Bear Poplar, North Carolina

Bear Poplar is an unincorporated community within Mount Ulla Township in Rowan County, North Carolina, United States.

Bear Poplar, North Carolina
Populated place
Location of Bear Poplar, North Carolina
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
County	Rowan
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Area code(s)	704
GNIS feature ID	1019855

History

There are several stories of the name origin. The community was first known as Forty-Four because it was located 44 miles from Charlotte and Winston-Salem.[1] The community got its name Bear Poplar around 1773 when Thomas Cowan was walking with his wife about a mile away from his farm when they noticed a bear up a big poplar tree.[2] According to another source, the community was first known as Rocky Mount, the name of a plantation owned by Henry Kesler. It was renamed to Bear Poplar in 1878 when the first post office was established.[3]

At some point Bear Poplar had four stores, two cotton gins, a foundry, a garage, a blue granite quarry, a school, and a post office. The first Post Mistress, Lucy J. Kistler, was appointed in 1878. Bear Poplar Post Office ceased operation in 1966. The community is now served by Mount Ulla Post Office.[1]

An ancestral seat of Cowan and Krider families, Wood Grove, is in Bear Poplar.

A tribute to the historical name of Bear Poplar, Forty-Four, as part of Mount Ulla Barn Quilt, the largest community barn quilt in the United States in 2019.

Mount Ulla Barn Quilt, the largest community barn quilt in the United States in 2019, is on the wall of a local Bear Poplar store, West Rowan Farm, Home & Garden. The Mount Ulla Community Barn Quilt is 500 square feet, twenty square feet larger than the previous title holder - a community barn quilt in Ashland, Kansas.[4]

References

1. Crumbley, Tony L. (Spring 1997). "How Bear Poplar Got Its Name" (PDF). North Carolina Postal Historian. 16: 5–6.
2. Brawley, James (1953). The Rowan story, 1753-1953 : a narrative history of Rowan County, North Carolina. Salisbury, N.C.: Rowan Print. Co. pp. 302–303.
3. Hood, Davyd Foard (1983). The Architecture of Rowan County. A Catalogue and History of Surviving 18th, 19th and Early 20th Century Structures. Salisbury, N.C.: Rowan County Historic Properties Commission. p. 179.
4. Wineka, Mark (July 9, 2019). "Different kind of mural: Bear Poplar store now home to country's biggest community barn quilt". Salisbury Post. Retrieved July 9, 2019.