Famous Names and Faces
Reggie Singletary
After graduating from West Columbus High School, the highly recruited lineman played four seasons for N. C. State. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted Singletary in 1986. Singletary played five seasons for the Eagles. He ended his playing career in 1991 after one year with the Green Bay Packers.
Jane McNeill-Balter
A stage, film, and television actress from Whiteville who is best known for her role as Patricia on the second season of AMC's The Walking Dead. In 2015, she served as Queen of the North Carolina Pecan Harvest Festival in Whiteville.
MacKenzie Gore
Gore was a three-time NC State 1A baseball championship series MVP. Gore was named the Gatorade National Baseball Player and Athlete of the Year in 2017. He was the third overall pick of the 2017 MLB draft by the San Diego Padres.
Patrick Lennon
Lennon was selected 8th in the first round of the 1986 MLB draft out of Whiteville High School by the Seattle Mariners. Lennon played in the majors for four clubs between 1991 and 1999.
Eric (EJ) Jenkins
Jenkins, a product of West Columbus High School, was selected 45th overall by the Texas Rangers in the 2015 MLB draft. Jenkins is currently in the Rangers minor league system.
Chester McGlockton
McGlockton was a high school football All-American at Whiteville High. He led the Wolfpack to a 15-0 record and the 2A State Championship his senior year. After his collegiate career at Clemson, he was picked 16th in the 1992 NFL draft by the LA Raiders. McGlockton played 12 seasons in the NFL and was selected to the Pro Bowl four times.
Max Lennon
If Evergreen, former chancellor of Clemson University
Otis Nixon
From Evergreen, the former MLB player was a center fielder and switch-hitter who played from 1983 to 1999. He holds the record for the most stolen bases for a player that has ever appeared in an MLB All-Star game since the game was inaugurated in 1933.
Chris Wilcox
From the Mt. Olive community, the former NBA power forward and center last played for the Boston Celtics in 2012 after playing for the Los Angeles Clippers, Seattle SuperSonics, Oklahoma City Thunder, New York Knicks, and Denver Pistons. Wilcox won an NCAA Championship at The University of Maryland.
Maggie Will
The Whiteville native grew up competing on the Boys Golf team in high school. After graduation, Will attended Furman University and was a key contributor to the 1987 Paladins Womens Golf team's NCAA runner-up finish. Will was a member of the LPGA tour for 11 seasons, winning three tournaments.
William (Bill) Valentine
From Whiteville, an architect and Chairman Emeritus of HOK, the largest architectural, engineering, and planning design firm in the world.
Donell Nixon
The Evergreen native played four seasons in the major leagues, appearing in the 1989 World Series for the San Francisco Giants. Nixon stole 144 bases for Bakersfield in 1983. This is the second-highest total pro baseball history.
Roger Soles
The former president and CEO of Jefferson Pilot Insurance grew up in the Pleasant Plains community between Whiteville and Nakina.
Archie Ammons
A poet from Whiteville who won the annual National Book Award for Petry in 1973 and 1993. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1978.
Tommy Greene
Former MLB pitcher from Whiteville who played with the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and Houston Astros. He pitched a no-hitter while playing for the Phillies. He is currently a post-game studio analyst for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Joe Gore
East Columbus High School class of '11, Gore played right tackle for Clemson and is currently a free agent with the Washington Redskins.
Willard Cole & Horace Carter
Cole and Carter were the editors who won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service at The (Whiteville) News Reporter and The Tabor City Tribune, respectfully. These were the first non-daily newspapers in North Carolina to win journalism's top prize.
Millie-Christine McKoy
Conjoined twins who went by the stage names "The Carolina Twins" and "The Two-Headed Nightingale" were born on a farm outside of Whiteville in 1851. Sold as slaves from their owner to a showman, they were exhibited at North Carolina's first state fair in 1853, traveled to Britain, and were provided an education and learned to speak five languages, dance, play music, sing, and even appeared with the Barnum Circus.