WILKES COUNTY

Wilkes was formed in 1777 from Surry and the District of Washington. The act was to become effective February 15, 1778. It was named in honor of John Wilkes who was a violent opponent of the Tory party in England. He was not allowed to take his seat in Parliament to which he had been elected. The Americans imagined that he was suffering in the cause of liberty and named this county in his honor. It is in the northwestern section of the State and is bounded by Yadkin, Iredell, Alexander, Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany and Surry counties. The present land area is 757.19 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 69,340. Of that population, 62,824 were white, 2,830 were black or African American, 133 were American Indian, 296 were Asian, 20 were Pacific Islander and 2,312 were of a different race. Another 925 were reported to be of two or more races and 3,772 were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The act establishing the county stipulated that the first court was to be held at the home of John Brown. Commissioners were named to select a place centrally located for the erection of the courthouse, prison and stocks. The second court was held June, 1, 1778, in the "bent of the Yadkin." The next day it was held at Mulberry Field Meeting House. On June 3 the commissioners who were to select a site for the county seat reported as follows: "We, the commissioners appointed by act of Assembly to lay out and appoint pillory and stocks of the said county, have met and materially considered the same, do adjudge and appoint the place where the Mulbury Meeting House stands as the most central, suitable and proper place whereon to locate public buildings." In September, 1778, court was held at the courthouse of Wilkes. In 1795 an act was passed naming new commissioners to select a site for the erection of a courthouse, pillory and stocks. It also named commissioners to purchase fifty acres of land on which to lay out a town and to erect public buildings. By 1801 Wilkesborough had been laid out at the courthouse. In 1823 an act was passed authorizing a new courthouse to be erected on the public square in Wilkesboro. Wilkesboro is the county seat.

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Wilkes County is in the Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin. For statistical purposes, it is considered a part of the mountain region of the state, though some areas are technically classified as being in the Piedmont region.

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)