Wilson, North Carolina

City of Wilson
City
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
County	Wilson
Area
• Total	23.4 sq mi (60.7 km2)
• Land	23.3 sq mi (60.3 km2)
• Water	0.2 sq mi (0.4 km2)
Elevation	108 ft (33 m)
Population  (2010 census)
• Total	49,167
• Density	1,906.9/sq mi (736.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern Time Zone (USA/Canada))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (-4)
Zip Code	27893/27896/27894/27895
Area code	252
FIPS code	37-74540Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	1023273Template:GR
Website	http://www.wilsonnc.org

Wilson is a city and the county seat of Wilson CountyTemplate:GR in the Coastal Plain region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The 18th largest city in the state, Wilson had a population of 49,167 according to the 2010 census.

Geography

Wilson is located at 35°43′52″N 77°55′25″W (35.731093, -77.923509).Template:GR

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 23.4 square miles (61 km²), of which, 23.3 square miles (60 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km²) of it (0.64%) is water.

Wilson is located at the intersection of Interstate 95 and US 264; approximately 45 minutes east of Raleigh, the state capital.

History

The city of Wilson is named for Louis Dicken Wilson (1789–1847), a North Carolina politician and general in the United States Army. He served in the General Assembly of North Carolina and the North Carolina Senate in various terms between 1814 and 1846.

Demographics

United States censusTemplate:GR data from 2007 report a population of 50,652 people, 17,296 households, and 11,328 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,906.9 inhabitants per square mile (736.1/km²). There were 18,660 housing units at an average density of 801.3 per square mile (309.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 47.53% African American, 46.67% White, 0.31% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.89% from other races, and 1.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.29% of the population.

There were 29,296 households out of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.0% were married couples living together, 19.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.5% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 88.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,169, and the median income for a family was $41,041. Males had a median income of $30,682 versus $22,363 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,813. About 16.5% of families and 25.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.5% of those under age 18 and 20.4% of those age 65 or over.

Infrastructure

Telecommunications

The city has built its own Government-access television (GATV) municipal cable TV provider known as Greenlight which provides cable TV, digital phone and internet to its residents.

Transportation

See also: Wilson (Amtrak station)

Wilson is served by two airports: Wilson Industrial Airport and Rocky Mount-Wilson Airport (RWI), and by the Wilson Amtrak Station.

The following highways travel through Wilson: I-95, I-795, U.S. 301, U.S. Route 264, U.S. 117, N.C. 42, and N.C. 58. Five-lane roads include Hines Street, Tarboro Street, and Ward Boulevard.

The city has a bus system.

Healthcare

Wilson Medical Center is a 330 bed hospital.

Sports

Wilson is home to the Wilson Tobs of the Coastal Plain League, a collegiate summer baseball league. The Tobs play at Fleming Stadium in Wilson. The Tobs began play for the league's inaugural 1997 season.

Education

Public schools

The Wilson County School District includes fourteen elementary schools (K-5): Wells, Margaret Hearne, Vick, New Hope, Vinson-Bynum, B.O. Barnes, Winstead, Elm City, Stantonsburg, Lee Woodard, Lucama, Rock Ridge, Gardners, Jones. There are six middle schools: C H Darden, Forest Hills, Toisnot, Elm City, Speight, Springfield; and four high schools: E. T. Beddingfield High School, Ralph L. Fike High School, James B. Hunt High School, and Wilson Early College Academy. They also operate an alternative school: Daniels Learning Center (6-8).

Charter

Youth Enrichment Program of Wilson, Inc. operates Sallie B. Howard School for the Arts and Education.

State-operated

The Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf is operated by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Office of Education Services.

Private

Wilson is home to several private schools: Community Christian School (Daycare - Pre-K -12), Garnett Christian Academy, Wilson Christian Academy (K-12), and Greenfield School (Pre-K-12) (non-sectarian).

Colleges

Wilson is home to Barton College, a liberal arts college, and Wilson Community College.

Notable Residents

James B. Hunt, Jr. (born 1937), former NC governor who served a record four terms, also engaged Jesse Helms in a race for the U.S. Senate in 1984 that was the most expensive Senate campaign up to that time.

Valeisha Butterfield is the activist and public relations personality who was engaged to rapper The Game for a short time in 2006. Valeisha Butterfield graduated from Clark Atlanta University in 2000, and from 2004-09 worked on the staff of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, an advocacy group founded by music producer Russell Simmons under the umbrella of his Rush Communications business. In 2009 she became a Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Valiesha Butterfield has also dabbled in acting, with uncredited roles in the films Remember the Titans (2000, starring Denzel Washington) and Road Trip (2000, with Tom Green. Butterfield's father is G.K. Butterfield, a U.S. Congressman from North Carolina.

