Jones County, North Carolina

	Jones County
	Founded 1779
	Website www.co.jones.nc.us

Jones County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 10,381. Its county seat is Trenton Template:GR.

Jones County is part of the New Bern, North Carolina, Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The county was formed in 1779 from the southwestern part of Craven County. It was named for Willie Jones, a Revolutionary leader and president of the North Carolina Council of Safety; he was later the state's chief opponent of ratification of the United States Constitution He was also a plantation slave owner. The geographic boundries form the body of a hogs head after it split away from Craven County and is considered by some to be symbolic of the agricultural atmosphere. Following the Civil War, the county government (that remains to this day) reformed under the leadership of the legendary S. Riggs for her contribution to the serf/landowner mentality. The county flower is known as the "Dandelion" and the symbolic bird is designated as the "Buzzard".

Law and government

Jones County is a member of the regional Eastern Carolina Council of Governments. The Jones County Government relies entirely upon an all volunteer (non-paid) fire department force segregated by geographic location(s). The Law Enforcement structure consists of one paid Pollocksville Police Chief, one paid Maysville Police Chief, and an elected Sheriff with a small (less than 25 person force) to handle law enforcement, detention, and emergency communications. The county government relies heavily on volunteer deputization. Emergency ambulance services consist of one full time medical unit dispatched from the town of Trenton and relies heavily on other volunteer EMS personnel geographically scattered around the county to assist with a medical emergency. Additional EMS transportation vehicles are subsidized by EMS services provided by adjacent counties or private enterprises. There is no animal control unit. The County Detention Facility is a 21 bed (3 female) facility located in the basement of the county courthouse and the detention staff double up as the communications/911 emergency communications staff. Prisoner Meals are provided by contract through licensed restaurants.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 473 square miles (1,226 km²), of which, 472 square miles (1,222 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (4 km²) of it (0.30%) is water.

Townships

The county is divided into seven townships, which are both numbered and named: 1 (White Oak), 2 (Pollocksville), 3 (Trenton), 4 (Cypress Creek), 5 (Tuckahoe), 6 (Chinquapin), and 7 (Beaver Creek).

Adjacent counties

Craven County, North Carolina - northeast
Carteret County, North Carolina - southeast
Onslow County, North Carolina - south
Duplin County, North Carolina - west
Lenoir County, North Carolina - northwest

National protected area

Croatan National Forest (part)

Demographics

REDIRECT Template:US Census population

As of the census Template:GR of 2000, there were 10,381 people, 4,061 households, and 2,936 families residing in the county. The population density was 22 people per square mile (8/km²). There were 4,679 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 60.97% White, 35.87% Black or African American, 0.36% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.70% from other races, and 0.92% from two or more races. 2.72% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 4,061 households out of which 31.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.20% were married couples living together, 15.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.70% were non-families. 24.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.70% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 26.90% from 25 to 44, 25.20% from 45 to 64, and 15.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 93.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,882, and the median income for a family was $35,180. Males had a median income of $28,662 versus $19,536 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,916. About 14.20% of families and 16.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.30% of those under age 18 and 16.70% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

Map of Jones County, North Carolina With Municipal and Township Labels

References

External links

Jones County government official website

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: Jones 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.