Burlington

Burlington, city, Alamance county, north-central North Carolina, U.S., between Greensboro (west) and Durham (east). Maintenance shops of the North Carolina Railroad were erected on the site in 1851, and the town of Company Shops was incorporated in 1866; it was rechartered in 1887 as Burlington. The economy suffered when the shops were moved to Spencer in 1896, but the subsequent introduction of small manufacturing plants brought recovery. These were followed in the 1920s by large-scale textile operations.

Textiles and apparel are still important and are augmented by diversified manufactures (electronic equipment, chemicals, plastics, and machinery) and printing and publishing. Nearby is the Alamance Battleground State Historic Site, where the Regulators, a group of dissident colonists, were defeated (May 16, 1771) by militia dispatched by the royal governor. Elon College (1889) is nearby. Inc. 1893. Pop. (2000) 44,917; Burlington Metro Area, 130,800; (2010) 49,963; Burlington Metro Area, 151,131.