WARREN COUNTY

See also: Soul City

Warren was formed in 1779 from Bute. It was named in honor of Joseph Warren, a soldier of Massachusetts who fell while fighting at Bunker Hill. It is in the northeastern section of the State and is bounded by Northampton, Halifax, Franklin, and Vance counties and the state of Virginia. The present land area is 428.70 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 20,972. Of that population, 8,128 were white, 10,970 were black or African American, 1,050 were American Indian, 51 were Asian, 3 were Pacific Islander and 428 were of a different race. Another 342 were reported to be of two or more races and 692 were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The act establishing the county specified that the first court was to be held at the courthouse of Bute; it also provided that subsequent courts were to be held at a place decided upon by the justices of the peace until a courthouse could be erected. Commissioners were named to select a site at the center of the county, purchase land and have the courthouse, prison and the stocks erected. In 1779 another act was passed establishing Warrenton. This act provided that the courts were to be held at the home of Thomas Christmas until the courthouse was built. Warrenton is the county seat.

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Parts of Warren County are in the Roanoke River Basin and parts are in the Tar-Pamlico River Basin. It is considered a part of the Piedmont 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)