Allen McKinney of Marion's Garden Creek Baptist Church who was the driving force and encouraged larger resettlement to the region.
[3] Hmong families who had been resettled in areas like Fresno, California and Philadelphia soon joined relatives in North Carolina.
[4] The Hmong were drawn to the mountainous part of Western North Carolina due to its geographic similarity to Laos.
[5] Today the Hmong are an important part of the cultural and economic makeup of the region, with their own churches, restaurants and markets.
[6] North Carolina now has the fourth largest Hmong population in the United States, behind California, Minnesota and Wisconsin.