North Wilkesboro is a town in Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,116 at the 2000 census. It is the original home of Lowe's Home Improvement, though the chain has since relocated its headquarters to Mooresville, North Carolina. North Wilkesboro's major industries include furniture, mirror, and textile production. Due to the town's proximity to the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains and the numerous tourist venues there, North Wilkesboro for many years was nicknamed the "Key to the Blue Ridge".
History
North Wilkesboro was founded in 1891 when the Norfolk and Southern Railroad built a railroad line into Wilkes County. The line ended on the northern bank of the Yadkin River opposite Wilkesboro, the county seat. The town of North Wilkesboro quickly developed around the railroad tracks. North Wilkesboro was the home of the Carolina Mirror Company, which for many years was the largest mirror factory in the United States. Although this is no longer the case, the town remains a major producer of mirrors through the Gardner Mirror Company, which occupies the former Carolina Mirror factory. Lowe's Foods, one of the Southeast's largest supermarket chains, was started in North Wilkesboro in 1954. Lowes Foods currently has its corporate headquarters in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, the nation's second-largest chain of home-improvement stores, was started in North Wilkesboro in 1946. The company maintained its corporate headquarters in North Wilkesboro until 2005, when it relocated its headquarters to Mooresville, North Carolina, a fast-growing suburb of Charlotte, the state's largest city. However, Lowe's continues to maintain a large number of corporate offices in the county. Like many small towns in North Carolina, North Wilkesboro has suffered in the last quarter-century from the closing of many of its textile and furniture factories, which have moved to low-wage locations in Latin America and Asia.
While one of NASCAR's original speedways shares the name of North Wilkesboro with the town it is important to note that the speedway is not located inside of the town's city limits. The North Wilkesboro Speedway predates the founding of NASCAR; the speedway held its first race on May 18, 1947. [3]. On October 16, 1949 the Speedway held the 8th and final race of the 1949 NASCAR Strictly Stock Division; when the race was over Robert "Red" Byron had become the first NASCAR-sanctioned champion [4]. The North Wilkesboro Speedway held NASCAR races for 50 years; on September 29, 1996 Jeff Gordon would win the final race to be held at the speedway. In 1995, following the death of long-time owner and track founder Enoch Staley, the speedway was purchased by two new owners, Bob Bahre and Bruton Smith. Soon after their purchase, both men announced that they were closing the speedway and moving its two NASCAR race dates to their new tracks in Texas and New Hampshire. The decision met with strong criticism from race fans. Since 1996 several unsuccessful attempts have been made to purchase and reopen the speedway to racing; most recently a group known as "Save the Speedway" has been working to provide historic markers and collect memorabilia from the speedway's rich racing history.
Medicine and media
The Wilkes Regional Medical Center, founded in 1951 as Wilkes General Hospital, is located in North Wilkesboro. It is the largest hospital in northwestern North Carolina and is currently the town's largest employer. West Park, formerly a large shopping center built in the 1970s, has recently been transformed into a large medical park with numerous offices for physicians, medical specialists, pharmacies, physical therapists, and other medical and health-related fields.
North Wilkesboro is the home of all three media sources for Wilkes County: the Wilkes Journal-Patriot, The Record of Wilkes, and GoWilkes.com. Founded in 1906, the Journal-Patriot is Wilkes County's largest and oldest newspaper[citation needed]; it is published three times per week. The Record of Wilkes is published once per week; it usually focuses on the local arts scene in Wilkes. GoWilkes.com is a well-recognized online media source that allows residents to discuss current events and local happenings. GoWilkes.com was voted the 2004 Small Business of the Year by the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce[citation needed].
Wilkes County has at least two radio stations are broadcast from North Wilkesboro. WKBC-FM (97.3 FM), broadcasts Adult Contemporary (hot AC) music as well as the football games of nearby Appalachian State University[citation needed]. In 2006 it was rated the best radio station in the Charlotte listening area by the music critics of Charlotte's Creative Loafing magazine. The station can be heard as far away as Rock Hill, South Carolina and Johnson City, Tennessee. WKBC (AM) (800 AM) broadcasts American Country music. The Wilkes Art Gallery, a small but modern facility, is in North Wilkesboro, as is the Wilkes County Public Library.
