa

The American Civil War and Final Days of the Confederacy

Although Guilford County did not push for secession, the men of the county joined the Confederate cause, forming such units as the Guilford Grays. In the final weeks of the American Civil War, Greensboro played a significant role. General P.G.T. Beauregard had been instructed by commanding officer of the Army of Tennessee, General Joseph E. Johnston, to prepare defense of the city. During this time, President Jefferson Davis and the remaining members of the Confederate cabinet had evacuated the Confederate Capital in Richmond, Virginia, and moved south to Danville, Virginia. The group traveled by train just escaping Union cavalry and reassembled in Greensboro on April 11, 1865. Greensboro served as the temporary capital of the Confederacy. ^[8] At nearly the same time, Governor Zebulon B. Vance fled the capital of North Carolina in anticipation of the arrival of Union General William T. Sherman.^[9] For a brief period beginning April 16, 1865, the capital of North Carolina was maintained in Greensboro.^[10] After the negotiations were completed at Bennett Place, now in present day Durham, North Carolina, between General Johnston and General Sherman on April 26, 1865, Confederate soldiers stacked their arms and received their paroles in Greensboro, and then headed for home.

Industrialization and growth

In the 1890s, the city continued to attract attention from northern industrialists, including Moses and Ceasar Cone of Baltimore.^[11] The Cone brothers established large-scale textile plants, changing Greensboro from a village to a city within a decade. By 1900, Greensboro was considered a center of the Southern textile industry, with large scale factories producing denim, flannel, and overalls.^[12] Prosperity brought to the city through textiles resulted in the construction of notable twentieth century civic architecture, including the Guilford County Courthouse, West Market Street Methodist Church by S. W. Faulk, several buildings designed by Frank A. Weston, and UNCG's Main Building designed by Orlo Epps.

During the twentieth century, Greensboro continued to expand in wealth and population. Rapid growth led to construction of grand commercial and civic buildings, many of which remain standing today, designed by hometown architects Charles Hartmann and Harry Barton. Other notable industries became established in the city, including Vicks Chemical Co, Carolina Steel Corporation, and Pomona Terra Cotta Works.^[13] During this period of growth, Greensboro experienced an acute housing shortage. Builders sought to maintain a construction goal of 80 to 100 affordable housing units per year in order to provide homes for workers.^[14] Greensboro's real estate was considered "the wonder of the state" during the 1920s. Growth continued through the Great Depression, as Greensboro added an estimated 200 new families per year to its population.^[15] The city earned a reputation as a well-planned community, with a strong emphasis on education, parks, and a profitable employment base.

As Greensboro evolved into one of North Carolina's primary cities, changes began to occur within its traditional social structure. On February 1, 1960, four black college students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College sat down at an all-white Woolworth's lunch counter, and refused to leave after they were denied service. Hundreds of others soon joined in this sit-in, which lasted several months. Such protests quickly spread across the South, ultimately leading to the desegregation of Woolworth's and other chains. The original lunch counter and stools now sit in the Smithsonian, but a museum is under development in the original building where the event took place. (As of May 2007, efforts to finally open the International Civil Rights Museum were postponed due to budget constraints.)

Prosperity brought new levels of development involving nationally and internationally known architects. Walter Gropius designed a factory building in the city in 1944.^[16] Greensboro-based Ed Loewenstein contributed designs for projects throughout the region. Eduardo Catalano, and George Matsumoto both brought designs to the city that challenged North Carolinians with modernist architectural concepts and forms.

