Rotary District 7670
(Western North Carolina)
District Newsletter Archive
Rotary in North Carolina
North Carolina’s first club was formed in Raleigh on August 1, 1914, becoming the 124th club in the world. The Wilmington club, the state’s second, was organized on April 1, 1915, making it Rotary International’s 150th club. Nearly all the 262 North Carolina clubs are descendants of the Raleigh, Wilmington, or Richmond (VA) clubs.
Mountains of Western NC
Rotary began organizing into districts (first called “divisions”) in 1912. Each division was governed by a “Representative.” The title of “District Governor” began in 1926. North Carolina’s earliest clubs (1915-18) were in District 4, which included the southeastern part of the USA south of Washington, DC and Maryland. In 1918, the Rotary clubs of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia were grouped together to form District 7.
In 1922, the number of clubs organized in NC was sufficient to form Districts 37 and 38 (Western NC) within the state, and in 1926 the districts were renumbered to become Districts 57 and 58 (Western NC). Enough clubs existed in the piedmont and eastern areas of NC in 1937 to form the four districts of 187, 188, 189, and 190 (Western NC). In 1939 the districts were reconfigured with Western NC still in District 190. In 1940 the four districts were reconfigured to form three districts: 188, 189, and 190. In 1946, the three NC districts were renumbered and reconfigured to form the four districts of 188, 189, 191, and 194 (Western NC). In 1949 the four NC districts were renumbered to 278, 279, 280 (Western NC), and 281. In 1957 the four districts were renumbered yet again to form districts 767 (Western NC), 769, 771, and 773. In 1991, the districts were renumbered by adding a zero (0) to each: 7670 (Western NC), 7690, 7710, and 7730 – this was done around the Rotary world. In 1992, two new districts were formed from the four districts, and today, North Carolina boasts six districts which include 7670, 7680, 7690, 7710, 7720, and 7730.
Old District 7670 was divided on July 1, 1992, and ten clubs in old District 7690 joined with 29 clubs from our old District 7670 to form the new District 7680. Those 29 clubs which left our old District 7670 were in the following counties: Alexander, Allegheny, Ashe, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Mecklenburg, and Wilkes (Allegheny County did not have a Rotary club).
