Greensboro

Greensboro is the third most populated city in North Carolina and the sixty-eighth most populated city in the United States. Greensboro is the county seat for Guilford County, and was designed in 1808 with this purpose in mind. The city is centered around the central courthouse square and serves as the nexus for three separate highways: I-40, I-85, and I-73.

Greensboro, or Greensborough as it was called prior to 1895, was first settled in 1750 by Quaker migrants and was referred to as Capefair until just after the American Revolutionary War when it was renamed in honor of Major General Nathanael Greene, the leader of the rebel forces at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781.

Since then, Greensboro has lived through many other major moments in American history, playing an integral role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s when the local Woolworths became the stage for the Greensboro Sit-Ins, one of the most important nonviolent movements of the time. The former Woolworths was reopened on February 1, 2010, fifty years after the Sit-Ins began, as the International Civil Rights Center and Museum. 

Greensboro is home to numerous museums and parks that make life in the city interesting. Other than the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, Greensboro is also home to Greensboro Historical Museum, which houses a number of different artefacts from various historical periods, the most popular exhibit being the wardrobe and personal photographs of Dolley Madison, the fourth first lady of the United States. In addition to the historical museums, the Greensboro Science Center offers a family oriented and hands-on experience for those of any age. The Science Center is also home to the Animal Discovery Zoological Park and the Wiseman Aquarium.

If you are looking for a less structured way, however, to experience nature than through the museum, Greensboro’s many parks are the perfect place to do so. The Bog Garden is a nature preserve and botanical garden that was first opened in 1987 and has since undergone many changes to help preserve the wetland on which it sits. The Bog Garden is a wonderful example of the native flora and fauna of the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Another great park is the Greensboro Arboretum, which sits on seventeen acres and contains a whopping sixteen gardens and trails, including a butterfly garden where one can witness the beautiful insects in all their glory.

Operated by the Guilford County School District, Greensboro is ranked as one of the best cities in education. Greensboro is home for two schools of great distinction for the state of North Carolina: the Grimsley High School, which is the oldest high school in the state, being established in 1899, and the Philip J. Weaver Education Center, which is ranked as the best public high school in North Carolina by the U.S. News and World Report. Besides the top-notch public schools, Greensboro also has a number of universities including Bennett Liberal Arts College, Elon University of Law, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and the University of North Carolina: Greensboro. 

Greensboro continues the trend of North Carolina cities by having its top two employers be the local school district and the healthcare system, in this case Cone Health. However, Greensboro is also a great place for anyone interested in the political world as the next largest employers are the City of Greensboro, the United States Postal Service, and Guilford County. Bank of America and American Express round out the list of employers finishing at eighth and ninth place respectively. 

Greensboro is home to the only professional ballet company in North Carolina, the Greensboro Ballet, which has proudly been performing at the Carolina Theatre of Greensboro since 1964. Besides hosting the ballet, the Carolina Theatre of Greensboro has long been providing the citizens of Greensboro with entertainment. As the only historical theatre left in the state, the “Showplace of the Carolinas” as it is often referred to, was established Halloween night in 1927 and was the first theatre in the state to show movies with sound, then called “talkies.” The theatre is now a community and performing arts center and hosts the Community Theatre of Greensboro, the Livestock Players Musical Theatre, the Greensboro Youth Symphony, and many other local entertainment groups.