SANFORD NORTH CAROLINA

Sanford North Carolina Information

The city of Sanford was named for C.O. Sanford, a railroad engineer instrumental in the building of the rail lines through the area that formed the foundation of what became the city of Sanford.

Sanford is located in Lee County, North Carolina, which was formed from parts of the surrounding three counties in 1907. On creation of the new county, both Sanford and Jonesboro were the major towns in the area. Rather than decide which would be the county seat, the decision was to place the county's new courthouse directly between the two towns. For decades, Lee County was the only county in the United States to have a courthouse with an RFD address. In the late 20th century Sanford had grown to such an extent that it eventually merged with Jonesboro. The town of Jonesboro became Jonesboro Heights, and the name of Sanford was kept for the town.

The general Sanford area played key roles in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, specifically regarding sites like the House in the Horseshoe and Endor Iron Furnace. Over the following decades, the Sanford area became an important source of coal, brownstone, and brick. In particular brownstone and subsequent brick production made Sanford a key provider of these building materials for areas throughout the United States.

Sanford is a town of just over 25,000 people. Sanford is short drive from all Raleigh and the Research Triangle region have to offer but far enough away to maintain a small town feel. Sanford is in the very heart of North Carolina among the Sand hills. Sanford was founded as a railroad town, where several rail lines met. The history of Sanford's railroads can be found at the local Railroad House Museum.

Sanford is home to a wide range of companies. The Pantry convenience stores, Static Control Components, and This End Up Furniture are businesses that started locally but have grown into nationally recognized companies. We have manufacturing plants for Coty Cosmetics, Caterpillar, and Wyeth Vaccines. Sanford is home to several brick manufacturers who use the local clay deposits to make brick used in home construction. Local clay is also used by some well regarded potters who make a wide variety of clay pots, mugs, and other items. Sanford holds the North Carolina's largest pottery festival every spring.

We have communities with lakes, golf courses, community pools, parks, and almost anything you can imagine! We have homes to fit almost every budget from large estates on multi-acre water front lots to starter homes in quaint neighborhoods. We have homes currently under construction and homes over 100 years old with everything in-between.

• Many of the City of Sanford's offices are housed in the Sanford Municipal building on Weatherspoon Street. To contact specific departments, see the Sanford City Government web page.
• Find out more about the local chamber of commerce at the Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce website.
• Some of the businesses in downtown Sanford have formed a group called Downtown Sanford Incorporated; see the Downtown Sanford website for more information.
• If you are moving to the Sanford area and need to connect utilities, see the Sanford Area Utilities Phone List.