Greensboro, North Carolina

Early history Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the inhabitants of the area that became Greensboro were the Saura, a Siouan-speaking people. Other indigenous cultures had occupied this area for thousands of years, typically settling along the waterways, as did the early settlers. Quaker migrants from Pennsylvania, by way of Maryland, arrived at Capefair (now Greensboro) in about 1750. The new settlers began organized religious services affiliated with the Cane Creek Friends Meeting in Snow Camp in 1751. Three years later, 40 Quaker families were granted approval to establish New Garden Monthly Meeting. The settlement grew rapidly over the next three years, adding members from as far away as Nantucket, Massachusetts. Greensboro was established near the geographic center of Guilford County, on land that was "an unbroken forest with thick undergrowth of huckleberry bushes, that bore a finely flavored fruit." Property for the future village was purchased from the Saura for $98. Three north–south streets (Greene, Elm, Davie) were laid out intersecting with three east–west streets, Gaston, Market, and Sycamore. The railroads transported goods to and from the cotton textile mills. Many of the manufacturers developed workers' housing in mill villages near their facilities. Though the city developed slowly, early wealth generated in the 18th and 19th centuries from cotton trade and merchandising resulted in owners' constructing several notable buildings. The earliest, later named Blandwood Mansion and Gardens, was built by a farmer in 1795. Additions to this residence in 1846, designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, made the house influential as America's earliest Tuscan-style villa. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark. Other significant houses and estates were developed, including Dunleith, designed by Samuel Sloan; Bellemeade; and the Bumpass-Troy House. Since the late 20th century, the latter has been adapted and operates as a private inn. Civil War and last days of the Confederacy In the mid-19th century, many of the residents of the Piedmont and western areas of the state were Unionist, and Guilford County did not vote for secession. But once North Carolina joined the Confederacy, some citizens joined the Confederate cause, forming infantry units such as the Guilford Grays to fight in the American Civil War. From 1861 to March 1865 the city was relatively untouched by the war, although residents had to deal with regional shortages of clothing, medicine, and other items caused by the US naval blockade of the South. In the war's final weeks, Greensboro played a unique role in the last days of the Confederate government. In April 1865, the commanding officer of the Army of Tennessee, General Joseph E. Johnston, instructed General P. G. T. Beauregard to prepare to defend the city. During this time, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and the remaining members of the Confederate cabinet had evacuated the Confederate Capital in Richmond, Virginia, and moved south to Danville, Virginia. When Union cavalry threatened Danville, Davis and his cabinet managed to escape by train, and reassembled in Greensboro on April 11, 1865. While in the city, Davis and his cabinet decided to try to split up and make their way west of the Mississippi River to continue the war effort and avoid capture. Shortly thereafter, the cabinet left Greensboro and separated. Greensboro is notable as the last place where the entire Confederate government met as a group; some consider it the Confederacy's final capital city. At nearly the same time, Governor Zebulon B. Vance fled Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, before the forces of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman swept the city. For a brief period beginning April 16, 1865, he and other officials maintained the state capital in Greensboro. Vance proclaimed the North Carolina Surrender Declaration on April 28, 1865. Greensboro-based Ed Loewenstein designed projects throughout the region. Eduardo Catalano and George Matsumoto were hired for projects whose designs have challenged North Carolinians with modernist architectural concepts and forms. Civil rights movement In 1960, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Greensboro's population as 74.0% white and 25.8% black. As in the rest of the state, most blacks were still disenfranchised under state laws, Jim Crow laws and customs were in effect, and public facilities, including schools, were racially segregated by law. This was after the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Facilities reserved for blacks were generally underfunded by the state and city governments, which were dominated by conservative white Democrats. In the postwar period, blacks in North Carolina and across the South pushed to regain their constitutional rights.Mostly black women from Bennett college originally had been the original protesters coordinating against Jim-Crow laws.in turn College students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College (A&T), a historically black college, made Greensboro a center of protests and change. On February 1, 1960, four black college students sat down at an "all-white" Woolworth's lunch counter, and refused to leave after they were denied service. They had already purchased items in other parts of the store and kept their receipts. After being denied lunch service, they brought out the receipts, asking why their money was good everywhere else in the store but not at the lunch counter. Hundreds of supporters soon joined in this sit-in, which lasted several months.Such protests quickly spread across the South, ultimately leading to the desegregation of lunch counters and other facilities at Woolworth's and other chains. Woolworth's went out of business due to changes in 20th-century retail practices, but the original Woolworth's lunch counter and stools are still in their original location. The former Woolworth's