In spite of this period of progress, old wounds had yet to heal. On November 3, 1979, members of the Communist Workers Party (CWP) were holding an anti-Ku Klux Klan rally, when a group of KKK and neo-Nazis caravaned into the Morningside Heights neighborhood where the rally was being held and ambushed the protest. Four local TV news stations filmed the event as it happened. The Klansmen/Nazis (members of the recently formed United Racist Front) allegedly were given directions and a parade permit by an undercover agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms who attended Klan meetings and (it is widely believed) acted as the final impetus for the violent clash. The alleged actions of the BATF agent, as well as the evidence of other government informers who worked with the Klan at the time, have led to allegations of city/state/federal wrongdoing by members of the CWP. Although a pistol likely was fired by a CWP organizer (allegedly into the air) and the Klan caravan was beaten with sticks prior to stopping, only the anti-Klan protesters were injured and killed. Five CWP members died and seven were wounded. Television footage of the event was shown nationwide and around the world, and the event became known as the Greensboro Massacre. The accused Klansman and neo-Nazis all were acquitted by an all-white jury in two separate criminal trials. In 1985, a civil suit found five police officers and two other individuals liable for $350,000 in damages to be paid to the Greensboro Justice Fund.

In 2007, Greensboro voters elected the first African-American mayor of the city, Yvonne J. Johnson.

Neighborhoods

Greensboro's earliest neighborhood is College Hill, located between West Market Street and Spring Garden Street, in and around Greensboro College.

Southside is among the oldest neighborhoods in the city and has experienced major redevelopment.

Typical nineteenth-century residence in College Hill

Southside Neighborhood in downtown Greensboro

The Aycock and Fisher Park neighborhoods were established in 1895 and 1901, respectively. The Aycock neighborhood features large Queen Anne residences of the turn-of-the-twentieth century, as well as Foursquare, Craftsman, and Colonial Revival styles.

Irving Park, developed in 1911 around the golf course of the Greensboro Country Club, was modelled on nearby Pinehurst by designer John Nolan. The prestigious neighborhood includes large homes on ample lots, and remains popular today.

The Warnersville neighborhood was a once thriving area in south Greensboro. When Urban Renewal was initiated in the mid-1900s, most of the business and homes were destroyed and replaced with new roads and development. However, this area has not recovered still. Remnants of the once booming Ashe St. can be seen behind the Greensboro Urban Ministry on Eugene St.

The urbanization of Greensboro during the early twentieth century was influenced greatly by the popularity of the automobile, which enabled citizens to live farther from the city center in more suburban surroundings. A series of "streetcar suburbs" were established, including Latham Park, Sunset Hills, Lindley Park, Hamilton Lakes, Starmount, Lake Daniel, Rankin, O. Henry Oaks, and Glenwood. Many of these neighborhoods include some of the city's finest public parks. Recent neighborhood additions include sprawling large-scale planned unit developments such as Adams Farm, Lake Jeanette, The Cardinal, New Irving Park, and Reedy Fork Ranch.

Sister cities

Greensboro maintains a "sister city" relationship with two cities in order to foster international friendship and cooperation.^[17]

• Montbeliard, Franche-Comte, France
• Buiucani sector of Chi?in?u, Moldova

Geography and climate

Greensboro is located at (36.079868, -79.819416).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 109.2 square miles (283.0 km²), of which, 104.7 square miles (271.2 km²) of it is land and 4.5 square miles (11.8 km²) of it (4.16%) is water.

Greensboro is situated among the gently rolling hills of North Carolina's Piedmont and is situated midway between the state's Blue Ridge and Great Smoky mountains to the west and the Atlantic beach and Outer Banks to the east. The view of the city from its highest building—the Lincoln Financial tower—reveals that the town is populated with large numbers of green trees, lending perhaps another dimension of significance to its name. The city is at the nexus of several major freeways, with Interstates 40, 85, and the planned I-73 passing through its borders.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 223,891 people; 92,394 households; and 53,958 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,138.3 people per square mile (825.6/km²). There were 99,305 housing units at an average density of 948.4/sq mi (366.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 55.49% White, 37.40% Black or African American, 0.44% Native American, 2.84% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.08% from other races, and 1.71% from two or more races. 4.35% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the estimated 92,394 households in the city in 2000, 27.5% included children under the age of 18, 39.8% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.6% were classified as nonfamily. Of the total households, 32.6% were composed of individuals, while 8.7% reported someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 persons, and the average family size was 2.94 persons.

