NORTH CAROLINA

The earliest state laws requiring motor vehicle registration were local bills usually sponsored by the legislator from a specific county and only effective for that county or counties.  For example, 1907 Chapter 612, passed on March 5, 1907, and effective immediately, required automobile owners in only three counties - Guilford (Greensboro), Wake (Raleigh) and Wayne (Goldsboro) - to register with the Clerk of the Superior Court.  No fee was mentioned but all motor vehicles were to display a number on owner-provided front and rear "metal" plates.  Also in the 1907 session, Chapter 31 was apparently passed for the benefit of Union county (Monroe).

According to Webster's Weekly (Reidsville), several other state laws were passed during the 1909 legislative session for automobile regulation applicable only to specific counties:

      Chapter 63 and 753 - New Hanover (Wilmington)

      Chapter 191        - Cumberland (Fayetteville)

      Chapter 199        - Sampson (Clinton)

      Chapter 201        - Harnett (Lillington), Johnston (Smithfield)

      Chapter 410        - Edgecombe (Rocky Mount), Nash (Nashville), Rowan (Salisbury)

Chapter 753, passed March 8, 1909, effective immediately, required residents of New Hanover County to register with the Clerk of the Superior Court by June 1 each year, pay a fee of $2 for vehicles of 16 horsepower or less, or $4 for vehicles over 16 horsepower, and display their registration number on the rear of the vehicle.  Chapter 191 also required registry with the Clerk of the Superior Court, but the fee in Cumberland County was only 50 cents, and pairs of plates were required.

The individual-county law system was becoming unwieldy with the rapid increase in motor vehicles by 1909, so passage of a state-wide law was inevitable.  1909 Chapter 445, passed on March 6, 1909, and effective July 1, 1909, required motor vehicle owners to register with the Secretary of State, pay an annual fee and display a state-issued undated disc.  In addition, owners were to provide front and rear plates with 3-inch-tall numbers, and 1-inch-tall letters for the state name or abbreviation, in black-on-white or white-on-black.  Fees were $5 for the first year and $1 for each renewal, and the registration year was July 1 to June 30.

Residents of New Hanover County (Wilmington) were exempted from this law since Chapters 63 and 753 already provided for registration there and were not repealed by Chapter 445 except in cases of conflicting requirements.  According to the Charlotte News on June 2, 1909, "New Hanover is the only county exempt from the law.  That county secured through Representative George L. Morton a special act for motor car regulation with the registration fee eliminated."  There was no mention whatsoever of dealers.  Non-residents were exempted if they were just passing through the state.  No other rear plate was allowed.

Although motorcycles clearly fall under the definition of "motor vehicles" as defined by this act, the last sentence of Section 2 states that "no registration of motorcycles shall be required."  This undoubtedly created confusion, as the following article from the October 15, 1909, issue of Motorcycle Illustrated attests:

"Raleigh, N.C. - The sheriff's office has received a letter which instructs the officers of this county and all other counties in North Carolina that a motorcycle comes under the same provisions, as to licenses, as automobiles.  Therefore each motorcyclist will be required to carry a license tag as an automobile and pay the same fees.  The tag must be conspicuously shown and visible at all times.  The license fee is five dollars."

WAS THERE A STATE-ISSUED 1909 PLATE?

An article in the Charlotte News on June 17, 1909, states that "Preparatory to enforcing the new law the secretary of state has received 2,000 automobile number placards and registration seals...The placards are 6 x 9 inches, dark blue background with white letters with "N.C." at one end.  The registration seals are two inches in diameter..." Nearly identical articles appeared that week in newspapers in at least three other North Carolina cities, probably originating from the same press release.  From this, it appears that state-issued license plates were ready to be distributed!

In fact, there are several examples of nearly-identical undated porcelain plates known, including #270 (pair), 446, 455, 583 (pair), 624, 685, 988, 1024, 1113, 1144, 1222 and 1249, and a period photo of #602 on the front of a car.  These known plates all appear to be white on black, 4 1/2 x 8 inches, and have the vertical letters "NC" on the right side.  One has part of an advertising label on the back which is theorized to be from the Carolina Garage & Machine Co. of Raleigh.  Whether or not these can be considered state-issued plates will depend on further research.  If they were state issues, their issuance was discontinued in 1910 for some reason, and owners thereafter were required to provide their own plates until April 1913.

Subsequent to the writing of the above paragraphs, an advertisement has been found in The News and Observer (Raleigh) issue of June 24, 1909.  The ad states:  "AUTOMOBILE LICENSE HANGERS made in accordance with State law, endorsed by the Secretary of State.  Price one dollars [sic] per pair complete.  Carolina Garage and Machine Co., Raleigh."  This certainly changes the picture as far as the status of the porcelain plates.  The ad touts the accuracy of conformance to the law's specifications and the endorsement of the Secretary of State.  The label found on the back of one plate seals the connection of these plates to this company, indicating it to be a private product available at extra cost, rather than a state-issued plate.  The discontinuance in 1910 now seems more plausible as well.