building has been adapted as the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, which opened on February 1, 2010, the 50th anniversary of the sit-ins. A section of the counter is on display at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. to mark the protesters' courage. The white business community acceded to the desegregation of Woolworth's and made other minor concessions, but the civil rights movement had additional goals, holding protests in 1962 and 1963. In May and June 1963, the largest civil rights protest in North Carolina history took place in Greensboro. Protesters sought desegregation of public accommodations, and economic and social justice, such as hiring policies based on merit rather than race. They also worked for the overdue integration of public schools. Each night more than 2,000 protesters marched through Greensboro's segregated central business district. William Thomas and A. Knighton Stanley, coordinators of Greensboro's local CORE chapter, invited Jesse Jackson, then an activist student at A&T, to join the protests. Jackson quickly rose to prominence as a student leader, becoming the public spokesman of the non-violent protest movement. Seeking to overwhelm city jails, as was done in protests led by Martin Luther King Jr. in Birmingham, Alabama, the protesters invited arrest by violating segregation rules of local businesses; they were charged with trespassing and other nonviolent actions. College and high school students constituted most of the protesters, and at one point approximately 1,400 blacks were jailed in Greensboro. The scale of protests disrupted the business community and challenged the leadership of the mayor and Governor Terry Sanford. Finally, the city and business community responded with further desegregation of public facilities, reformed hiring policies in city government, and commitments to progress by both Sanford and Greensboro's mayor. Sanford declared, "Anyone who hasn't received this message doesn't understand human nature." Significant changes in race relations still came at a painfully slow pace, and the verbal commitments from white leadership in 1963 were not implemented in substantial ways. Dudley High School/A&T protests During the summer many High-school groups coordinated sit-ins, while their college students were occupied.Mainly students from James B Dudley High school. In May 1969, students of James B. Dudley High School were outraged when the administration refused to let a popular candidate, Claude Barnes, run for student union class president, allegedly due to his membership in Youth for the Unity of Black Society. After their appeals to the school were rejected, the students asked activists at North Carolina A&T State University for support in a protest. Protests escalated and after students at A&T had thrown rocks at police, they returned on May 21 armed with tear gas canisters, using them against the crowds. The uprising grew larger, and the governor ordered the National Guard to back up local police. After there were exchanges of gunfire, the governor ordered the North Carolina National Guard into the A&T campus, in what was described at the time as "the most massive armed assault ever made against an American university". The North Carolina National Guard swept the college dormitories, taking hundreds of students into "protective custody". The demonstrations were suppressed. The North Carolina State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights investigated the disturbances; its 1970 report concluded that the National Guard invasion was a reckless action disproportionate to the danger posed by student protests. It criticized local community leaders for failing to respond adequately to the Dudley High School students when the issues first arose. They declared it "a sad commentary that the only group in the community who would take the Dudley students seriously were the students at A&T State University". Four local TV news stations covered it. During the protest, two cars containing Klansmen and neo-Nazis arrived. After a confrontation, the KKK and CWP groups exchanged gunfire. Five CWP members were killed. Eleven CWP members and one Klansman were injured. Television footage of the actions was shown worldwide, and the event became known as the Greensboro massacre. In November 1980, six KKK defendants were acquitted in a state criminal trial by an all-white jury after a week of deliberation. Families of those killed and injured in the attack filed a civil suit against the city and police department for failure to protect citizens. In 1985, a jury in this case found five police officers and two other individuals liable for $350,000 in damages; the monies were to be paid to the Greensboro Justice Fund, established to advance civil rights. 21st century Textile companies and related businesses continue into the 21st century, when most went bankrupt, reorganized, and/or merged with other companies as textile manufacturing jobs moved offshore. Greensboro is still a major center of the textile industry, with the main offices of Elevate Textiles (Cone, Burlington Industries), Galey & Lord, Unifi, and VF Corporation (Wrangler, Lee, Helly Hansen, Musto, and Rock & Republic), ITG Brands, maker of Kool, Winston and Salem brand cigarettes and the nation's third-largest tobacco company is headquartered in Greensboro. Rail traffic continues to be important for the city's economy, as Greensboro is a major regional freight hub. Twelve Amtrak passenger trains also stop in Greensboro daily. The Crescent has its platform on the main Norfolk Southern line between Washington and New Orleans by way of Atlanta. The Carolinian and Piedmont trains have their platform at the start of Norfolk Southern NC-Line that runs from Greensboro to Goldsboro, NC. The Norfolk Southern K-Line starts at the Pomona freight yard just west of downtown and runs towards Winston-Salem. The Norfolk Southern CF-Line originally started in Mt. Airy, NC but rail has been removed north of downtown and now starts at the wye with the mainline downtown and heads south to Gulf, NC ==Geography==

