(A New Chapter in "New Geography of North Carolina")
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Body Compony (leln
Wilson
County
*
Always a cloim to lome in Wilson County.
Tlu* llright Story of How One Coastal
Plains
For a bird’s-eye view of North
Carolina's special brand of progress,
this coastal plains county, just barely
off the Piedmont plateau, typifies in
many ways what North Carolina is
and what she claims to strive for.
It has a two-centurics-old agricul¬
tural tradition, of which tobacco has
been the bulwark. But it is molding
that tradition into new forms with a
diversified indusirial base, and with
an industrial payroll now topping farm
receipts.
It has a passion for good schools
and backs up its sentiment with money.
Its people are religious, civic-
minded. and ambitious. The majority
are of native stock, though there is
little evidence of an old aristocracy.
It exudes an air of friendliness and
democracy, natural to a community in
which for so long every member’s for¬
tune depended on the common enter¬
prise — tobacco.
Wilson hasn't achieved its status
through any default of competition.
Situated at the periphery of eastern
County Is Moving Willi tlie
Carolina’s richest agricultural and
manufacturing belt, it has to be strong
to survive. The county scat, also Wil¬
son. is in fighting distance of four of
the scrappiest towns in the state:
Rocky Mount. Greenville, Kinston,
and Goldsboro. They contend vigor¬
ously for the crops and cash of the
outlying farms. So far Wilson has more
than held its own. Per capita income
for the county is estimated at SI, 5 10;
for the city. $1,680; and the city ranks
7th in the state in wholesale trade.
Geography
Geographically, Wilson is no more
favored than a dozen other counties.
1'hc terrain varies from level to gently
rolling, and slopes generally toward
the southeast corner. The climate is
mild, and provides an average grow¬
ing season of 205 days. Mean precipi¬
tation of 44.81 inches is beneficially
distributed for crop growing. There are
no mineral deposits, and the soils gen¬
erally require fertilization.
Drainage is good, the principal
Times.
waterways being Contentnea Creek,
Toisnot Swamp, their tributaries, and
Town Creek, Little Contentnea Creek
and their tributaries.
Up near the Nash County line, off
N.C. 58. Toisnot widens to a gleaming
oval called Silver Lake.
Wilson is smaller in area than all
of its neighbors except Greene County.
It contains 373 square miles, or 238,- I
720 acres. The other bordering coun¬
ties are Nash and Fdgecombe to the
north. Pitt to the east, Wayne to the
south, and Johnston to the southwest.
For its size. Wilson is heavily popu¬
lated. The official count for I960 was
57,716. Half of these people live in
the county seat, and another 3,048 arc
scattered unevenly in six incorporated
farm towns. Wilson has overshadowed
its sister communities ever since the
first auction market opened there,
and the situation seems likely to con¬
tinue.
Agriculture
Wilson’s agricultural and industrial
assets are hard to separate. A wide