Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Encyclopedia
Wilkesboro is a town in and the county seat
of Wilkes County
, North Carolina
, United States
. The population was 3,159 at the 2000 census, and it is the second largest municipality
in the county. The 2010 Census listed the town's population at 3,044. The town is located along the south bank of the Yadkin River
, directly opposite the larger town of North Wilkesboro. Wilkesboro is the home of the annual MerleFest
festival.
, a well-known Wilkes County patriot during the American Revolutionary War
, hung Loyalist militia leaders who supported the British King and opposed American independence from Britain. The oak was located behind the old Wilkes County courthouse. During the American Civil War
many of Wilkesboro's residents remained loyal to the Union and opposed the Confederacy
. In March 1865 General George Stoneman
, a Union cavalry leader, led a raid through the town. Shortly after the war ended, Tom Dula
(Dooley), a Confederate veteran, was tried and hanged for the murder of his fiancee, Laura Foster. Many people were convinced that one of Dula's jealous ex-girlfriends murdered Foster, and that Dula was innocent of the crime. Dula's story was turned into a top-selling ballad
in 1958 by the Kingston Trio, the song was entitled "Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley". The story was subsequently turned into a 1959 movie starring Michael Landon
as Dula, and each summer the Wilkes Playmakers present a popular play based on the story.
, a public, coed, two-year college within the North Carolina Community College System
. The college's enrollment is typically around 3,500 students.
Wilkesboro has three media sources: the Wilkes Journal-Patriot
, Wilkes County's largest and oldest newspaper, which is published three times per week; The Record of Wilkes, which is published weekly; and GoWilkes.com, a well recognized online media source that allows residents to discuss current events and local happenings in real time. GoWilkes.com was voted the 2004 Small Business of the Year by the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce.
Wilkesboro's largest industry is the Tyson Foods
poultry processing plant; it is one of the largest poultry plants east of the Mississippi River. The town also contains several textile and furniture factories
joined with singer Bill Young to start the MerleFest
music festival. Held on the campus of Wilkes Community College, and named in honor of Doc's late son Merle Watson, MerleFest has grown into the largest folk and bluegrass music festival in the United States, drawing over 85,000 music fans each year. The festival has brought millions of dollars into the town's economy and has raised over $7.3 million for Wilkes Community College.
, directly opposite the town of North Wilkesboro
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the town has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²), all of it land. U.S. Route 421
, the only multilane expressway in Wilkes County, goes through the southern and western sections of the town. US 421 links the town to the nearby cities of Winston-Salem
and Boone
, the home of Appalachian State University
.
. Wilkesboro's largest religious group are the Southern Baptists, but the town does contain substantial numbers of Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Episcopalians. The first two churches to be established in Wilkes County were built in Wilkesboro; they were missionary churches for the Episcopal
and Presbyterian denominations. The town also contains Wilkes County's only Roman Catholic church.
of 2000, there were 3,159 people, 1,305 households, and 805 families residing in the town. The population density
was 572.0 people per square mile (221.0/km²). There were 1,382 housing units at an average density of 250.3 per square mile (96.7/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 85.38% White, 9.81% African American, 0.19% Native American, 2.72% Asian, 1.27% from other races
, and 0.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.12% of the population.
There were 1,305 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were married couples
living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.79.
In the town the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 23.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 82.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.6 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $40,982, and the median income for a family was $53,355. Males had a median income of $37,931 versus $23,893 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $24,300. About 9.8% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Wilkes County
Wilkes County, North Carolina
Wilkes County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The 2000 U.S. Census listed the county's population at 65,632; the 2010 U.S. Census listed the population at 69,340...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 3,159 at the 2000 census, and it is the second largest municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in the county. The 2010 Census listed the town's population at 3,044. The town is located along the south bank of the Yadkin River
Yadkin River
The Yadkin River is one of the longest rivers in North Carolina, flowing . It rises in the northwestern portion of the state near the Blue Ridge Parkway's Thunder Hill Overlook. Several parts of the river are impounded by dams for water, power, and flood control. The river becomes the Pee Dee...
