Long before the town was integrated as Aurora, it was a community built by Free Blacks, Isiah and Betty Hodge, in the 18th century and was referred to as Betty Town. For generations, the fertile soil of this region yielded a bounty that sustained both the bodies and the spirits of those who lived here. The fields surrounding the community grew many crops, including large, sweet watermelons. Because these melons ripened to perfection in late summer, residents affectionately nicknamed them "August Hams."

This innocent nickname soon took on a profound, secret meaning. In the early to mid-1800s, Underground Railroad operatives and conductors adopted the term as part of a vital code. Freedom seekers heading through North Carolina were told to look for the community "where August hams grow." Upon sighting these massive watermelons in the fields, they would find messages scratched into the outer rinds telling them where to find sympathetic residents of Betty Town who would provide food, shelter, and a hidden path forward on the road to liberty.