GREENE COUNTY

Related entry: Greene County history

Greene County was formed in 1799 from Dobbs County (which no longer exists). The county was originally named for James Glasgow, but when he became publicly involved in land frauds it was changed to Greene in honor of Nathaniel Greene, Washington's right-hand-man. Greene is regarded as second only to Washington as the greatest soldier of the Revolution. He fought the Battle of Guilford Court House which saved North Carolina from the British. It is in the eastern section of the State and is bounded by Pitt, Lenoir, Wayne and Wilson counties. The present land area is 265.40 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 21,362. Of that population, 10,850 were white, 7,964 were black or African American, 154 were American Indian, 72 were Asian, 6 were Pacific Islander and 2,002 were of a different race. Another 314 were reported to be of two or more races and 3,054 were Hispanic or Latino of any race. In 1811 Snow Hill was laid out as the courthouse and is the county seat.

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Greene County is in the Neuse River Basin. It is a part of the Coastal Plain region of the state.

References:

"American Factfinder." 2011. U. S. Census Bureau. Online at http://factfinder2.census.gov/. Accessed 3/3/2011.

Corbitt, David L. 2000. The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943. Sixth printing. Raleigh: State Department of Archives and History.

Powell, William Stevens, and Michael R. Hill. 2010. The North Carolina gazetteer: a dictionary of Tar Heel places and their history. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Additional resources:

North Carolina Digital Collections (Government & Heritage Library and NC State Archives)

NC LIVE resources

NC Natural Heritage Program database

WorldCat (Searches numerous library catalogs)