Burlington, North Carolina

Episode 707 / 11 June 2026 / 184 min / full

Serial Granny

"We're going to Burlington, North Carolina here; it is in two different counties, Alamance County and Guilford County" about 0:05:32

The case: Murder of Raymond Reed (January to October 1986). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2026

Population

56,563

Median age

38.8

Median household income

$47,158

Median home value

$195,600

Two-bedroom rent

$1,050

Cost of living

84

Religious

43.2%

Property crime

▲ about 25% above

Violent crime

▲ about 25% above

History, in brief

• Native people were there first; the early settlers were groups of Quakers, followed by German farmers and Scottish and Irish immigrants. about 0:07:16
• In the 1850s the North Carolina Railroad needed land where it could build, repair and maintain its track, and that is how the town started. about 0:07:48
• The town's official name at first was Company Shops, North Carolina, because it existed for the railroad's repair shops. about 0:08:37
• It was renamed for a couple of years during the Civil War and then returned to Company Shops in July 1864, still during the war. about 0:08:51
• Company Shops remained a small village with no churches or schools, just a place where greasy men lived while they fixed locomotive engines. about 0:09:04
• After the railroad was leased to Richmond and Danville, the shops closed and the railroad jobs moved elsewhere. about 0:09:17
• In February 1887 a contest was held to choose a new name; someone submitted Burlington after seeing the word on the side of a passing train and liking how it sounded. about 0:09:35

The reviews read out

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