Rape in The Caucasian, 1895-1915

As demonstrated by this map, which displays the geographic distribution of rape cases reported on by The Caucasian, the majority of the cases reported on were local, in-state matters. There are a few reasons for this. The out-of-state cases that were reported on tended to have additional factors that made them newsworthy enough to be reported on, such as sexual assaults/rapes or accusations of such that led to lynchings. Within North Carolina, the majority of the cases reported on came from the central part of the state, with a few in the mountains and on the beaches. There are a few reasons for this; one being that the newspaper itself was located in the Piedmont of the state, but also because the central Piedmont area is simply the most densely populated part of the state. Another thing to note is that some of the areas that were reported on in the contemporary news handling of certain cases (such as township names and unincorporated communities) have simply ceased to exist as entities, and as such, the nearest modern community may have been utilized to provide as much accuracy as possible in the mapping.

There was not any significant change over time in the locations of the crimes reported on. The vast majority of the crimes reported on, not just rape but in general, were in-state and even local matters.