[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 37 (Thursday, March 14, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E296-E297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   IN HONOR OF THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TOWN OF PROCTORVILLE, NC

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                          HON. RICHARD HUDSON

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 14, 2013

  Mr. HUDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Town of 
Proctorville, North Carolina, as it celebrated its centennial on Friday 
March 8th. While Congress was not in session on its centennial, I want 
to take this opportunity to pay homage to this small town in rural 
North Carolina today.
   Proctorville's history dates back to 1859. The fifty acres the town 
was founded on was originally owned by Calvin Graham. Mr. Graham gave 
the land the town was to be settled on to a slave by the name of Dennis 
Graham.
  On July 20th, 1899, Augustus Mellier purchased a portion of the 
original fifty acres for the construction of the Carolina and Northern 
railroad. Mellier developed the land surrounding the tracks into four 
blocks for development. This was the beginning of the new town of 
Proctorville, named after Edward Knox Proctor Jr., a Lumberton lawyer 
and promoter of the Carolina and Northern Railroad.
  Mr. Proctor purchased the town from Mellier and planned to develop it 
into an ideal town, but his plans were cut short due to illness. He 
contracted typhoid fever and died prematurely in December of 1907.
  This setback was overcome and the town charter was written by E.J. 
Britt of Lumberton, North Carolina and incorporated by the North 
Carolina General Assembly in 1913. At the time, George B. McLeod, 
brother-in-law of Edward K. Proctor, was serving in the Assembly and 
was a proponent of incorporation.
  Proctorville always produced the major regional crops of North 
Carolina: tobacco, cotton, and corn. Expectation in production grew as 
the railroad expanded through the state and the town eventually became 
a major trading hub for farmers and even outlasted the railroad.
  Proctorville has the honor of being the smallest town in the United 
States to have its own public library. It was established by W.R. 
Surles and continues to be used to this day.
  The Town's most recognized citizen is State Senator Michael Walters 
who has represented Proctorville and the surrounding community since 
2009.
   Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in congratulating the 
Town of Proctorville as it celebrates its 100th anniversary.

                       Happy 100th, Proctorville!

                   [From the Fayetteville Observer, 
                             Mar. 7, 2013]

                            (By Ali Rockett)

       The tiny town in southeastern Robeson County is celebrating 
     a big birthday today.
       But Mayor Allen Fowler said the real party begins on 
     Saturday with the town first-ever parade--or at least the 
     first in modern memory, Fowler said.
       The parade starts at 11 a.m. on Main Street from Spruce 
     Street to the town's community center. Following the parade, 
     the town will hold a ceremony in Proctorville Baptist Church 
     with keynote speaker and Proctorville native N.C. Rep. 
     Michael Walters.
       The .3-mile parade route nearly stretches the width of the 
     entire town, which encompasses about 260 acres.
       Proctorville was established in the early 1900s as the 
     crossroads of two major railroads--the Atlantic Coast 
     Railroad running north and south, and the Raleigh-Charleston 
     Railroad running east and west.
       While the town's incorporation is only 100 years old, it 
     started much earlier than that, according to Fowler.
       In 1866, a plantation owner Calvin Graham deeded 200 acres 
     to a slave, Dennis Graham, for $60. It had taken Dennis 
     Graham nearly 20 years to make the $60.
       Then in the early 1900s, a railroad worker Augustus Miller 
     bought part of Graham's land as right-of-way for the 
     railroad. Miller named the area after Lumberton lawyer Edward 
     Knox Proctor Jr, who worked to get the railroad laid through 
     the county.
       Proctor later bought the land from Miller, but died before 
     he could build up the town.
       Proctorville was relatively dormant through 1940 when the 
     railroad tracks were taken up.
       The town's claim to fame is its library.
       In 2009, the W.R. Surles Memorial Library--rumored to have 
     once been named the world's smallest in the ``Guinness Book 
     of World Records''--was listed in the National Register of 
     Historic Places.
       With about 2,800 books, the library's circulation is nearly 
     23 times that of the population it serves.
       About 117 people call Proctorville home.

[[Page E297]]

       Fowler said it's a simple, quiet life in town.
       ``We're just a small, rural town,'' Fowler said. ``The 
     average age is probably sixty. What I enjoy the most about 
     it, we have very, very, very little crime.''
       Walters said he remembers riding to church as a young boy, 
     but always had to behave.
       ``Everyone in town was your mother or dad because we all 
     knew each other,'' Walters said. ``If there has ever been a 
     Mayberry in North Carolina, it could be Proctorville.''

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