Shiloh

The community of Shiloh began in the 1820s as a small enclave of free African Americans and, as one of the few free black communities in North Carolina before the Civil War, grew slowly. As slaves were emancipated beginning in the 1860s, new families and individuals came seeking better lives. Industrious families and strong leaders built an independent local economy that carried Shiloh into the 20th century and helped shape the history of Morrisville. Like many rural North Carolina communities, Shiloh turned to tobacco as a cash crop after the Civil War, and farmers pooled resources and tools in a cooperative where they sold and exchanged food, livestock, and other goods. Although commercial and residential development has replaced farmland and agriculture, many descendants of Shiloh’s founding families and farmers still live in the area.

Morrisville, North Carolina · United States