Highway 75, which runs from Oxford through Providence and Stem into Durham, has had many names. Parts of this road run along what was once the Indian Trading Path. It also is called Old Highway 75, Old Route 75 and Old Oxford Road. Highway 15 was once called the Oxford-Clarksville Road, and also the National Highway.

Creedmoor is thought to be named for a Mr. Creed Moor, who traveled through the area as a lexicographer, or another way to put that, a person who writes dictionaries. Of course, Creedmoor was also once called Mule Town, because of all the mules sold and auctioned in town.

Stem is named for William T. Stem, who donated land for the railroad to come through. And Butner is a result of Camp Butner, and is named for a man that probably never stepped into Granville County, as far as anyone knows. Camp Butner, when built during World War II, was named after Maj. Gen. Henry Wolfe Butner, a native of Surry County who fought admirably in World War I.

Butner died in 1937, so he never even knew of Camp Butner, built in 1942. A ship was also named after him in 1944. Quite a legacy.

The Masonic Home for Children at Oxford was once the Oxford Orphan Asylum and the Oxford Orphanage. The Central Children’s Home in Oxford was known as the Colored Orphanage of North Carolina and Central Orphanage of North Carolina. Before these names, it was called Grant Colored Asylum in honor of General Ulysses S. Grant of Civil War fame who also became the President of the United States.

The Tobacco Research Station in Oxford was once known as the Experiment Station and the Test Farm. What is now the Old City Cemetery in Oxford was once the Oxford Burying Ground.

Near the Old City Cemetery is Winston International. This castle-like building was once a bus depot, Granite Service Station, and Owen Motor Company, among other businesses. Behind this building there was once a stall to hold horses and mules for sale.

The old Lewis School building still stands on Church Street in Oxford today. It operated from 1920 to 1951 and served mostly children whose parents worked for Oxford Cotton Mills, which became Burlington Industries later. Lewis School was named for Richard Lewis, a longtime superintendent of Oxford Cotton Mill.

College Street used to be Grassy Creek Street, McClanahan Street was once Goshen Street, and Hillsborough Street was once Tar River Street and later known as Commercial Avenue. Mary Potter School was once Mary Potter Academy.

Cornwall in Granville County got its name from a mining prospector who knew that the Cornwall District in England was known for its rich iron deposits. The Tar River originates in Person County from a freshwater spring and meanders through Granville County on its way to joining the Pamlico River in Washington, North Carolina, before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. It has offered canoeing, swimming, fishing, and watered the soils of the county for hundreds of years.

At one time there were quite a few grist mills along the Tar River, and a lot of moonshine whiskey stills. It is 215 miles long. Originally, it was spelled as the Tau River by Indians, meaning river of health. It was changed to Tar after it began to be used as a major route for tar carrying barges down in the eastern part of the state headed to the ocean. Also, Tar River got its name from its very dark soil in the river bed and along its banks, black as tar.

Northside is called that because that community near Creedmoor is north of the Durham and Wake County lines. Cedar Creek Gallery is near Cedar Creek. The Coon Hill area near Stem is called that since the Roberts family was known for its coon hunting talents and for cooking some good coon meals and inviting neighbors over for some good coon eating.

The town of Henderson, which was part of Granville County until 1881 when Vance County was formed, is named after Leonard Henderson, who was at one time the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.

The Blue Wing community in northern Granville County is so named because an early explorer to that part of the county saw a big flock of blue wing ducks there. The Lewis community was named for Dr. Willis Lewis, who donated land for the railroad depot.

Mills flourished way back in the 1700s in Granville County, but especially along the Tar River. During these early times of the county, corn was the major crop. Millers at grist mills throughout Granville County were considered so important that they were exempted from militia duties. In 1749, three years after Granville County was formed, there were 41 mills listed in deeds, but because of poor record keeping, there undoubtedly were many more.

Two of the grist mills along the Tar River in Granville County in the 1800s were Gooch’s Mill and Minor’s Mill. The remnants of Gooch’s Mill can still clearly be seen today on Gooch’s Mill Road. Bost Gooch made one of the first iron plows for farming here, and also he made tobacco baskets, along with running his corn and wheat mill.

Long lines of wagons would have to stand in line at Gooch’s Mill for over 24 hours just to wait their turn to get their wheat and corn ground. Business was so brisk at Gooch’s Mill, out between Stem and Berea, that Bost Gooch employed three millers to stay open 24 hours a day during the busy season. Gooch would use his big grinding wheels to convert all that wheat and corn into meal and flour.

C.R. Dement ran Gooch’s Mill for many years. L.D. Franklin ran it later on. Tar Valley Milling Company operated from Minor’s Mill, which was in the southern part of the county.

The Tar River just about cuts Granville County in two; in fact, some Granvillians still refer “to what side of the river you live on.” Many catfish stews were held along the Tar River in the old days.

Part of the old Trading Path mentioned earlier that ran from Clarksville, Virginia, to Oxford ran through what is now Bullock. There was a William Bullock and a James Bullock. When the Oxford and Clarksville Railroad ran through Bullock in 1888 the station in Bullock was named for the Bullock family that gave land for the depot.

There are just so many places and communities in Granville County it is next to impossible to list them all, but these are just a few and where their names originated.