The age distribution in 2000 was 22.3% under the age of 18, 14.1% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 89.2 males---for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city in 2000 was $39,661, and the median income for a family was $50,192. Males had a median income of $34,681 versus $26,797 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,986. About 8.6% of families and 12.3% of the population in 2000 were living below the poverty line, including 15.8% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.

Asian American Community

About 4,000 Vietnamese have resettled in the Greensboro area since 1979 as refugees or secondary migrants. They are a diverse population culturally, ethnically, and religiously, and not organized through any broad based structure. The Montagnards (French for "mountain people") are immigrants from a number of different tribes from the Highlands of Vietnam. They had been isolated mountain farmers and hunter-gatherers until the Vietnam War, when the U.S. government recruited them as front-line soldiers for the U.S. Army Special Forces. About 5,000 of the Motagnards have settled in Guilford County making it the largest Montagnard community in the world outside Vietnam. A few hundred Nung, a tribal group from northern Vietnam, also have resettled in the city and are often grouped with the Montagnard tribes.

In the early 1980s, the first Cambodian refugees resettled in Greensboro. The stable community of about 60 large families, representing about 500 people, are closely affiliated with the Greensboro Buddhist Center. An additional 800 former Cambodians live around the Triad including a large population in nearby Davidson County.

Greensboro was not an initial resettlement area for Laotians. However, since the mid 1980s, many families have come as secondary migrants from other states, and now the Laotian population is stabilized at about 1000 people. A few families of hill tribe refugees from Laos, mostly Hmong, live in Guilford County, plus more than 50 college students attending the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). Other Laotian hill tribe populations that have relocated to th Greensboro area include approximately 200 Khmu refugees as well as smaller groups representing other tribes. About 2,000 Korean immigrants, many well established, are represented in Guilford County. The local Chinese Association, comprised primarily of mainland Chinese, has a few hundred members. Ethnic Chinese living in Greesboro number in the thousands.

The Indian immigrant population, estimated to be more than 2,000, is well established in the Greensboro area and has a long history there. Many Indian immigrants are associated with the city's university and medical communities and have formed multiple community organizations. There are an estimated 600 Pakistanis living in the area, as well as an estimated 1,000 Palestinians, with additional thousands in the greater Piedmont Triad region. (Many Palestinians relocated to the area following the war in 1967.) A few hundred Israeli nationals also have relocated to the Triad, particularly for international business purposes.

African American community

There are close to 15,000 people from many of the 54 African nations living in and around Greensboro (however no official population numbers are available because the census categorizes these people as African-American or Black). About 10% of Guilford County's African population immigrated as refugees. The African Services Coalition, a nonprofit organization composed of representatives from different African communities, seeks to foster cooperation between the various communities. Some communities have roots at N.C. A&T State University that date from the 1960s, when the university first was recognized as a valuable educational resource by developing countries. The Nigerian and Nigerien population are older, well-established community believed to be the largest African community in the area, numbering about 3,500 to 6,500 persons, including second and third generations and reflecting a variety of religious and tribal traditions.

Many of those of Nigerian and Nigerien lineage in Guilford County initially immigrated to New York, New Jersey or Washington D.C, then settled in the Greensboro area after obtaining official immigration status. Guilford County has a multigenerational Ghanaian-heritage population consisting of approximately 450 people. The few new arrivals are mostly international students at area universities, or friends and family members of longer-term residents. A well established community of about 800 people of Sierra Leonese ancestry has made Guilford County its home. This population has not increased significantly in recent years because the temporary protective status that was at one time available to immigrants from their homeland has ended.

Greensboro's Sudanese population is a diverse population, with most individuals having come to Guilford County within the last five years, currently numbering more than 2,700. Many of these immigrants are fleeing the long-standing Sudanese civil war. A group of young Sudanese from the south, commonly referred to as the "Lost Boys", have resettled recently in Greensboro as refugees. The majority of the areas Sudanese, however, are from the Muslim northern region of that country. In the last year, many of the Sudanese have become U.S. citizens, which has enabled them to relocate additional family members from the Sudan, yielding a population increase of several hundred in the community within the last year.