, directly opposite the larger town of North Wilkesboro. Wilkesboro is the home of the annual MerleFest
MerleFest
MerleFest is an annual "traditional plus" music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the campus of Wilkes Community College . The festival, which is held the last weekend in April, is hosted by Grammy Award winner Doc Watson and is named in memory and honor of his son, Eddy Merle Watson,...
festival.
History
Wilkesboro was founded in 1800 and quickly designated as the county seat. The town is built atop a low, broad ridge which runs for over a mile along the south bank of the Yadkin River. For many decades a popular historic spot in Wilkesboro was the "Tory Oak", a large oak tree from which Colonel Benjamin ClevelandBenjamin Cleveland
Benjamin Cleveland was an American pioneer and soldier in North Carolina. He is best remembered for his service as a colonel in the North Carolina militia during the Revolutionary War, and in particular for his role in the American victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780.-Early...
, a well-known Wilkes County patriot during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, hung Loyalist militia leaders who supported the British King and opposed American independence from Britain. The oak was located behind the old Wilkes County courthouse. During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
many of Wilkesboro's residents remained loyal to the Union and opposed the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. In March 1865 General George Stoneman
George Stoneman
George Stoneman, Jr. was a career United States Army officer, a Union cavalry general in the American Civil War, and the 15th Governor of California between 1883 and 1887.-Early life:...
, a Union cavalry leader, led a raid through the town. Shortly after the war ended, Tom Dula
Tom Dula
Thomas C. Dula was a former Confederate soldier, who was tried, convicted, and hanged for the murder of his fiancée, Laura Foster. The trial and hanging received national publicity from newspapers such as The New York Times, thus turning Dula's story into a folk legend...
(Dooley), a Confederate veteran, was tried and hanged for the murder of his fiancee, Laura Foster. Many people were convinced that one of Dula's jealous ex-girlfriends murdered Foster, and that Dula was innocent of the crime. Dula's story was turned into a top-selling ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
in 1958 by the Kingston Trio, the song was entitled "Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley". The story was subsequently turned into a 1959 movie starring Michael Landon
Michael Landon
Michael Landon was an American actor, writer, director, and producer. He is widely known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza , Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie , and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven...
as Dula, and each summer the Wilkes Playmakers present a popular play based on the story.
Education, media, and industry
Wilkesboro is the home of Wilkes Community CollegeWilkes Community College
Wilkes Community College , a member of the North Carolina Community College system, is a public, two-year, open-door institution serving the people of Wilkes, Ashe and Alleghany counties and beyond. The college is located in the city of Wilkesboro, North Carolina in the foothills of the Blue Ridge...
, a public, coed, two-year college within the North Carolina Community College System
North Carolina Community College System
The North Carolina Community College System is a statewide network of fifty-eight public community colleges. Each college has a distinct governance system and policies. In total, the system enrolls over 800,000 students, and is the third largest community college system in the nation...
. The college's enrollment is typically around 3,500 students.
Wilkesboro has three media sources: the Wilkes Journal-Patriot
Wilkes Journal-Patriot
The Wilkes Journal-Patriot is a newspaper based in North Wilkesboro, Wilkes County, North Carolina and published three times each week . The paper claims a circulation of 15,000 paid subscribers....
, Wilkes County's largest and oldest newspaper, which is published three times per week; The Record of Wilkes, which is published weekly; and GoWilkes.com, a well recognized online media source that allows residents to discuss current events and local happenings in real time. GoWilkes.com was voted the 2004 Small Business of the Year by the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce.
Wilkesboro's largest industry is the Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. is a multinational corporation based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork only behind Brazilian JBS S.A., and annually exports the largest percentage of beef out of...
poultry processing plant; it is one of the largest poultry plants east of the Mississippi River. The town also contains several textile and furniture factories
MerleFest
In 1988, legendary, Grammy-winning guitar player Doc WatsonDoc Watson
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded...
joined with singer Bill Young to start the MerleFest
MerleFest
MerleFest is an annual "traditional plus" music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the campus of Wilkes Community College . The festival, which is held the last weekend in April, is hosted by Grammy Award winner Doc Watson and is named in memory and honor of his son, Eddy Merle Watson,...
music festival. Held on the campus of Wilkes Community College, and named in honor of Doc's late son Merle Watson, MerleFest has grown into the largest folk and bluegrass music festival in the United States, drawing over 85,000 music fans each year. The festival has brought millions of dollars into the town's economy and has raised over $7.3 million for Wilkes Community College.