According to the United States Census Bureau, Greensboro has an area of , of which is land and (3.83%) is water. west of Durham, northwest of Raleigh, northeast of Charlotte, and southwest of Richmond, Virginia. Neighborhoods and districts Downtown Downtown Greensboro has attracted development investment in recent years with such new construction as First National Bank Field, residential construction, and offices. The Southside neighborhood downtown exemplifies central-city reinvestment. The formerly economically depressed neighborhood has been redeveloped as an award-winning neotraditional-style neighborhood featuring walkability, compact blocks and local amenities and services. The redevelopment of the downtown was stimulated by the 2006 opening of the Elon University School of Law. The law school is credited with attracting student dollars to the downtown. Four Seasons/Coliseum area The Four Seasons Town Centre, at 410 Four Seasons Town Centre, is a three-story shopping mall with of shopping space developed by the Koury Corporation. It is adjacent to the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center and Sheraton Hotel. With over of flexible meeting space, the Koury Convention Center is the largest convention center in the Southeast between Atlanta and Washington, D.C. The hotel has more than 1,000 rooms. The Greensboro Coliseum is at 1921 W. Gate City Boulevard. This multipurpose complex consists of the 22,000-seat Greensboro Coliseum, the 300-seat Odeon Theatre, and the Special Events Center, which includes three exhibition halls, a 4,500-seat mini-arena, and eight meeting rooms. The Pavilion is adjacent. The complex hosts "a broad range of activities, including athletic events, cultural arts, concerts, theater, educational activities, fairs, exhibits, and public and private events of all kinds including conventions, convocations and trade and consumer shows". The Greensboro Aquatic Center, which hosts national swimming and diving events, is also in this complex. Triad Airport area In 1998, FedEx built a $300 million mid-Atlantic air-cargo and sorting hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport, after an intensive competition for the hub among other regions of the state, as well as locations in South Carolina. The project was challenged in court based on the quality of planned noise and pollution abatements from neighborhoods near the site. The hub opened in 2009. Originally projected by FedEx to employ 750 people in its first two years of operation and eventually 1,500, local FedEx employment has been nearly the same as before the facility was constructed. In March 2015, HondaJet, with a manufacturing facility in Greensboro, announced that it had received provisional type certification (PTC) from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This achievement indicates the FAA's approval of the HondaJet design based on certification testing, design reviews, and analyses completed to date. In 2022, construction began on the Boom Supersonic factory at the airport and it was completed in June 2024. The site will be used as a final assembly line and test site for its supersonic passenger aircraft, Overture. Climate Like much of the southeastern United States, Greensboro has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with four distinct seasons. Winters are short and generally cool, with a January daily average of . On average, there are 75 nights per year that drop to or below freezing, and 4.3 days that fail to rise above freezing. Strong tornadoes have struck the Greensboro area since then, notably Stoneville on March 20, 1998; Clemmons and Winston-Salem on May 5, 1989; Clemmons and Greensboro on May 7, 2008; High Point on March 28, 2010; and Greensboro on April 15, 2018. {{Weather box |location = Greensboro, North Carolina (Piedmont Triad Int'l), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1903–present {{cite web ==Demographics==

As of the 2020 census, there were 299,035 people, 118,046 households, and 69,420 families residing in the city. At the 2019 U.S. census estimates, there were 296,710 people living in the city, up from the 2019 American Community Survey's 291,303. At the 2010 U.S. census, there were 269,666 people; 111,731 households; and 63,244 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 124,074 housing units at an average density of . Of the 124,074 households in the city in 2010, 30.1% included children under age 18, 35.5% were headed by married couples living together, 16.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.4% were classified as non-family. Of the total households, 33.8% were composed of individuals, and 9.0% were someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.31, and the average family size was 3.00. From 2015 to 2019, the median household income increased to $48,964 with a per capita of $29,628. In 2019, the racial and ethnic makeup of Greensboro was 47.3% non-Hispanic white, 41.4% black or African American, 0.5% Native American or Alaska Native, 5% Asian alone, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 2.7% from some other race, and 3.0% multiracial. At the 2020 census, 41.42% of the population was black or African American, 38.6% non-Hispanic white, 0.33% Native American, 5.04% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.4% mixed or some other race, and 10.17% Hispanic or Latin American of any race. This reflected the national demographic shift and growth of nonwhite-identifying Americans. Religion In Greensboro, Sperling's BestPlaces determined that 48.33% of the population was religiously affiliated as of 2017. The largest religion in Greensboro is Christianity, with the most affiliates being either Baptist (11.85%) or Methodist (10.25%). The remaining Christian populations are Presbyterian (3.97%), Roman Catholic (3.71%), Pentecostal (2.61%), Episcopal (1.17%), Latter-Day Saints (1.02%), Lutheran (0.96%), and members of other Christian denominations (11.03%) including Greek Orthodox, Quaker, Moravian, Church of Christ, and non-denominational churches. After Christianity, the largest religion in Greensboro is Islam (0.82%), followed by Judaism (0.60%). Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism were the least common in Greensboro (0.34%). in downtown Greensboro. In 2010, the Association of Religious Data Archives reported Protestantism was the largest form of Christianity practiced in the city and metropolitan area. Evangelical Protestantism dominated religious society alongside conservative, primarily African American churches. Most of the Baptist community were and continue to be dominated by the Southern Baptist Convention, National Baptist Convention (USA), American Baptist Churches USA, Progressive National Baptist Convention, and Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship. Methodists have been primarily divided among the United Methodist Church and African Methodist Episcopal Church. In the Presbyterian community, many affiliate with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Pentecostals have been divided among the Assemblies of God USA, Church of God in Christ, and Oneness Pentecostal denominations including the United Pentecostal Church International. ==Economy==

The economy of Greensboro and the Piedmont Triad has traditionally centered around textiles, tobacco, and furniture. Greensboro's central location in the state has made it a popular place for families and businesses, as well as more of a logistics hub, with FedEx having regional operations based in the city. In December 2021, it was announced that Toyota Motor North America, a subsidiary of Japanese automaker Toyota, would operate a $1.3 billion battery plant in Greensboro. Notable companies headquartered in Greensboro include the Honda Aircraft Company, HAECO Americas, ITG Brands, Kayser-Roth, Mack Trucks, Cone Health, Volvo Trucks of North America, Qorvo, the International Textile Group, The Fresh Market, Cook Out, Ham's, Biscuitville, Fusion3, Wrangler, Kontoor Brands and Columbia Forest Products. Greensboro is a "center of operations" for the insurance company Lincoln Financial Group. City leaders have been working to attract new businesses in the nanotech, high-tech, aviation and transportation/logistics sectors. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina A&T State University opened a joint research park, Gateway University Research Park. Largest employers According to the city's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the largest employers in the city are: Top industries According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: ==Arts==

Greensboro is home to an active and diverse arts community. • The Carolina Theatre of Greensboro is a performing arts facility that has been a part of downtown Greensboro since 1927. Since the facility's renovation in the 1990s, the theater has served as the home of the Greensboro Ballet, the Community Theatre of Greensboro, the Livestock Players Musical Theatre, the Greensboro Youth Symphony, and a variety of other local performing arts groups. • City Arts showcases a variety of musical and theatrical productions by the Livestock Players, the Drama Center, the Greensboro Children's Theatre, the Music Center, the Greensboro Concert Band, Philharmonia of Greensboro, the Choral Society of Greensboro, and the Greensboro Youth Chorus. Most of these groups participate in the city's annual OPUS Concert Series and the summer "Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park" series. • The Community Theatre of Greensboro has presented Broadway and off-Broadway plays and musicals for more than 45 years. Its Studio Theatre is in the Greensboro Cultural Center. • The Eastern Music Festival brings more than 100 summer performances, from symphonic works to chamber music to recitals by professional and talented students from around the world. The event also hosts the Fringe Festival, showcasing avant-garde and nontraditional music and performances. • Elsewhere Collaborative is a living museum set inside a former thrift store on South Elm Street in downtown Greensboro. Elsewhere is an interactive, evolving environment of objects, creatives, and creations. The living museum hosts events, performances, projects, and productions that activate the 58-year collection and foster communications between creatives and participants. • The Greater Triad Shag Club is a nonprofit club dedicated to the music and dance associated with Carolina shag. The Shag is recognized as the "North Carolina Popular Dance". The Greater Triad Shag Club meets monthly at Thirsty's 2 in Greensboro. • Greensboro Ballet and School of Greensboro Ballet: A traditional December production of The Nutcracker is just one of the many artistic and educational activities offered by the ballet company. The School of Greensboro Ballet is one of a relative few nonprofit ballet schools in the nation. • The Greensboro Cultural Center houses more than 25 visual and performing arts organizations, five art galleries, rehearsal halls, a sculpture garden, a privately operated restaurant with outdoor cafe-style seating, and an outdoor amphitheater. Art galleries include the African American Atelier, the Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art, the Greensboro Artists' League Gallery and Gift Shop, the Guilford Native American Art Gallery and the Mattye Reed African Heritage Center Satellite Gallery. • The Greensboro Mural Project engages the community in a participatory arts process around social issues, allowing people throughout the community to help paint the city together. • The Greensboro Opera Company is a regional opera company founded in October 1981 that has experienced much growth and expansion. Beginning with the production of Verdi's La traviata featuring June Anderson (then a rising young New York City Opera soprano), the company expanded from a single fall production of a major opera in the years 1981–89 to the addition of Sunday matinee performances in the 1998–99 season when, in