The last minor league baseball team to play before the Generals were the Fayetteville Highlanders of the Carolina League, they ceased play after the 1956 season.

In 1986, Charles Padgett, a Don Koonce and Jimmy O. Bunce paid $500,000 for the franchise.

Prior to the 1997 season, the Generals were renamed the Cape Fear Crocs.

In 1996, playing with the Generals, Gabe Kapler led the South Atlantic League in hits, doubles, and triples (45; 2nd in the minor leagues), extra-base hits (71), and total bases (280).

This article about a baseball team in North Carolina is a stub.