JoCoYo

This year's World Series is over and a miracle happened. A baseball team from Washington somehow won the big one. Heck, the fact that any professional sports team from Washington won a championship is near-miraculous.

Well, baseball wasn't always this big. In its purest form, baseball was small, like the towns that formed the teams. Sometimes, we had players that made it big. Maybe you've heard of them, maybe not. But Johnston's baseball and its history sorta reflect each other.

Welcome to the Tobacco State League.

In our stories of how the towns of Johnston came to be, we see that a lot of their existence was either by sheer fortune, or the whims of outsiders, Or both. So many of our communities That did not receive the fortune of a railroad were actually more cohesive And therefore better candidates to become municipalities than the ones that did receive railroad depots. This is the story of a few.

We have a pretty clear idea how some of the towns in Johnston and surrounding areas were established. Some were named for community leaders, geographic features, economic hubs. Others...yeah...not so sure.

One named after a possum hunt? Really?

This is the brief story of the names of Princeton, Four Oaks, and Archer Lodge

The towns of Wilson’s Mills and Micro Have been completely shaped by their position in between larger depots. Micro had to change its name and Wilson’s Mills had to die temporarily. Talk about middle child syndrome.

You think you're hungry? Have you ever met a pine tree? Tobacco? Corn? They, like Mikey, will eat anything. 

And everything. They are the plants that, if they were people at a restaurant, would eat all their food fast, then look at your plate and ask, "Are you gonna finish that?" Then, eat your scraps. They may even go to the kitchen insearch of more. 

They don't do leftovers.

What does that have to do with our communities? Well, for one town...everything.

Did you know that Johnston has its own Twin Cities? Born on the same day, for the same reason, and with the same purpose, the towns of Kenly and Benson are going to develop differently and not look quite the same. I guess they’re fraternal twins.

This is Part 5 of a 6 part series that shows just how Johnston's strongest connections to its neighbors came to be. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, so many things (and people) outside of Johnston, wove the web, so to speak. This episode is  about Selma and its Clayton connections.

This is part of a series that shows just how Johnston's strongest connections to its neighbors came to be. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, so many things (and people) outside of Johnston, wove the web, so to speak. This episode is about Stallings Station/Gulley's Store. You know it as Clayton.

This is Part 3 of a series that shows just how Johnston's strongest connections to its neighbors came to be. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, so many things (and people) outside of Johnston, wove the web, so to speak. This episode is about the town of Duke. It may be in Harnett, but the connections are undeniable. Oh, you can call it Erwin.

This is Part 2 of a series that shows just how Johnston's strongest connections to its neighbors came to be. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, so many things (and people) outside of Johnston, wove the web, so to speak.  This episode is about the towns of Lucknow and Troyville. They may be in Harnett, but the connections are undeniable.