response to successive sold-out productions of Madame Butterfly and Carmen in 1997 and 1998, a second spring opera with two performances was added, beginning in 1999–2000. The company has blended outside and local singers with a full orchestra, staffed by members of the Greensboro Symphony, in the pit at its home at Greensboro's War Memorial Auditorium. • The Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Dmitry Sitkovetsky, has developed a strong reputation among national musical organizations, including continued exposure on National Public Radio's Performance Today. The orchestra performs classical and pops concerts and holds educational programs for young listeners throughout the year. • The Mattye Reed African American Heritage Collection at North Carolina A&T State University hosts one of the nation's most acclaimed collections of African culture. It houses more than 3,500 art and craft pieces from more than 30 African nations, New Guinea and Haiti. • Stagelights Theater Company is a youth performing arts program dedicated to helping children experience the joy of theatre, dance, and music. Pamela Kinter founded it in 2010. Students learn to express themselves in front of an audience, as well as the importance of teamwork and cooperation in creating a work of art. Stagelights holds many full-length musical theatre productions throughout the year, and also offers classes in the dramatic arts, dance, musical theatre, vocal education, and private instrument instruction. • The Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts is a 3,023-seat performing arts facility that opened in November 2021. It is scheduled to host multiple Broadway productions in 2022, including Wicked, Hamilton,The Lion King, and Mean Girls. • Triad Stage is a not-for-profit regional theatre company based in the downtown historic district. All productions are created in Greensboro using a combination of local and national talent. The theater company was recognized as "One of the 50 Best Regional Theatres in America!" by New York's Drama League, "Best Live Theatre" in Go Triad/News & Record The Rhino Times, and was voted "2003 Professional Theater of the Year" by the North Carolina Theatre Conference. • The Weatherspoon Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro houses one of the Southeast's foremost collections of modern and contemporary art. Comprising six galleries, it is nationally recognized for its collection of 20th-century American art. The permanent collection also includes lithographs and bronzes by Henri Matisse, and art by Willem de Kooning, Henry Ossawa Tanner, John Graham, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol. • Weaver Academy is a high school for advanced artists and performers. Plays, musicals, art shows, and concerts can be regularly seen on its downtown campus. The school has many accomplished alumni, notably Isaac Cole Powell. Attractions • Bicentennial Garden was developed in 1976 to commemorate the U.S. bicentennial. The garden contains of paved trails, along with outdoor sculptures and a pavilion. The park is across the street from The Bog Garden and also on Hobbs Road. • Blandwood Mansion and Gardens is the historic home of former North Carolina Governor John Motley Morehead. Today it serves as a museum of national architectural and historical significance. It is the earliest example of Tuscan Italianate architecture in the nation, designed by New York architect Alexander Jackson Davis. • The Bog Garden is accessed by an elevated boardwalk that comprises a half-mile of the of trails that wind through a garden of plants and wildlife that thrive in a wetland ecosystem. It is off Hobbs Road. • Carolyn & Maurice LeBauer Park opened downtown in 2016 next to the library and the Greensboro Historical Museum. • The revitalized downtown Elm Street area is known for its collection of antique shops, art galleries, and restaurants and clubs. Many people attend the First Friday events held each month at participating merchants. • First National Bank Field is the home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers baseball club. Completed in 2005, it hosts additional outdoor events and concerts during the summer months. • Green Hill Cemetery, Greensboro's oldest public cemetery, occupies 51 acres adjacent to downtown. Green Hill remains an active cemetery for burials, but visitors may walk or drive through it. • Greensboro offers and is well known for over 70 miles of hiking trails, including around the lakes, Guilford Military Park, and downtown. Many allow biking also, including Owl's Roost Trail, one of North Carolina's best biking trails. • The Greensboro Arboretum was completed as a partnership between Greensboro Beautiful and the City of Greensboro Parks & Recreation Department. It offers an extensive selection of flora for study and enjoyment. The site features 12 permanent plant collections as well as special display gardens with a fountain, overlook, arbor, gazebo, bridges, and viewing benches. • Greensboro Center City Park occupies half a city block adjacent to the Greensboro Cultural Center. Sponsored by Action Greensboro, the park features a fountain as well as works by several North Carolina artists. • The Greensboro Children's Museum (GCM) offers hands-on and interactive exhibits, educational programming, and special events all year long for children newborn through age ten. • The Greensboro Coliseum Complex was conceived, and continues to operate, as a multibuilding facility to serve citizens of Greensboro and the surrounding region by hosting a broad range of activities including athletic and cultural events; concerts, theater and other entertainment; educational activities, fairs and exhibits; and other public and private events such as conventions, convocations and trade/consumer shows. The coliseum complex has hosted prestigious events such as the collegiate Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) basketball tournament, East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) and American Hockey