There are approximately 400 refugees from Somalia who have arrived in Greensboro within the last six years, including the Arab Benadiri from the city of Mogadishu and newly arrived refugees from the non-Somali Bantu tribe. There are an estimated 1,200 Liberians settled in Guilford County. This population includes some refugees who are recent arrivals, and others who have lived in Guilford County for many years. In the last couple of years, a few hundred Liberian refugees who had been living in refugee camps in the Ivory Coast and Ghana have resettled in Guilford County.

Eastern European American community

New residents also have arrived from Eastern Europe, from the former Yugoslavia (including Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia), and others from former Yugoslavia that have immigrated since 1994 as refugees, about 2,000 people. Greensboro has become a resettlement site in the past few years for approximately 250 Russian and Ukrainian Jewish refugees.

Latin American community

According to the 2002 and 2003 estimates of the Latino population in Guilford County (published by Faith Action Inc.), there was a 4% increase in Latino population between those years, and in 2003 the population was estimated to be 26,981. Although there were not follow up studies using this method, we can estimate that, if the population has continued to increase by 4% annually, the current Latino community would number approximately 29,182. Other studies indicate the rate of increase may be even greater. More than two thirds of the area's Latino immigrants are from Mexico, though it is thought that all 26 Latin American countries are represented in the region. Most Latino residents have arrived since 1990, and their arrival is expected to continue and increase as long as economic opportunities prevail.

The Center for New North Carolinians details more information about Greensboro's ethnic and cultural diversity.

Economic Development

Downtown Greensboro

Dixie Building

Shops Plaza

Downtown Area

Downtown Greensboro has experienced a spate of new construction in the past few years with new developments such as NewBridge Bank Park, and numerous condominium, apartment and townhome developments. The Southside neighborhood downtown examplifies this central-city reinvestment as a formerly economically depressed neighborhood that has redeveloped into an award-winning neotraditional-style neighborhood.^[19] Downtown Greensboro also has experienced a dramatic increase in nightlife with the opening of numerous nightclubs, bars and restaurants. In 2006, Elon University opened a law school in the center city. Downtown attractions include: the Carolina Theater, Triad Stage (Pyrle Gibson Theater), Blandwood Mansion, International Civil Rights Museum, Center City Park, NewBridge Bank Park, Greensboro Historical Museum, Greensboro Cultural Center, and the Greensboro Children's Museum.

Airport Area

In 1998, FedEx chose to build and operate a $300 million mid-Atantic air-cargo and sorting hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport, following an intensive competition for the hub among other regions of the state, as well as locations in South Carolina. Greensboro was chosen partly because of its prime, central location and exceptional Interstate highway connectivity. After the hub announcement, the project faced court battles concerning potential noise and pollution abatements from neighborhoods located near the planned hub site. Nonetheless, the hub is planned to open by 2009 and is expected to bring thousands of new jobs to the Greensboro area, building upon the city's effort to becoming a major transportation, distribution and logistics hub in the Southeast and middle Atlantic regions.

In February 2007, Honda Aircraft Company announced it will develop a multi-million dollar jet airplane facility and world headquarters at Piedmont Triad International Airport. The company will build the new Honda Jet at the site, and the first planes are planned to roll off the assembly line in 2010. In 2001, the test flight for the jet took place at the airport. Honda Aircraft will bring about 300 new jobs to the Greensboro area with an average salary of $76,000 a year.

Education

Institutes of higher education

• University of North Carolina at Greensboro
• Bennett College for Women
• Greensboro College
• Guilford College
• Guilford Technical Community College
• Elon University School of Law
• North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

For-profit universities

• Brookstone College
• ECPI College of Technology
• DeVry University
• Strayer University

Boarding schools

• American Hebrew Academy
• Oak Ridge Military Academy

Private education

• Caldwell Academy
• Greensboro Day School
• New Garden Friends School
• Greensboro Montessori School
• Guilford Day School
• Canterbury School (K-8)
• B'nai Shalom Jewish Day School (Preschool-8)
• Vandalia Christian School

