| Madison Township | NE Guilford County. Named for President James Madison and his wife Dolley Payne, who was born at the Quaker settlement of New Garden, present site of Guilford College. |
| Madison Township | W Rockingham County. |
| Magazine Branch | rises in central Cherokee County and flows SW and SE into Valley River. |
| Maggie Valley | resort center in W Haywood County. Named when the first post office was est. in 1909 for Maggie Mae Setzer (later Mrs. Ira Pylant of Hendersonville), daughter of the postmaster. Alt. 3,019. |
| Maggot Ridge | W Haywood County in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, extends N from Buck Knob on Cataloochee Divide, center near lat. 35°33'45" N., long. 83°08'32" W. For origin of the name, see Maggot Spring Gap. |
| Maggot Spring Gap | W Haywood County in Great Smoky Mountains National Park near lat. 35°33'08" N., long. 83°07'55" W. Named for a nearby spring used by cattle rangers that had in it the larvae of an insect that resembled a maggot. |
| Magness Creek | rises in E Cleveland County and flows s, nw, and S into First Broad River. |
| Magnetic City | See Buladean. |
| Magnolia | town in W Duplin County. Alt. 108. Inc. 1855 as Stricklandsville to be laid out on the lands of Jesse Strickland. Name changed to Magnolia, 1857, for magnolia trees growing there. |
| Magnolia | old Pettigrew family plantation in W Tyrrell County on shores of Lake Phelps. Built in 1830 by Ebenezer Pettigrew. Birthplace of Confederate general J. J. Pettigrew. Now part of Pettigrew State Park. Plantation, around house named Bonarva, covered approx. 2,000 acres. |