Numbers reportedly began at #100.  The lowest disc number known is #108.  The Union Republican (Winston-Salem) stated on January 6, 1910, that "Up to January 1st, 1,150 automobile license[s] had been issued by the Secretary of State."  The Wilmington Morning Star reported on July 9, 1910, that "During operation of the new North Carolina automobile act for the first year just closed there were registered 1,580 machines...Now with the beginning of the second year there have been 1,294 renewals."  The Statesville Landmark of July 18, 1911, reports that 302 new automobile licenses were issued from July 1 through July 17, for a total of 2,954 issued since inception in 1909.  Also, disc #3418 has survived along with its original registration certificate issued on August 21, 1911.  Number 5553 was issued on August 23, 1912.

In addition to the above, the Raleigh Times published weekly the new automobile numbers issued and their owner information for a while during 1910, giving us the following number breakdown for the weeks ending:

April 23   1454 - 1483, 1500             July 2         1682 - 1716

April 30   1484 - 1499, 1501 - 1512      July 9         1717 - 1753

May 7      1513 - 1532                   July 16        1754 - 1781

May 14     1533 - 1550                   July 23        1782 - 1818

May 21     1551 - 1565                   July 30        1819 - 1834

May 28     1566 - 1588                   August 6       1835 - 1867

June 4     1589 - 1602                   August 13      1868 - 1884

June 11    1603 - 1637                   September 10   1937 - 1957

June 18    1638 - 1653                   September 17   1958 - 1972

June 25    1654 - 1681                   September 24   1973 - 1982

The following table lists the numbers of automobiles registered from the beginning in 1909 to November 30, 1912 by reporting period (and the cumulative totals by period) as published in the biennial report of the Secretary of State:

      REPORTING PERIOD        REGISTRATIONS   CUMULATIVE TOTALS

       7/1/1909 - 11/30/1910      2,018             2,018

      12/1/1910 - 11/30/1911      1,686             3,704

      12/1/1911 - 11/30/1912      2,402             6,106

It is not known if the above figures included motorcycle registrations or not.  Numbers continued to progress from about #6206 on November 30, 1912, to at least #6674 before state-issued plates began on April 1, 1913.  It is possible that not all numbers were assigned in the pre-state number block, as none have been seen in the 6700 series.

The undated 1909-13 discs are known in three distinct variations. #108 to #3952 are aluminum with sunken numbers, #4200 to #7952 are aluminum with raised numbers, and two specimens (#832 and #2354) are of a different design and metal, possibly brass.  It has been theorized that they were replacements for lost discs.  Undated discs continued to be issued along with dated 1913 plates for the 3-month period they were used.

The lowest known non-porcelain pre-state plate number is #1473, issued in 1910.  The highest pre-state plate number verified from a period photograph is #6674, and 1913 state-issued plates are known from #6826 to #7977.  All pre-state plates, discs and 1913 plates expired on June 30, 1913.

A new state law, 1913 Chapter 107, was passed on March 10, 1913, and effective April 1, 1913, repealing the 1909 law.  Old registrations were allowed to expire as originally scheduled on June 30, 1913, after which those owners would have to comply with the terms of the new law.  This law required all motor vehicles, including motorcycles, to register with the Secretary of State, pay an annual fee, and display an annual state-issued rear plate.  The registration year continued to be July 1 to June 30.  Fees were $5, $7.50 or $10 depending upon horsepower, $2 for motorcycles, and $10 for Dealers, plus $1 for each additional Dealer plate desired.  Half rates were in effect after March 1 of each year.  Non-residents were allowed 15 days in any given year before having to register.

The first state-issued plate (other than the possible 1909 issue - see above) was dated 1913, issued along with a matching undated disc.  Since they were only issued to new registrations during the three-month period from April 1, 1913, to June 30, 1913, the 1913 plate is one of the rarest state issues in the United States.  Known plates are #6826 to #7797, a total of only 972 single plates.  There is some speculation that 1913 motorcycle and Dealer plates may also have existed, following the letter of the law whose effective date was April 1, 1913.  With less than 50 each, these would be so incredibly rare that no specimens may have survived, so our only possible evidence might be from state records.  For the vast majority of registrants, the first issue was actually the 1914 dated plate.  Fiscal year 1914 registration figures and known 1914 plates are as follows:

VEHICLE TYPE   REGISTRATIONS   KNOWN PLATES                (TOTALS)

Passenger         11,389       #109 - 7663, 8522 - 12438   (11,472)

Dealer               160       #8035 - 8229                   (195)

Motorcycle         1,146       #333 -

A 1914 registration list which includes plate numbers up to #9745 contains no passenger numbers between #7928 and 8512, suggesting that the passenger series probably skipped from #7999 to 8500.  According to the Statesville Landmark on December 18, 1914, five counties in the far western part of the stated registered no motor vehicles at all in the year ending June 30, 1914:  Clay, Graham, Madison, Mitchell and Swain.

None of the state laws made any mention of the authority or power of cities to pass ordinances regulating any aspect of motor vehicle use, so it is assumed that cities could and did register vehicles and issue plates.  While many examples of city plates are known after 1913, none are verified before that date.