Granville District

From 1663 until 1779, the District was held under control of the descendants of Sir George Carteret, one of the original Lords Proprietors of the Province of Carolina.

The task was given to Samuel Warner, a London surveyor, who determined that Carteret was entitled to fifty-six and a quarter minutes of north latitude.

In 1743, the initial portion of the boundary line was surveyed by a commission appointed jointly by Carteret and North Carolina Governor Gabriel Johnston.

After the 1753 extension, other area land owners, including governor Arthur Dobbs, began to complain that the line had been run up to 13 and a half miles too far to the south.

This caused some resentment of Granville's district because the royal government of North Carolina was still responsible for the security and upkeep of the area, but did not receive any revenue from it.

Despite Granville's instructions, complaints (particularly regarding allegations of exorbitant fees) from land holders and prospective purchasers increased throughout the decade.

This state of affairs finally led to outbreaks of violence in 1770, known as the War of the Regulation (centered in modern-day Alamance County), which had to be put down by Governor William Tryon.