Events and attractions
The downtown business district of North Wilkesboro became a recognized Main Street Town in 2000. The "Historic Downtown North Wilkesboro" organization, a non-profit group that has worked to revitalize the downtown business district, led the effort to have the town recognized as a Main Street Town; the group also sponsors other events to attract people to the downtown area. For example, the "Downtown North Wilkesboro" group is the founder of the annual Battle of the Bands, an all-day rock concert with more than 20 rock bands performing. This is one of the few rock concerts that include a separate competition for amateur bands and professional bands. Bands play in the concert by invitation only. Previous shows included a performance from Waylon Reavis, now the lead singer of Mushroomhead. The concert has steadily grown in popularity since its inception, and draws thousands of music fans each year. The concert is held on the last Saturday in September. The "Downtown North Wilkesboro" group is also the founder of the annual 'Shine to Wine Festival. Over the past 20 years numerous local farmers have moved into the winemaking industry, and the wine festival gives local wineries and vineyards a chance to display and publicize their wines. The festival also traces the historical development of Wilkes County liquor from moonshine to wine. The 'Shine to Wine festival is held on the first Saturday in May.
North Wilkesboro is the home of the annual Brushy Mountain Apple Festival, which is held to celebrate the apple harvest from the nearby Brushy Mountains. Crowds of over 160,000 people usually attend the one-day festival, which features music, dancing, artwork, crafts, and food traditional to the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The apple festival is one of the largest single-day arts and crafts festivals in the Southern United States. The Wilkes Playmakers, an active local theater group, are based in North Wilkesboro; each summer they stage a popular play based on the life and death of Tom Dooley, a local Civil War veteran who was tried and hanged in 1868 for the murder of his fiancee, Laura Foster. The murder trial received national publicity at the time, and the belief of many that one of Dooley's jealous ex-girlfriends murdered Foster and that Dooley was innocent made his story into a folk legend. The play usually attracts sold-out audiences during its summer run.
North Wilkesboro recently opened the Yadkin River Greenway. The Greenway contains biking, jogging, and walking trails which follow the Yadkin River and Reddies River for several miles between the towns of North Wilkesboro and Wilkesboro. One of the most popular spots on the Greenway is a 156-foot-long bridge which spans the Reddies River at its mouth, where it joins the Yadkin River.
Famous residents
- Daniel Boone, the famed explorer and pioneer, lived for several years in the area where North Wilkesboro is located before moving west to Kentucky.
- John Swofford, since 1997 the Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of the nation's premiere college sports conferences, is from North Wilkesboro.
- Larry Stone, the sports announcer of the Tennessee Titans National Football League franchise, started his broadcasting career in North Wilkesboro.
- Robert Byrd, the senior U.S. Senator from West Virginia since 1959, was born in North Wilkesboro. He is the longest-serving Senator in American history.
- James B. Gordon, a general of cavalry in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, lived in what is now the city limits of North Wilkesboro.
Geography
North Wilkesboro is located at 36°10′15″N 81°8′31″W / 36.17083°N 81.14194°W / 36.17083; -81.14194 (36.170910, -81.142048)[5][page needed], along the Yadkin River at the mouth of the Reddies River.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 5.1 square miles (13.3 km²), all of it land. The town is located on the north bank of the Yadkin River opposite Wilkesboro, the seat of Wilkes County, North Carolina.
Demographics
As of the census[1][page needed] of 2000, there were 5,823 people, 1,639 households, and 942 families residing in the town. The population density was 803.9 people per square mile (310.4/km²). There were 1,837 housing units at an average density of 358.8/sq mi (138.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 74.47% White, 17.90% African American, 0.36% Native American, 0.73% Asian, 0.49% Pacific Islander, 4.25% from other races, and 1.80% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.27% of the population.
There were 1,639 households out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.1% were married couples living together, 15.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.5% were non-families. 39.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the town the population was spread out with 23.7% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $22,813, and the median income for a family was $29,844. Males had a median income of $22,204 versus $17,872 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,594. About 21.8% of families and 21.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.2% of those under age 18 and 27.2% of those age 65 or over.
References
- ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ First Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway
- ^ October 16, 1949 - Wilkes 200
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
Population was estimated at 6,321 in 2009. 68% of the town was White, 16.3% African American, and 14.7% involving all other races.
External links
Wilkesboro Rotary Club Fairgrounds
