Goldsboro, NC news and local guide

New rail connections to Charlotte and Beaufort spurred growth, and by 1861 the town had about 1,500 people. It was the trading center of a rural area first farmed by yeoman farmers and later dominated by large cotton plantations worked by enslaved African Americans. As an important railroad junction, Goldsborough stationed and supplied Confederate troops in the Civil War and provided hospitals for soldiers wounded in nearby battles. In December 1862 the Battle of Goldsborough Bridge was fought over the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad bridge. Union General John Foster arrived with his troops on December 17, overpowered the small Confederate force and burned the bridge to cut the supply line from Wilmington, and his men were attacked again on their way back to New Bern. Sources Wikipedia: Goldsboro, North Carolina