League (AHL) professional hockey, the NCAA men's basketball championship and Starrcade (1983). The Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League also called the Greensboro Coliseum their temporary home while their permanent venue was being constructed in Raleigh. Since 1959, the coliseum has featured superstars ranging from Elvis Presley to Usher. The facility again hosted ACC basketball tournaments (men's and women's) in 2010 and the 2011 and 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The complex has undergone several major renovations, most recently in 1994, enlarging the maximum arena capacity to 23,500 seats. The ACC Hall of Champions and Museum opened adjacent to the coliseum complex in March 2011, as the ACC was founded in Greensboro in 1953 and was headquartered at the Grandover Office Park in south Greensboro. • The Greensboro Science Center is a family-oriented, hands-on science museum and planetarium. The zoo reopened in summer 2007 after extensive renovations. • Guilford Courthouse National Military Park commemorates the Battle of Guilford Court House, which occurred there on March 15, 1781. The battle opened the campaign that led to America's victory in the Revolutionary War. The British lost a substantial number of troops in the battle, which factored in their surrender at Yorktown seven months later. The battle site remains largely undeveloped, with large stone memorials erected early in the 20th century to memorialize the event. • Hagan Stone Park is a scenic wildlife refuge and family campground owned and operated by the city of Greensboro, on Hagan Stone Park Road off U.S. Highway 421. It is open daily 8 am to sunset, weather permitting. The park has several lakes, camp shelters with charcoal grills, and playgrounds. The park is the home of the Greensboro Invitational Cross Country Meet hosted annually in September by the Greensboro Pacesetters for high school and college athletes. • The International Civil Rights Center and Museum, opened in 2010, is in the former F. W. Woolworth building in which the Greensboro sit-ins occurred. The museum was founded by the Sit-in Movement, Inc. to commemorate the sit-ins and persons involved, as well as other events in the history of the Civil Rights Movement. • Wet 'n Wild Emerald Pointe has 36 rides, including Daredevil Drop, one of the nation's tallest water slides, and family rides such as Tropical Drop. The park features two heavily themed family sections: Splash Island and Happy Harbor. Emerald Pointe is the Carolinas' largest water park. According to Amusement Business magazine, Emerald Pointe has the tenth-highest annual attendance among American water parks, at nearly 500,000. • Woods of Terror is a haunted theme park near Greensboro. • World War Memorial Stadium was one of the nation's oldest continuously used professional baseball facilities before it was replaced by the city's First Horizon Stadium in 2005. The stadium was constructed in 1926 to honor the lives lost during World War I. It anchors the Aycock Historic District and remains in use by collegiate baseball teams, amateur leagues, and other special events throughout the year. The stadium was home to the Greensboro Bats professional minor-league club until the First Horizon Park opened and the team became the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Retail Greensboro is home to a variety of retail shopping, from well-known national chains to local boutiques and galleries. Four Seasons Town Centre off of I-40, being of three-levels and enclosed. Friendly Center, off Friendly Avenue, is an open-air shopping complex featuring one of the largest Harris Teeter supermarkets, and a multiplex cinema. The Shoppes at Friendly Center, adjacent to Friendly Center, is home to notable upscale retailers and restaurants. Around the corner on Market street is Fanta City International Mall, a mini-mall dedicated to foreign exchange. This is a broad international supercenter combined with a flea market, offering European and East Asian specialties. Traditional shopping centers are primarily found on the West Wendover corridor near I-40 and on Battleground Avenue on the city's northwest side. Big-box retailers have clustered at the site of the former Carolina Circle Mall on the city's northeast side and far south along the Urban Loop (I-85, I-73). On New Garden Road, are surrounding retail, mostly near the Bryan Blvd interchange. ==Sports==

, home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates Greensboro is not home to any top-level professional sports teams. The National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes moved to Raleigh from Hartford, Connecticut in 1997, but the team played its first two seasons at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex while its home arena, Raleigh's Lenovo Center, was under construction. During the late 1990s, the Minnesota Twins almost relocated to the city, even receiving league approval, but the deal collapsed after local voters refused to fund the proposed ballpark. The Greensboro Grasshoppers (formerly the Greensboro Bats and the Greensboro Hornets) are a minor league baseball team in Greensboro. They are a Class High-A team in the South Atlantic League and a farm team for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Grasshoppers play at First National Bank Field. Greensboro's North Carolina Fusion U23 play in the USL League Two, the nation's top level men's amateur soccer competition. It has 63 teams competing in four conferences, split into ten regional divisions. It is considered the fourth tier of competition, behind the United Soccer League. The team plays its home games at Macpherson Stadium in nearby Browns Summit, where it has played since 2003. PDL seasons take place during the summer, with the player pool drawn mainly from elite NCAA college soccer players seeking to continue playing high level soccer during their summer break, which they can do while still maintaining their college eligibility. On October 27, 2015, the Charlotte