Negro Head Road

Negro (or Nigger) Head Road (or any other geographical place name: Corner, Slough, Point, Creek, etc.) is a place, traditionally outside a Southern town, until recently outside Wilmington, NC but also other Southern towns, where body parts of slaves or blacks were displayed in consequence of a purported crime. An ear was displayed for bad attitude, a head for rebellion, fingers or a hand for theft, toes or a foot for escape, and genitals for sexual misconduct, etc.

...Negro Head Point, or Negro Head Point Road? (Many responded to this question with the vernacular: "It's Nigger Head Road.") "How did these places get their names?" The historical aspect of this study was addressed primarily by a title search conducted at the...