Notable people
- Montford Stokes (1762–1842), a United States Senator and Governor of North CarolinaGovernor of North CarolinaThe Governor of North Carolina is the chief executive of the State of North Carolina, one of the U.S. states. The current governor is Bev Perdue, North Carolina's first female governor.-Powers:...
from 1816 to 1832, lived in Wilkesboro. - Chang and Eng BunkerChang and Eng BunkerChang and Eng Bunker were the conjoined twin brothers whose condition and birthplace became the basis for the term "Siamese twins".-Life:...
(1811–1874), the original Siamese twins, they were popular entertainers in Asia, Europe, and North America. In the 1850s they settled near Wilkesboro, adopted the town as their home, and married two local sisters. - Deneen Graham (born 1964), the first black woman to be crowned Miss North CarolinaMiss North CarolinaThe Miss North Carolina competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of North Carolina in the Miss America pageant. The competition has been held in Raleigh every year since 1978. Prior to that, it was held in various locales including Charlotte, Greensboro, Burlington,...
(1983), was raised in Wilkesboro. - Zach GalifianakisZach GalifianakisZachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...
(born 1969), a popular stand-up comedian and character actorCharacter actorA character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
who has made numerous appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
, and Jimmy Kimmel LiveJimmy Kimmel LiveJimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...
. He is also a frequent performer on various Comedy CentralComedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
television shows, and he has appeared in films such as Into the WildInto the Wild (film)Into the Wild is a 2007 American biographical drama film directed by Sean Penn. It is an adaptation of 1996 non-fiction book of the same name by Jon Krakauer based on the travels of Christopher McCandless across North America in the early 1990s. The film stars Emile Hirsch as McCandless with...
and The HangoverThe Hangover (film)The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor...
.
Geography
Wilkesboro is located on the southern bank of the Yadkin RiverYadkin River
The Yadkin River is one of the longest rivers in North Carolina, flowing . It rises in the northwestern portion of the state near the Blue Ridge Parkway's Thunder Hill Overlook. Several parts of the river are impounded by dams for water, power, and flood control. The river becomes the Pee Dee...
, directly opposite the town of North Wilkesboro
North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
North Wilkesboro is a town in Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. The population was approximately 4,116 at the 2000 census and is now 4,245 as of the 2010 census. North Wilkesboro is the birthplace and original home of Lowe's Home Improvement, which continues to have a major presence in...
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²), all of it land. U.S. Route 421
U.S. Route 421
U.S. Route 421 is a spur route of U.S. 21. It runs for from Michigan City, Indiana, at U.S. 20, to Fort Fisher in North Carolina. The highway goes through the cities of Indianapolis, Indiana, Lexington, Kentucky, Boone, North Carolina, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina and...
, the only multilane expressway in Wilkes County, goes through the southern and western sections of the town. US 421 links the town to the nearby cities of Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
and Boone
Boone, North Carolina
Boone is a town located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, United States. Boone's population was reported as 17,122, as of 2010...
, the home of Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University is a comprehensive , public, coeducational university located in Boone, North Carolina, United States. Appalachian State, also referred to as Appalachian, App State, or simply App, is the sixth largest institution in the University of North Carolina system...
.
Politics and religion
Like most of Wilkes County, Wilkesboro has long been a bastion of the Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. Wilkesboro's largest religious group are the Southern Baptists, but the town does contain substantial numbers of Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Episcopalians. The first two churches to be established in Wilkes County were built in Wilkesboro; they were missionary churches for the Episcopal
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
and Presbyterian denominations. The town also contains Wilkes County's only Roman Catholic church.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 3,159 people, 1,305 households, and 805 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 572.0 people per square mile (221.0/km²). There were 1,382 housing units at an average density of 250.3 per square mile (96.7/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 85.38% White, 9.81% African American, 0.19% Native American, 2.72% Asian, 1.27% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.12% of the population.
There were 1,305 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.79.
In the town the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 23.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 82.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.6 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $40,982, and the median income for a family was $53,355. Males had a median income of $37,931 versus $23,893 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the town was $24,300. About 9.8% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.