Public education

High Schools and Middle Colleges

• Greensboro Day School
• Dudley High School
• The Early College at Guilford
• Eastern Guilford High School
• Greensboro College Middle College
• Grimsley High School
• Northern Guilford High School
• Northeast Guilford High School
• Northwest Guilford High School
• Walter Hines Page High School
• Lucy Ragsdale High School
• Ben L. Smith High School
• Southeast Guilford High School
• Southern Guilford High School
• Southwest Guilford High School
• Western Guilford High School
• Philip J. Weaver Academy

Attractions

• The Bog Garden is accessed by an elevated boardwalk that comprises a half-mile of the of trails that wind through a garden of plants and wildlife that thrive in a wetland ecosystem.
• Bicentennial Garden was developed in 1976 to commemorate the U.S. bicentennial. The garden contains of paved trails, along with outdoor sculptures and a pavillion.
• Greensboro Center City Park occupies half a city block adjacent to the Greensboro Cultural Center. Sponsored by Action Greensboro, the park features a fountain as well as works by several North Carolina artists.
• Greensboro Arboretum was completed as a partnership between Greensboro Beautiful and the City of Greensboro Parks & Recreation Department. It offers an extensive selection of fora for study and enjoyment. The 17 acre site features 12 permanent plant collections as well as special display gardens with a fountain, overlook, arbor, gazebo, bridges, and viewing benches.
• Blandwood Mansion and Gardens is the historic home of former North Carolina Governor John Motley Morehead. Today the site serves as a museum of national architectural and historical significance. It is the earliest example of Tuscan Italianate architecture in the nation, designed by New York architect Alexander Jackson Davis.
• World War Memorial Stadium was one of the oldest continuously used professional baseball facilities in the nation before it was replaced by the city's First Horizon Stadium in 2005. The memorial stadium was constructed in 1926 to honor the memory of lives lost during the first World War. It anchors the Aycock Historic District and remains in use by collegiate baseball teams, amateur leagues, and other special events throughout the year. The stadium was home to the Greensboro Bats professional minor-league club until the new First Horizon Park opened and the team became the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

2006 ACC Tournament Town logo

• Greensboro Coliseum Complex The Greensboro Coliseum Complex was conceived as, and continues to operate as, a multibuilding facility to serve the citizens of Greensboro and the surrounding region by hosting a broad range of activities including athletic and cultural events; concerts, theater and other entertainment; educational activities, fairs and exhibits; and various other public and private events such as conventions, convocations and trade/consumer shows. The coliseum complex has hosted prestigious events such as the collegiate Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) basketball tournament, East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) and American Hockey League (AHL) professional hockey, the NCAA Men?s Basketball Championship and Starrcade (1983). Additionally, the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League called the Greensboro Coliseum its temporary home while its permenanent venue was being constructed in Raleigh. Since 1959, the coliseum has featured superstars ranging from Elvis to the contemporary rap star Usher. The facility is scheduled to again host ACC Basketball Tournaments (men's and women's) in 2010. The complex has undergone several major renovations, most recently in 1994, enlarging the maximum arena capacity to its current 23,500 seats. There is a proposal under consideration to build the ACC Hall of Champions and Museum adjacent to the coliseum complex, as the ACC was founded in Greensboro in 1953 and currently is headquartered at the Grandover Office Park in south Greensboro.

NewBridge Bank Park

• NewBridge Bank Park is home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers baseball club. Completed in 2005, it hosts additional outdoor events and concerts during the summer months.
• Guilford Courthouse National Military Park commemorates the Battle of Guilford Court House, which occurred at the location on March 15, 1781. The battle opened the campaign that led to the America's victory in the Revolutionary War. The British lost a substantial number of troops in the battle, which factored in their surrender at Yorktown (Virginia) seven months later. The battle site remains largely undeveloped with large stone memorials erected early in the twentieth century to memorialize the nationally significant event.
• The Natural Science Center of Greensboro is a family oriented, hands-on science museum and planetarium. The zoo reopened in summer 2007 after undergoing extensive renovations.
• The Greensboro Children's Museum (GCM) offers hands-on and interactive exhibits, educational programming and special events all year long for children newborn through age ten.