Freddie Bynum (born March 15, 1980 in Wilson, North Carolina) is a shortstop playing for the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He is known for his blazing speed and excellent defensive abilities which include the ability to field several different positions in the infield and outfield. He previously played for the Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics, and Baltimore Orioles in the United States MLB.

Ben Flowers (June 15, 1927 (in Wilson, North Carolina) – February 18, 2009) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for four different teams between 1951 and 1956. LA knuckleball specialist, Flowers did almost everything a pitcher is asked to do. He started and filled various relief roles coming out from the bullpen as a closer, middle reliever, and set-up man as well. He entered the majors with the Boston Red Sox, playing for them two years (1951, 1953) before joining the Detroit Tigers (1955), St. Louis Cardinals (1955–1956) and Philadelphia Phillies (1956). His most productive season came for the 1953 Red Sox, when he posted career-highs in ERA (3.86), strikeouts (36), and innings pitched (87⅓) in 32 games, including six starts and one shutout, while recording all three of his career saves .

Walt McKeel (born January 17, 1972) is a former professional baseball player. He played parts of three seasons in Major League Baseball, between 1996 and 2002, for the Boston Red Sox (1996–1997) and Colorado Rockies (2002), primarily as a catcher.

Glenn Bass (born April 12, 1939 in Wilson, North Carolina) is a former collegiate and professional American football player. He played college football at East Carolina University. A flanker, he played professionally in the American Football League for the Buffalo Bills from 1961 through 1966, and for the Houston Oilers in 1966 and 1967. Bass caught fifty passes for the Bills as a rookie. He played in five playoffs with the Bills and Oilers, winning three Eastern Division titles (1964-1966) and two American Football League Championships (1964 and 1965) with the Bills, and an Eastern Division crown with the Oilers (1967).

Julius Peppers was born in Wilson, North Carolina on January 18, 1980 and raised in nearby Bailey. By the time he was a freshman at Bailey's Southern Nash Senior High School, Peppers had grown to 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), 225 lb (102 kg). Ray Davis, the football coach at Southern Nash, felt that Peppers would be an asset on the gridiron for the Firebirds, despite the fact that Peppers had never played football before. He nicknamed The Freak Of Nature, is an American football defensive end for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of North Carolina, and was recognized as an All-American. The Carolina Panthers selected him with the second overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft, and he has played professionally for the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears.

Izel Jenkins (born May 27, 1964 in Wilson, North Carolina) is a former professional American football defensive back in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, and New York Giants during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was drafted by the Eagles in the 11th round (288th overall) of the 1988 NFL Draft. Jenkins frequently played in nickel and dime situations.

Ike Lassiter (born November 15, 1940 in Wilson, North Carolina) is a former American college and professional football defensive lineman. He played professionally for the American Football League's Denver Broncos and the AFL's Oakland Raiders, where he was an AFL All-Star in 1966. He played as the starting left defensive end in Super Bowl II for the 1967 Raiders. In the 1967 regular season on a Raiders team with a won-lost record of 13-1, he was one of the main pass-rushers of a front four including Dan Birdwell, Tom Keating (American football), and Ben Davidson with a combined league-leading total of 67 sacks and 665 yards lost,[1] the latter an all-time record, the all-time record for sacks being 72, done in a 16-game season, the Raiders leading the league in sacks from 1966 to 1968, an all-time record.[2]He ended his NFL career with the Boston Patriots/New England Patriots in 1970 and 1971. He retired to Oakland, California, where he currently lives.

Corey Thomas (born June 6, 1975 in Wilson, North Carolina) is a former professional American football wide receiver, who played in one game for the Detroit Lions in 1998.

Alpheus Branch was born 1843 near Enfield, Halifax County, NC. He founded BB&T in Wilson, NC.

