Ahoskie, North Carolina Facts for Kids

Ahoskie (pronounced ah-HOSS-kee) is a town in Hertford County, North Carolina, United States. In 2020, about 4,891 people lived there. Ahoskie is located in a part of North Carolina called the Inner Banks.

It's known as "The Only One" because no other town in the world has the same name! The name "Ahoskie" was first spelled "Ahotsky." It came from the Wyanoke Indians, who lived in the Hertford County area when Europeans first settled there.

History of Ahoskie
Geography of Ahoskie
Ahoskie Population Facts
- Population in 2020
- Population in 2010
Businesses and Colleges in Ahoskie
Notable People from Ahoskie
See also

History of Ahoskie

Ahoskie started as a small stop for trains carrying logs in 1885. These trains moved timber from nearby forests to a sawmill. The town grew around a loading station and supply stores for the workers.

Ahoskie got its own post office in 1889. The first passenger train came through town in 1890 on new tracks.

Town Growth and Early Businesses

By the time Ahoskie officially became a town on January 24, 1893, it had several stores. It also had a sawmill, a machine for separating cotton fibers, a one-room school, and a Baptist church.

Other early businesses included an ice plant and a laundry. There were also places to buy and sell horses and mules. Since many smaller towns didn't have passenger train lines, traveling salespeople often used Ahoskie as a base. They would travel to nearby stores by horse and buggy.

The town's first bank, the Bank of Ahoskie, opened in 1905. The economy in this area first focused on growing tobacco and cotton. It has mostly stayed a rural area with small towns.

Town hall

Ahoskie has several important historical places. These include the Ahoskie Historic District and the Ahoskie Downtown Historic District. There are also individual buildings like the Ahoskie School and the Roberts H. Jernigan House. These places help people learn about the town's past.

African American Community History

After the American Civil War, the first school for Black students in Ahoskie was built. This one-room schoolhouse opened around 1868. Van Butler was the first teacher, and the school term lasted four months.

Over many years, the Black community worked hard to improve education. By 1939, the Ahoskie Graded School had two brick buildings. It had 14 elementary teachers and five high school teachers. About 800 students attended the school.

The first Black church, the New Ahoskie Baptist Church, started in 1866. Other early churches in the Black community were the Methodist Church and Calvary Baptist Church.

The first charity group in the Black community was Love and Charity. This group helped its members and met in their homes. Other early groups included the Elks and Masons.

By 1939, the town had many Black-owned businesses. These included grocery stores, barber shops, cafes, and a dry goods store. There were also hairdressers, seamstresses, a doctor, and two funeral homes.

Special Events and Modern Times

Perhaps the biggest show ever seen in Ahoskie was Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in October 1916. About 12,000 people came to see it! The town's leaders hosted a breakfast for Col. William F. Cody.

Electric lights were first turned on in Ahoskie around Christmas in 1915. At first, the power came from a gasoline engine. Within two years, electricity was available day and night.

Ahoskie was the first stop in North Carolina for First Lady Claudia Alta Johnson. She visited on October 6, 1964, during her train tour of the South.

Geography of Ahoskie

Ahoskie covers about 4.35 square miles of land. It does not have any large bodies of water within its town limits.

Ahoskie Population Facts

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1900	302	—
1910	924	206.0%
1920	1,429	54.7%
1930	1,940	35.8%
1940	2,313	19.2%
1950	3,579	54.7%
1960	4,583	28.1%
1970	5,105	11.4%
1980	4,887	−4.3%
1990	4,391	−10.1%
2000	4,523	3.0%
2010	5,039	11.4%
2020	4,891	−2.9%
2022 (est.)	4,657	−7.6%
U.S. Decennial Census

Population in 2020

Ahoskie racial composition
Group	Number	Percentage
White (not Hispanic)	1,158	23.68%
Black or African American (not Hispanic)	3,334	68.17%
Native American	57	1.17%
Asian	68	1.39%
Pacific Islander	1	0.02%
Other/Mixed	165	3.37%
Hispanic or Latino	108	2.21%

In 2020, there were 4,891 people living in Ahoskie. There were 1,895 households and 1,044 families.

Population in 2010

In 2010, Ahoskie had 5,039 people. The town had about 1,169 people per square mile. Most of the people were African American (66.6%) or White (28.5%).

The average age in Ahoskie was about 39.5 years old. About 28.1% of the people were under 20 years old. About 19.7% were 65 years or older.

Businesses and Colleges in Ahoskie

Ahoskie is home to the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald newspaper. A steel factory called Nucor Steel is located nearby in Cofield.

Roanoke-Chowan Community College is just outside Ahoskie. In the late 1990s, the town gave an old elementary school to Shaw University. This university opened a center there to help people improve their job skills and education.

Notable People from Ahoskie

Many interesting people have come from Ahoskie, including:

Kentwan Balmer – a football player in the NFL
Bobby Futrell – a football player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sam Harrell – a football player for the Minnesota Vikings
Robert Lee Holloman – a member of the North Carolina General Assembly
Jason Horton – a former football player in the NFL and CFL
Howard J. Hunter Jr. – a member of the North Carolina General Assembly
Toran James – a former football player in the NFL
Ella Mitchell – a soul singer and actress
Dick Newsome – a baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox
Timmy Newsome – a football player for the Dallas Cowboys
Amber O'Neal – a professional wrestler
Graham Smith – a Tuskegee Airman (a famous group of African American military pilots)
Robert Lee Vann – a newspaper publisher and editor
Tom Umphlett – a baseball player for the Boston Red Sox
Oshane Ximines – a football player for the New York Giants

Ahoskie, North Carolina facts for kids

Contents