Shopping

Shops at Friendly Center

Sports

Arts

Carolina Theatre

• Carolina Theatre is a performing arts facility that has been a part of downtown Greensboro since 1927. Since the facility's renovation in the 1990s, the theater has served as the home of the Greensboro Ballet, the Community Theatre of Greensboro, the Livestock Players Musical Theatre, Greensboro Youth Symphony and a variety of other local performing arts groups.
• City Arts showcases a variety of musical and theatrical productions by The Livestock Players, Greensboro Children's Theatre, the Music Center, Greensboro Concert Band, Philharmonia of Greensboro, Choral Society of Greensboro, and the Greensboro Youth Chorus. Most of these groups participate in the city's annual OPUS Concert Series and the summer "Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park" series.
• Community Theatre of Greensboro has presented Broadway and off-Broadway plays and musicals for more than 45 years. The CTG's Studio Theatre is housed in the Greensboro Cultural Center.
• Eastern Music Festival brings more than 100 summer performances, from symphonic works to chamber music to recitals by professional and talented students from around the world. The event also hosts the Fringe Festival, showcasing avant-garde and nontraditional music and performances.
• Greensboro Ballet and School of Greensboro Ballet: A traditional December production of "The Nutcracker" is just one of the many artistic and educational activities offered by the ballet company. The School of Greensboro Ballet is one of a relative few nonprofit ballet schools in the nation.
• Cultural Center The Greensboro Cultural Center houses more than 25 visual and performing arts organizations, five art galleries, rehearsal halls, a sculpture garden, privately operated restaurant with outdoor cafe-style seating, and an outdoor amphitheater. Art galleries include the African American Atelier, the Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art, the Greensboro Artists' League Gallery and Gift Shop, the Guilford Native American Art Gallery and the Mattye Reed African Heritage Center Satellite Gallery.
• Greensboro Opera Company is a highly-regarded regional opera company founded in October 1981 that has experienced much growth and expansion. Beginning with the production of Verdi's La Traviata featuring June Anderson (then a rising young New York City Opera soprano), the company expanded from a single fall production of a major opera in the years 1981-89 to the addition of Sunday matinee performances in the 1990-99 season when, in response to successive sold out productions of Madame Butterfly and Carmen in 1997 and 1998, a second spring opera with two performances was added, beginning in 1999-2000. The company has successfully blended outside and local singers with a full orchestra, manned by members of the Greensboro Symphony, in the pit at their home at Greensboro's War Memorial Auditorium.
• Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Dmitri Sitkovetsky, has developed a strong reputation among national musical organizations, including continued exposure on National Public Radio's Performance Today. Sitkovetsky began his career as a violin soloist. He focused on the chamber orchestra repertoire when starting out with the European String Orchestra, a superb group of musicians pulled together by Sitkovetsky. The orchestra performs classical and pops concerts and holds educational programs for young listeners throughout the year.
• Reed African American Heritage Museum, located at North Carolina A&T State University, hosts one of the most acclaimed collections of African culture in the nation. The museum houses more than 3,500 art and craft pieces from more than 30 African nations, New Guinea and Haiti.
• Triad Stage is a not-for-profit regional theatre company based in Greensboro's downtown historic district. All productions are created in Greensboro using a combination of local and national talent. The theater company recently was recognized as ?One of the 50 Best Regional Theatres in America!? by New York?s Drama League, ?Best Live Theatre? in Go Triad/News & Record The Rhino Times, and was voted ?2003 Professional Theater of the Year? by the North Carolina Theatre Conference.
• Weatherspoon Art Museum, located at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, houses one of the foremost collections of modern and contemporary art in the Southeast. Composed of six galleries, the museum is nationally recognized for its collection of 20th century American art. The permanent collection also includes lithographs and bronzes by Henri Matisse, and art by celebrated masters such as Willem de Kooning, Henry Ossawa Tanner, John Graham, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol.

Famous natives and residents

Statue of Greensboro native O. Henry in downtown.

