State

HALIFAX HAS PLENTY By Bill Sharpe Water, History and Peanuts The Piedmont Plateau ends in the Great Fall Line which runs toward the southwest. The rolling uplands subside gently, here and there pushing tired little ripples of clay out into the sand and loam, where they soon arc swal¬ lowed by the vast flatnesses which stretch out toward the distant sea. And here the streams which have twisted and turned from their high¬ land homes tumble finally into their new habitat, changing from swift flow¬ ing rivers to broad, sluggish waterways. Fishing Creek One stream, little known to North Carolinians, is Fishing Creek. It rises in the most easterly Piedmont, incon¬ spicuously flows eastward, and drains the greater portion of Halifax. Twenty miles to the north another stream. The Roanoke, ends a long journey from the mountains and pours spectacularly down into the plains in a series of swift, breath-taking runs. In between the two — which form its northern and southern bounds, lies Halifax. It is a large county of 722 square miles; rich in performance and promise. Approaching it from the west along US 158 from Warrenton, the traveler is still in the Piedmont for a short while, riding over wooded ridges. From the crest of some of them, you get views somewhat similar to those in the Uwharrics, though less rugged. Within the space of a mile or two, however, the motorist slides easily on¬ to the plains floor. The county tilts in a southeasterly direction. Littleton, on the northwest¬ ern line, is 388 feet above sea level, and it is believed that some of the nearby area reaches elevations of 500 feet. The county even has a mountain — Mt. Mcdoc, near Hollister, where C. W. Garrett once had a famous vineyard of Mcdoc grapes, which went into the original Virginia Dare Wine, a Garrett creation. The land drops rapidly, however, because Weldon. 20 miles from Little¬ ton, has an altitude of only 77 feet. Deep Gullies After leaving the Piedmont, Hali¬ fax offers more geographical novelties. There are slopes toward major water courses, and even the eastern section is marked by relatively deep canyons, cut by creeks and the river. The Roa¬ noke is almost everywhere approached down a steep bluff. At places along the Roanoke and Fishing creek there are river terraces, front two to five miles wide — rich "low ground" deeper than deep, upon which from earliest times farming has THE STATE. Vol. XIX; No. 39. Entered at second-class matter. June I. 1933. at the Postofllce at Raleigh, North Carolina, under the act of March 3. ISIS. Published by Sharpe Publishing Co., Inc.. Lawyers Bldg., Raleigh, N. C. Copyright, 19S2. by the Sharpe publishing Co- Inc.