Hornets officially announced that Greensboro would host an affiliate NBA Development League team, beating out other considered cities like Columbia, Asheville, Fayetteville, and Charleston. The Greensboro Swarm began playing in fall 2016 at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse. Greensboro is home to two universities that participate in NCAA Division I Athletics: North Carolina A&T Aggies of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, as well as UNC Greensboro Spartans of the University of North Carolina Greensboro. The Aggies compete in both Coastal Athletic Association and MEAC conferences, while the Spartans compete in the Southern Conference. Both Greensboro College and Guilford College participates at the NCAA Division III level. Greensboro was home to the headquarters of the Atlantic Coast Conference, despite having no school in the league. The Greensboro Coliseum Complex has hosted the ACC men's basketball tournament 23 times since 1967 and the ACC women's basketball tournament 12 times since 2000. Greensboro has also hosted the NCAA Men's Basketball Regionals three times, and the Final Four once. The PGA Tour holds a tournament annually in Greensboro. The Wyndham Championship is held at Sedgefield Country Club and is the last PGA Tour event before the Playoffs for the FedEx Cup. The tournament was founded in 1938 as the Greater Greensboro Open and one of the oldest events on the PGA Tour. Greensboro nicknames itself "Tournament Town" due to the many sports tournaments it hosts. In addition to the ACC basketball tournament and NCAA basketball games, the city has hosted the ACC baseball tournament, the 2011 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and a number of national competitions at the new Greensboro Aquatic Center. In 1974 Greensboro hosted the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four championship game. It was the first time the Final Four was held in North Carolina. Greensboro Roller Derby was founded in 2010 and has been a member of the WFTDA, Women's Flat Track Derby Association, since 2013. The league comprises three intraleague teams, named after prominent streets in the city, as well as interleague all-star and b-level teams, each featuring skaters from the three intraleague teams. The league is run by the skaters, who all have ties to the community, and is a not-for-profit organization. Roller derby bouts are held at the Greensboro Coliseum from March to November. ==Government==

Greensboro has a council–manager government with nine members; all seats, including the mayor's, are up for election every four years. Five of the council seats are district representatives and three are citywide representatives elected at-large. As of Oct 2024, Nancy B. Vaughan is the mayor. Trey Davis is the city manager. City Council As of February 2026, members of the Greensboro City Council include: ==Education==

at North Carolina A&T State University Higher education Greensboro is home to many major institutions of higher education. Universities and colleges are Bennett College (liberal arts, four year, 650 students); Elon University School of Law; Greensboro College (private, liberal arts, four year, 1300 students); Guilford College (private, liberal arts, four year, 2100 students); North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (public, four year, 14,311 students); the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (public, four year, 20,000 students) and ECPI University (Private, Technology and Nursing). Greensboro and Guilford County are served by the two year Guilford Technical Community College (15,000 students), which is between Greensboro and High Point. The Greater Greensboro Consortium was established to allow college students enrolled in one Greensboro-area institution to cross-register at other institutions in the same area. Students are also allowed to join certain student organizations at other institutions in the consortium not present at their home institution. Public education Greensboro's public schools are operated by Guilford County Schools, the state's third-largest school system, with about 71,000 students. Greensboro has one of the oldest public high schools in the state, Grimsley High School, established in 1899 as Greensboro High School. It is also home to Weaver Academy for the Performing and Visual Arts & Advanced Technology, an arts high school. Greensboro has the state's first early college, The Early College at Guilford, ranked by U.S. News & World Report in 2021 as North Carolina's best public school and the #2 STEM school in the country. The state-operated Central North Carolina School for the Deaf was formerly in Greensboro. Private education Greensboro is home to many private day schools, including Greensboro Day School, Our Lady of Grace Catholic School, New Garden Friends School, Caldwell Academy, B'nai Shalom Day School, Canterbury School, Noble Academy, Vandalia Christian School, Shining Light Christian Academy, Saint Pius X Catholic School, and Covenant Christian Day School. The area has two boarding schools: the American Hebrew Academy and the Oak Ridge Military Academy, in nearby Oak Ridge. ==Media==