Born in Greensboro

• Patrick Barry, independent filmmaker
• Thomas Berry, international spokesman in support of ecology and care of the earth
• Hal "Skinny" Brown, former MLB pitcher.
• Joey Cheek, Olympic gold-medal speed skater
• Levi Coffin, noted Quaker educator and abolitionist
• Vince Evans, former NFL quarterback.
• O. Henry, short-story writer
• John Isner, professional tennis player
• John Anthony Lennon, composer (b. 1950)
• Caroline Lind, 2008 Olympic Women's 8 rowing gold-medal
• Dolley Madison, First Lady and wife of President James Madison
• Doug Marlette, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist.^[20]
• Jack F. Matlock, Jr. U.S. ambassador to the U.S.S.R., 1987-1991
• Robert McAdoo, former NBA All-Star and college basketball All-American.
• Fred "Curly" Neal, former Harlem Globetrotter
• Ronald Perelman, Billionaire Investor
• Eddie Pope, soccer star of Real Salt Lake and the US National Soccer Team
• George Preddy, World War II ace
• Jeff Varner, Survivor contestant (Season 2)
• Kelly Wiglesworth, Survivor contestant (Season 1)

Current residents

• Orson Scott Card, author, journalist and professor; several of his books, including Ender's Game and Shadow Puppets feature settings in and around Greensboro.
• Eugene Chadbourne, composer and musician
• H.T. Kirby-Smith, author and poet
• Richard Lambert, former U.S. shot put champion
• Michael Parker, novelist
• Garry Peterson, long time drummer of the Guess Who

Associated with Greensboro

• 2004 American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino briefly lived in Greensboro
• Journalist and true crime author Jerry Bledsoe (Bitter Blood) lives in nearby suburban Asheboro; his regular column appeared for many years in the Greensboro News & Record, and his investigative reporting is featured in the Rhino Times.
• Jeff Bostic, NFL player for the Washington Redskins, born in Greensboro, graduated from Ben L. Smith High School
• Joe Bostic, NFL player for the St. Louis (later Arizona) Cardinals, born in Greensboro, graduated from Ben L. Smith High School
• Andy Cabic of indie folk band Vetiver lived in Greensboro while a member of indie-rock band The Raymond Brake.
• Spencer Chamberlain, current lead vocalist of the band Underoath, was raised in Greensboro.
• Billy "Crash" Craddock, Country music legend, born and lives near Greensboro.
• Rock star and 2006 American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry is from nearby suburban McLeansville and is a resident of nearby Oak Ridge.
• Rick Dees, radio personality, graduated from Grimsley High School
• Marques Douglas, NFL player for San Francisco 49ers, attended Dudley High School
• Barry Farber, radio talk show host, author and language-learning enthusiast. Grew up in Greensboro.
• Brendan Haywood, NBA player for Washington Wizards, attended Dudley High School
• Torry Holt, wide receiver for NC State and the St. Louis Rams was born in nearby Gibsonville.
• Nationally acclaimed poet Randall Jarrell lived in Greensboro, where he was a professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro until his death in 1965. He is buried near the Guilford College campus.
• Haywood Jeffries, Retired NFL player, played for the Houston Oilers.
• Frank Lucas, the infamous New York City drug lord born in La Grange and raised in Greensboro.
• Danny Manning, an All-America basketball player for the University of Kansas, attended Page High School in Greensboro.
• Edward R. Murrow, famed World War II CBS radio broadcaster and award-winning journalist, was born outside Greensboro.
• Kyle Petty, Nascar driver and racing commentator lives near Greensboro in Trinity, North Carolina
• Lee Petty, Pioneer of Nascar racing. Three time National Champion. Founder of Petty Enterprises, Level Cross, NC Near Greensboro.
• Richard Petty, Seven time Nascar champion lives near Greensboro, in Level Cross, North Carolina
• Singer Cat Power (Chan Marshall) lived in Greensboro with her mother as a teenager in the late 1980s.
• Ricky Proehl, NFL player, played for Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams, Carolina Panthers, and Indianapolis Colts.
• Charlie Sanders, 2007 NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end for the Detroit Lions, attended Dudley High School
• Tooth and Nail recording artists Sullivan formed and lived in Greensboro
• Robert Walden, Pioneer Nascar driver lives near Greensboro

Transportation

Greensboro's Amtrak Station & Rail Depot

Amtrak's daily Crescent, Carolinian and Piedmont trains connect Greensboro with the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans.

