Scots in North Carolina

Immigrants Change the Culture

Photo of a mannequin wearing a red-plaid Highlander kilt, with a mural of the Scottish highlands behind
Exhibit, Scottish Heritage Center, now closed (AmRevNC photograph)

The first mass migration of people from Scotland to North America was the 1739 settling of the “Argyll Colony.” This was named for a western coastal “shire” or Scottish county with towns famous to whiskey drinkers today: Ardberg, Bowmore, Lagavulin, etc. They claimed lands along the inland parts of the Cape Fear River that boats could reach from the coast, ending at Campbelltown (now Fayettevill