is Greensboro's CBS affiliate. Newspapers The Greensboro News & Record, part of the newspaper group owned by Lee Enterprises, is the daily newspaper. The Triad Business Journal, part of the American City Business Journals chain of business weeklies owned by Advance Communications, is based in Greensboro and covers business across the Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. The Carolina Peacemaker is a newsweekly that covers the African-American community. Yes! Weekly, Triad City Beat, Greensboro Latino and Qué Pasa are free alternative newspapers that cover local news and events. The Future Outlook served the African American community during the 1940s until the 1970s. Broadcast television Greensboro is a part of the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point television designated market area and includes the following commercial broadcast stations (listed by call letters, channel number, network and city of license): • WFMY-TV, 2, CBS, Greensboro • WGHP, 8, Fox, High Point • WXII-TV, 12, NBC, Winston-Salem • WGPX, 16, Ion, Burlington • WCWG, 20, The CW, Lexington • WUNL-TV, 26, PBS/UNC-TV, Winston-Salem • WXLV-TV, 45, ABC, Winston-Salem • WGSR-TV, 47, Independent, Reidsville • WMYV-TV, 48, MyNetworkTV, Greensboro • WLXI-TV, 61, TCT, Greensboro Greensboro is home to the Triad bureau of News 14 Carolina. BNT 20.2 is North Carolina's only black-owned TV station. Radio FM stations • WNAA-FM (90.1, Variety), operated by North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University • WQFS-FM (90.9, Variety), operated by Guilford College • WPAW-FM (93,1, The Wolf/Country) • WQMG-FM (97.1, Urban adult contemporary) • WSMW-FM (98.7, Adult Hits) • WMAG-FM (99.5, Adult contemporary) • WLJF-LP-FM (100.7, Urban Gospel) • WDFC-LP-FM (101.7, Classical/smooth Jazz) • WJMH-FM (102.1, Rhythmic contemporary) • WUAG-FM (103.1, Variety), operated by University of North Carolina at Greensboro • WKZL-FM (107.5, Pop/Top 40) • WSSY-LP-FM (107.9, R&B/Urban Gospel) AM stations • WPET-AM (950, Religious) • WCOG-AM (1320, Sports) • WKEW-AM (1400, Gospel) • WWBG-AM (1470, Spanish contemporary) • WEAL-AM (1510, Gospel) Documentaries • 88 Seconds in Greensboro, PBS Frontline transcript. Reported by James Reston Jr. Directed by William Cran. Original airdate: January 24, 1983. • February One, California newsreel documentary on 1960 sit-in by the Greensboro Four • ''Greensboro's Child'', documentary about the 1979 Greensboro Massacre and the shadow it cast on the survivors • Greensboro: Closer to the Truth, Rome International Film Festival and deadCENTER Film Festival award-winning 2007 documentary about the 1979 Greensboro Massacre and aftermath • Elvis Presley's concert in Greensboro in April 1972 was professionally recorded and became part of the Golden Globe award-winning musical documentary Elvis on Tour featuring Elvis in three different concerts, including the one in Greensboro. ==Infrastructure==

Public safety Police department The Greensboro Police Department (GPD) consist of approximately 787 sworn law enforcement officers and non-sworn employees. In March 2024, Officer Terrence Harris stated that the department was short 80 of its desired 650 sworn officer positions. Fire department The Greensboro Fire Department provides fire protection and assist with emergency medical services (EMS) throughout the city. Guilford County EMS is the primary resource for EMS in Greensboro and the surrounding areas within Guilford County. Hospitals Greensboro is served by Cone Health Behavioral Health Hospital, Moses Cone Hospital and Wesley Long Hospital, Select Specialty Hospital, Kindred Hospital Greensboro. Transportation & Rail Depot Greensboro is served by Piedmont Triad International Airport, which also serves the nearby cities of High Point and Winston-Salem as well as the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. Piedmont Triad International is North Carolina's third-busiest airport, averaging 280 takeoffs and landings a day. Notable passenger flights include, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, American Eagle, Delta Air Lines and United Express. PTI is a hub for FedEx Express. Amtrak's daily Crescent, Carolinian and Piedmont trains connect Greensboro with New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans. Amtrak trains, taxis, local and long-distance buses arrive and depart from the J. Douglas Galyon Depot, also known as Greensboro station, at 236-C East Washington Street. Originally constructed in the early 1920s, the station and depot were renovated in 2004. The Greensboro Transit Authority offers public bus service throughout the city. Regional public transportation throughout the metropolitan area is coordinated by PART, Piedmont Area Regional Transportation. The Greensboro Greenway is a bike trail that is being constructed to encircle downtown Greensboro. It will connect to other trails and lead out to the Bur-Mil Park area and further. Interstate Highways • • • • • • • Interstate 40 is the key east–west interstate in the city. I-40 merges onto Interstate 85 in the eastern outskirts of the city. I-85 travels in the southern outskirts of Greensboro, from southwest to northeast. The I-85 and I-40 concurrency connects the three regions of Piedmont Triad, Triangle, and Metrolina. The Greensboro Urban Loop forms the beltway around the core areas of the city, carrying Interstate 73, Interstate 85, Interstate 840, and US 421. US 29 connects I-85 into central Greensboro, and travels along O'Henry Boulevard when going north towards Reidsville. The stretch where US 29 and US 220 merges onto Interstate 40, forms the decades-long referred, "Death Valley"; which had been known to be congested and accident-prone stretch, in which several major federal and interstate routes had combined into a single freeway vicinity which had lasted for several years. The Death Valley had been subject to since-completed partial updates, and future extensive rebuilding The downtown and central areas of Greensboro feature notable corridors of at-grade and grade separated statures, connecting the core: Wendover Avenue (US 70) traverses in western and northern outskirts of Downtown Greensboro, while also forming a partial loop around downtown. Freeman Mill Road, Gate City Boulevard, Friendly Avenue, Market Street, and Josephine Boyd Street, are key routes in downtown which blend both intersections and exits. NC 68 and Bryan Boulevard connect to The PTI Airport, with the two also interchanging with I-40 and I-73. ==Notable people==

Greensboro has a sister city relationship with three cities to foster international friendship and cooperation: • Montbéliard, Doubs, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France. A street in Montbéliard was renamed Rue de Greensboro to honor the Montbéliard–Greensboro alliance. • Buiucani sector, Chişinău, Moldova • Yingkou, Liaoning, China ==See also==