Gregory Walcott-Born Bernard Mattox in Wendell, North Carolina, Walcott was raised in Wilson, North Carolina. While serving in the Army, he appeared as a drill instructor in the film Battle Cry, then as a military policeman in 1955's war-themed classic Mister Roberts with Henry Fonda, as the drill instructor with Tony Curtis in The Outsider, and later Midway as Capt. Elliott Buckmaster.Walcott had roles in many television series, often in Westerns like Bonanza (on which he appeared seven times), Maverick, Wagon Train, 26 Men, Laramie, The Rifleman and in several episodes of Rawhide, where he began a long collaboration with Clint Eastwood. Walcott had featured roles in Eastwood's films Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Eiger Sanction, Joe Kidd, and Every Which Way But Loose.He also was one of the stars of a 1961–62 NBC television series '87th Precinct', as Detective Roger Havilland. Walcott went on to guest roles on many popular TV series including recurring ones in Dallas, Murder, She Wrote, and appeared as Capt. Diggs on the '70s series Land Of The Lost.His other film work also includes the comedy On the Double alongside Danny Kaye, the violent drama Prime Cut with Lee Marvin, and in the chase film The Sugarland Express directed by a 24-year-old Steven Spielberg. Walcott played a sheriff in the 1979 film Norma Rae, the film that won an Oscar for star Sally Field. He also agreeably made a cameo appearance in the 1994 Ed Wood bio-pic starring Johnny Depp, directed by Tim Burton.

William J. "Bill" Brooks (born in Wilson, North Carolina) is an American and former baseball and basketball coach who is best known for developing the University of North Carolina at Wilmington athletics program from a junior college to a Division I school. Brooks graduated with an AB from Atlantic Christian College in 1948. In 1951 he was hired by Wilimgton College (now UNCW) hired Brooks as their athletic director, basketball coach, baseball coach and chairman of the health and physical education department. He directed the baseball team to a pair of national junior college baseball championships in 1961 and 1963 and also took the basketball team to the national tournament. In 1975, he was named NAIA National Coach-of-the-Year and was inducted into the National Junior College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1990.

Rapsody (born Marlanna Evans on January 21 in Wilson, North Carolina) is an American rapper from Snow Hill, North Carolina. She is signed to super producer 9th Wonder's Jamla Records imprint under his It's A Wonderful World Music Group (IWWMG). She has worked with Erykah Badu, Mac Miller, Estelle, Jean Grae, Phonte, Marsha Ambrosius, Raekwon, Murs, Geechi Suede of Camp Lo, Big Daddy Kane, Rah Digga, Buckshot, Big K.R.I.T., Kendrick Lamar, Freeway, Statik Selektah, DJ Premier, and super producer Nottz

William "Will" Hesmer (born November 23, 1981 in Wilson, North Carolina) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer.

Randy Renfrow (born January 28, 1958 in Wilson, North Carolina) is a former NASCAR driver. He raced many years in the Craftsman Truck Series before retiring. Renfrow has won 237 late model sportsman races at 40 different tracks over his career.

George Kenneth Butterfield, Jr. (born April 27, 1947) is the U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 1st congressional district, serving since 2004. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is located in the northeastern corner of the state. Butterfield grew up in a prominent black family in Wilson, North Carolina. Both of his parents had white ancestors. Butterfield's father immigrated to the United States from Bermuda.

Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress.Gardner was born in the big farming community of Grabtown, Johnston County, North Carolina, the youngest of seven children (she had two brothers, Raymond and Melvin, and four sisters, Beatrice, Elsie Mae, Inez, and Myra). Her parents, Mary Elizabeth "Mollie" (née Baker) and Jonas Bailey Gardner, were poor cotton and tobacco farmers. Her ancestry was said to include Scots-Irish, English, Irish, French Huguenot, and American Indian (Tuscarora). She was raised a Baptist. While the children still were young, the Gardners lost their property, forcing Jonas Gardner to work at a sawmill and Mollie to begin working as a cook and housekeeper at a dormitory for teachers at the nearby Brogden School. When Gardner was seven years old, the family decided to try their luck in a larger city, Newport News, Virginia, where Mollie Gardner found work managing a boarding house for the city's many shipworkers. While in Newport News, Gardner's father became ill and died from bronchitis in 1938, when Ava was 15 years old. After Jonas Gardner's death, the family moved to Rock Ridge near Wilson, North Carolina, where Mollie Gardner ran another boarding house for teachers. Ava Gardner attended high school in Rock Ridge and she graduated from there in 1939. She then attended secretarial classes at Atlantic Christian College in Wilson for about a year. She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers (1946). She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Mogambo (1953). She appeared in several high-profile films from the 1950s to 1970s, including The Hucksters (1947), Show Boat (1951), The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Bhowani Junction (1956), On the Beach (1959), Seven Days in May (1964), The Night of the Iguana (1964), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), Earthquake (1974), and The Cassandra Crossing (1976). Gardner continued to act regularly until 1986, four years before her death, at age 67, in London in 1990.

