Caswell County, North Carolina

	Caswell County
	Founded 1777
	Website www.caswellcountync.gov

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Caswell County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 23,501. Its county seat is Yanceyville Template:GR.

History

Caswell County was formed from a northern portion of Orange County, in 1777. The newly formed county was named for Richard Caswell, Governor of North Carolina from 1776 to 1780. Leasburg was the first county seat. In 1792, roughly the eastern half of Caswell County became Person County. After the division, the Caswell County center of government was moved to a more central location: the community of the new county seat first was called Caswell Court House. Later, the name was changed to Yanceyville.

Caswell County produced many political leaders, including Bartlett Yancey, Jr., Archibald Debow Murphey, Romulus Mitchell Saunders, Bedford Brown, Calvin Graves, John Kerr, Jacob Thompson, and others. At one time it was stated that all successful North Carolina legislation had to make its way through the Caswell County legislators. As an example, Bartlett Yancey, Jr., was Speaker of the North Carolina Senate 1817-1827, and during part of this time Romulus Mitchell Saunders was Speaker of the North Carolina House of Commons.

It was in Caswell County that the Slade family discovered the bright-leaf tobacco curing process that revolutionized the tobacco industry and brough great wealth to the region.

For more on the history of the area see Caswell County History.

Irwin House, Milton, Caswell County, 1940

Law and government

Caswell County is a member of the regional Piedmont Triad Council of Governments.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 428 square miles (1,110 km²), of which, 425 square miles (1,100 km²) of it is land and 4 square miles (10 km²) of it (0.88%) is water.

Townships

The county is divided into nine townships: Anderson, Hightowers, Leasburg, Locust Hill, Providence, Milton, Pelham, Stoney Creek, and Yanceyville.

Adjacent counties and independent cities

Danville, Virginia - north
Pittsylvania County, Virginia - north
Halifax County, Virginia - northeast
Person County, North Carolina - east
Orange County, North Carolina - southeast
Alamance County, North Carolina - southwest
Rockingham County, North Carolina - west

Demographics

As of the census Template:GR of 2000, there were 23,501 people, 8,670 households, and 6,398 families residing in the county. The population density was 55 people per square mile (21/km²). There were 9,601 housing units at an average density of 23 per square mile (9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 61.07% White, 36.52% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.17% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races. 1.77% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 8,670 households out of which 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.20% were married couples living together, 14.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.20% were non-families. 23.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.20% under the age of 18, 7.70% from 18 to 24, 30.10% from 25 to 44, 26.00% from 45 to 64, and 13.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 102.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,018, and the median income for a family was $41,905. Males had a median income of $28,968 versus $22,339 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,470. About 10.90% of families and 14.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.30% of those under age 18 and 21.10% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Map of Caswell County, North Carolina with municipal and township labels

Incorporated

Unincorporated

Distinctions

It is the only county in North Carolina that offers Comcast Cable. It is the only county that receives the three major Roanoke television stations; WDBJ, WSLS and WSET. It is believed that Comcast of Yanceyville is affiliated with Comcast of Danville, Virginia.

Milton is believed to be the only part of North Carolina with a small Amish and/or Mennonite population.

References

External links

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia adapted for use as a quick research reference on this wiki. The original content was here: Caswell County, North Carolina. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with the ENC Phillips Group Wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.