| Pups Ridge | approx. 2 mi. long, NW McDowell County in Pisgah National Forest. Formerly known as Big Ridge and as Pups Branch Ridge. |
| Purcepolis | community in N Scotland County served by post office, 1883-1905. |
| Purchace Islands | the name given on the Smith map, 1624, to the nine islands in Roanoke and Cashie Rivers at the conjunction of Bertie, Martin, and Washington Counties. Apparently one of the islands is unnamed, but the other eight are known as Louse Island, Rice Island, Goodmans Island, Wood Island, Great Island, Huff Island, Conine Island, and Tabor Island. Smith is thought to have named the islands in honor of Samuel Purchas (1575?-1626), an English compiler of travel books. |
| Purchase Knob | in central Haywood County between Sugar Cove and the head of Cove Creek. It overlooks a large section of the old North Carolina Land and Lumber Company tract, and prospective buyers were taken there to get a good view of the property. Alt. 5,086. |
| Purgatory | See Flox. |
| Purgatory Mountain | central Randolph County, site of North Carolina Zoological Park. |
| Purgatory Pocosin | a sandy loam-filled pocosin in SW Jones and NW Onslow Counties at the head of Mill Swamp. |
| Purlear | community in W central Wilkes County on Cole Creek. Named for Isaac Parlier, who settled on nearby Purlear Creek. |
| Purlear Creek | rises in W Wilkes County on the W side of Rendezvous Mountain and flows S into North Prong Lewis Fork Creek. Once known as Isaac Parlier's Creek. |
| Purley | community in N central Caswell County. Probably named for Purley Cobb, local resident. A post office operated there, 1855-1920. Alt. 524. Bright-leaf tobacco was discovered in 1839 on the Slade farm there. |