A Brief History of Greensboro, NC

Greensboro was named after Major General Nathanael Greene, commander of the American Forces at the Battle of Guilford Court House on March 15, 1781. The Americans had lost that battle, but the Pyrrhic victory slowed Cornwallis' British forces enough to allow the Americans to prepare to defeat them at the Battle of Yorktown.

Greensboro was created near the geographic center of Guilford County, and though the city developed slowly, its economy began to grow from the cotton trade and merchandising that spawned the financing for the earliest building that is known today as Blandwood Mansion and Gardens, that was built in 1795.