Amtrak trains, taxis, local and long-distance buses arrive and depart from the Amtrak station and rail depot located at 236-C East Washington Street. Originally constructed in the early 1920s, the station and depot were renovated in 2004.

The Greensboro Transit Authority offers public bus service throughout the city, including a service called Higher Education Area Transit, or HEAT, which links downtown attractions to area colleges and universities. Regional public transportation throughout the metropolitan area is coordinated by PART, Piedmont Area Regional Transportation.

Interstate Highways

• 
  Interstate 40
• 
  Interstate 40 Business
• 
  Interstate 85
• 
  Interstate 85 Business
• 
  Interstate 73
• 
  Interstate 785
• 
  Interstate 840

Interstate 40 and Interstate 85 share the same freeway facility for several miles in the Greensboro area. The consolidated highway, which is now the Interstate 40/Business 85 junction, is located just south of downtown and forms the western end of a stretch of freeway infamously known throughout the region as "Death Valley," a congested and accident-prone stretch of roadway where six major federal and Interstate routes combine into a single freeway facility.

Construction is currently underway on the Greensboro Urban Loop, a freeway that, when complete, will encircle the majority of the city. Sections of this beltway may form the future alignment of Interstate 73. U.S. Highway 29---which travels through the southern, eastern and northern sections of the city before heading northeast toward suburban Reidsville---is a major route in Greensboro and offers freeway access to the more urban and central areas of the city.

Media

Newspapers

The Greensboro News & Record is the primary daily newspaper in Greensboro. The Business Journal, a member of the American City Business Journals chain of business weeklies, is based in Greensboro and covers business across the Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. The Carolina Peacemaker is a news weekly that covers the African-American community. The Rhinoceros Times and Yes! Weekly are free weekly alternative newspapers, along with the Hamburger Square Post monthly which has published since 1979. The Greensboro Telegram is an online only weekly newspaper launched in 2008 by the publishers of the Raleigh Telegram. Q-Notes, a bi-weekly newspaper serving the LGBT community and published in Charlotte, is distributed to locations in Greensboro and via home delivery.

Broadcast television

Greensboro is a part of the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point television designated market area and includes the following commercial broadcast stations (listed by call letters, channel number, network and city of license):

• WFMY-TV, 2, CBS, Greensboro
• WGHP, 8, Fox, High Point
• WXII-TV, 12, NBC, Winston-Salem
• WGPX, 16, ION, Burlington
• WCWG, 20, The CW, Lexington
• WUNL-TV, 26, PBS/UNC-TV, Winston-Salem
• WGSR-TV, 39, Independent, Reidsville
• WXLV-TV, 45, ABC, Winston-Salem
• WMYV-TV, 48, MyNetworkTV, Greensboro
• WLXI-TV, 61, TCT, Greensboro

Greensboro is also home to the Triad bureau of News 14 Carolina

References

See also

• Piedmont Triad
• I-85 Corridor
• 1936 Cordele-Greensboro tornado outbreak

External links

• Official website of Greensboro, NC
• Greensboro Chamber of Commerce
• Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Action Greensboro
• Greensboro Connects
• Downtown Greensboro, Incorporated
• Historic Architecture and Preservation in Greensboro
• The Greensboro HIVE Community Space

Documentaries

• ''February One'' California Newsreel documentary on 1960 sit-in by the Greensboro Four. IMDB entry. Accessed on April 2, 2005.
• 88 Seconds in Greensboro PBS Frontline transcript. Reported by James Reston, Jr. Directed by William Cran. Original Airdate: January 24, 1983. Accessed on April 2, 2005.
• "Greensboro's Child" Documentary about the 1979 Greensboro Massacre and the shadow it cast on the survivors.

Maps

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