WILSON COUNTY

Wilson was formed in 1855 from Edgecombe, Nash, Johnston and Wayne. It was named in honor of Louis D. Wilson, many times a member of the Legislature from Edgecombe County, a soldier of the Mexican War who died near Vera Cruz of fever, and a benefactor of the poor of his native county. It is in the east central section of the State and is bounded by Pitt, Greene, Wayne, Johnston, Nash and Edgecombe counties. The present land area is 371.09 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 81,234. Of that population, 42,222 were white, 31,686 were black or African American, 238 were American Indian, 668 were Asian, 25 were Pacific Islander and 5,122 were of a different race. Another 1,273 were reported to be of two or more races and 7,724 were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The court was ordered to be held at Benjamin Barden's store in Wilson, a village already established, until a courthouse could be built. Commissioners were to acquire a site within one-fourth of a mile of the town of Wilson and erect a courthouse.

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Parts of Wilson County are in the Neuse River Basin and parts are in the Tar-Pamlico River Basin. It is in 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)