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U.B. Blalock was born and raised in Stanly County. He later graduated from Trinity College (now Duke University) in 1896.

After returning to Stanly County, Blalock was a salesman in Norwood.

In 1898, he was appointed mayor of the town and that same year he opened a mercantile business in the new Blalock building (see today’s photo). The business grew quickly into a four-room department store. Blalock helped organize the Bank of Norwood and served as its first president.

In 1905, his store was purchased by members of the Morrow Brothers and Heath Company of Albemarle and was renamed Morrow-Freeman.

In 1906, Blalock moved to Wadesboro where he had a very successful career in the hardware business. He also owned what at one time was claimed to be the oldest Ford dealership in North Carolina.

In 1922 Blalock moved to Raleigh and became general manager of the NC Cotton Growers Co-operative Association.

Upon retirement in the early 1930s, Blalock returned to Wadesboro where he died Dec. 26, 1950.

{Lewis Bramlett – Stanly County Historical Society}