Warren County, North Carolina facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Warren County
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Warren County Courthouse in Warrenton
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Location within the U.S. state of North Carolina
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North Carolina's location within the U.S. |
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Country | United States | |
State | North Carolina | |
Founded | 1779 | |
Named for | Joseph Warren | |
Seat | Warrenton | |
Largest town | Warrenton | |
Area | ||
• Total | 444 sq mi (1,150 km2) | |
• Land | 428 sq mi (1,110 km2) | |
• Water | 15 sq mi (40 km2) 3.4%% | |
Population | ||
• Estimate
(2020)
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19,522 | |
• Density | 49/sq mi (19/km2) | |
Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) | |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) | |
Congressional district | 1st |
Warren County is a county located in the northeastern Piedmont region of the U.S. state of North Carolina, on the northern border with Virginia, made famous for a landfill and birthplace of the environmental justice movement. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 18,642. Its county seat is Warrenton. It was a center of tobacco and cotton plantations, education, and later textile mills.
Contents
History
The county was formed in 1779 from the northern half of Bute County. It was named for Joseph Warren of Massachusetts, a physician and general in the American Revolutionary War who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Developed as tobacco and cotton plantations, the county generated considerable wealth for white planters in the antebellum years, wealth built on the labor of slaves. Its county seat of Warrenton became a center of commerce and was one of the wealthiest towns in the state from 1840 to 1860. Many planters built fine homes there.
In the later nineteenth century, the county developed textile mills. In 1881, parts of Warren County, Franklin County, and Granville County were combined to form Vance County. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Warren County's continued reliance on agriculture slowed its development. Many residents migrated to cities for work.
Since the late 20th century, county residents have worked to attract other industrial and business development. Soul City, a "planned community" development, was funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It has not been successful in attracting business and industry, and has not developed as much housing as intended.
Beginning in 1982, Warren County was the site of the Warren County PCB Landfill. Residents of the county have pursued a long environmental justice struggle to remove dangerous pollutants from the site, to improve the health of citizens. The site was not made safe until 2004.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 444 square miles (1,150 km2), of which 428 square miles (1,110 km2) is land and 15 square miles (39 km2) (3.4%) is water.
Adjacent counties
- Brunswick County, Virginia - north
- Northampton County - northeast
- Halifax County - east
- Franklin County - south
- Vance County - west
- Mecklenburg County, Virginia - northwest
Major highways
- I-85
- US 1
- US 158
- US 401
- NC 4
- NC 43
- NC 58
- NC 903
Demographics
Historical population | |||
---|---|---|---|
Census | Pop. | %± | |
1790 | 9,379 | — | |
1800 | 11,284 | 20.3% | |
1810 | 11,004 | −2.5% | |
1820 | 11,158 | 1.4% | |
1830 | 11,877 | 6.4% | |
1840 | 12,919 | 8.8% | |
1850 | 13,912 | 7.7% | |
1860 | 15,726 | 13.0% | |
1870 | 17,768 | 13.0% | |
1880 | 22,619 | 27.3% | |
1890 | 19,360 | −14.4% | |
1900 | 19,151 | −1.1% | |
1910 | 20,266 | 5.8% | |
1920 | 21,593 | 6.5% | |
1930 | 23,364 | 8.2% | |
1940 | 23,145 | −0.9% | |
1950 | 23,539 | 1.7% | |
1960 | 19,652 | −16.5% | |
1970 | 15,810 | −19.6% | |
1980 | 16,232 | 2.7% | |
1990 | 17,265 | 6.4% | |
2000 | 19,972 | 15.7% | |
2010 | 20,972 | 5.0% | |
2020 | 18,642 | −11.1% | |
2021 (est.) | 18,762 | −10.5% | |
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2013 |
2020 census
Race | Number | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White (non-Hispanic) | 7,209 | 38.67% |
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 9,049 | 48.54% |
Native American | 953 | 5.11% |
Asian | 62 | 0.33% |
Pacific Islander | 4 | 0.02% |
Other/Mixed | 626 | 3.36% |
Hispanic or Latino | 739 | 3.96% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 18,642 people, 7,786 households, and 4,589 families residing in the county.
2010 census
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 20,972 people living in the county. 52.3% were Black or African American, 38.8% White, 5.0% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 2.0% of some other race and 1.6% of two or more races. 3.3% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).
Communities
Towns
Unincorporated communities
Notable people
- Braxton Bragg, Confederate General
- Thomas Bragg, Confederate Attorney General, North Carolina governor
- Eva Clayton, Congresswoman
- Kirkland Donald, United States Navy Admiral, fifth Director of the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program
- Benjamin Hawkins, U.S. senator, Superintendent for Indian Affairs (1798-1818)
- John H. Kerr, Congressman
- Nathaniel Macon, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. senator
- William Miller, North Carolina governor
- Reynolds Price, professor emeritus of English at Duke University, major author and essayist of the South
- Matt Ransom, US senator, Confederate general
- Robert Ransom, Confederate general
- Gladys Smithwick, physician, medical missionary in China and the Belgian Congo
- James Turner, North Carolina governor
See also
In Spanish: Condado de Warren (Carolina del Norte) para niños