Frederick Augustus Woodard (12 February 1854 – 8 May 1915) was a Democratic U.S. Congressman from North Carolina between 1893 and 1897. Born near Wilson, North Carolina, Woodard attended private schools in Wilson County and studied law under Richmond Mumford Pearson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. He was admitted to the bar in 1873 and practiced law in his hometown of Wilson. He rose in business to become vice-president of the First National Bank of Wilson, and was elected as a Democrat to the 54th United States Congress in 1892. Unsuccessful in his 1896 bid for re-election, Woodard returned to the practice of law and died in Wilson in 1915. He is buried there in Maplewood Cemetery.

Jean Farmer-Butterfield is a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly, representing the state's twenty-fourth House district since 2003. Her district includes constituents in Edgecombe and Wilson counties. From Wilson, North Carolina, Farmer-Butterfield was one of the Majority Whips from 2007 to 2011, when the GOP took control of the North Carolina House of Representatives. She is the ex-wife of U.S. Congressman G. K. Butterfield.

George L. Wainwright, Jr. (born December 10, 1943) is an American judge, who recently retired as an Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Born in Wilson County, North Carolina, Wainwright earned a degree in political science as a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before working in agribusiness and real estate in Wilson, North Carolina for over 15 years. He earned his law degree from Wake Forest University in 1984. Wainwright is also a veteran of the United States Coast Guard Reserve.

Red Barrett (February 14, 1915 – July 28, 1990) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played 11 total career seasons in the National League. He played for the Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves and St. Louis Cardinals. He pitched the shortest complete night game with the fewest number of pitches in history.Barrett was born in Santa Barbara, California. He was a 1932 graduate of Saint Leo College Prep near Tampa, Florida. He died at the age of 75 in Wilson, North Carolina.

Dr. John Townsend (Wilson, North Carolina) is a leadership coach, organizational consultant, psychologist and best-selling author. He consults with corporations, family-owned businesses and small businesses. He operates his own Leadership Coaching Program, which he personally conducts in Newport Beach, CA, Dallas, TX and Indianapolis, IN . Townsend has authored or co-authored 25 books, selling over 5 million copies. His 2 million-selling Boundaries was coauthored with Dr. Henry Cloud. His most recent book is How to Be a Best Friend Forever: Making and Keeping Lifetime Relationships (Worthy Publishing, 2012).

John Webb (September 18, 1926 – September 18, 2008) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court (1986–1998). Prior to serving on North Carolina's highest court, Justice Webb had been a Superior Court (trial) judge and a judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Webb was born in Nash County, North Carolina but lived most of his life in Wilson, North Carolina where one of his law partners was future Governor Jim Hunt.

The O'Kaysions are an American pop / blue-eyed soul group originally from Wilson, North Carolina. Today, they are known as Beach Music artists. The group first formed under the name The Kays in 1959,[1] and scored a Top 10 hit in the U.S. in 1968 with the tune "(I'm A) Girl Watcher" (#5 Pop, #6 R&B).[2] The song was first released on a local record label under the production of John I Whitfield, North State, before being released nationally by ABC Records. "Girl Watcher" received gold record status for a million sales from the R.I.A.A. in December 1968.[1] It was their only major hit, and they released their full length album in 1969 entitled The O'Kaysions on the ABC label. In 1987, the song was reworked as "I'm A Wheel Watcher" and was used to promote the TV game show, Wheel of Fortune (as well as its French-Canadian and New Zealand versions). This reworked version was performed by Kool & The Gang.

Vance Linwood Page (September 15, 1905 in Elm City, North Carolina – July 14, 1951 in Wilson, North Carolina), was a professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1938 to 1941. He played for the Chicago Cubs.

Paul Windiz (born April 12, 1939 in Wilson, North Carolina) was a college and professional American football player. He played college football at East Carolina University. A flanker, he played professionally in the American Football League for the Buffalo Bills from 1961 through 1966, and for the Houston Oilers in 1966 and 1967. Windiz caught fifty passes for the Bills as a rookie. He played in five playoffs with the Bills and Oilers, winning three Eastern Division titles (1964-1966) and two American Football League Championships (1964 and 1965) with the Bills, and an Eastern Division crown with the Oilers (1967).

Raymond Joseph Thomas (July 9, 1910 in Dover, New Hampshire – December 6, 1993 in Wilson, North Carolina) was a catcher in Major League Baseball. He played in one game for the 1938 Brooklyn Dodgers. He had one hit in three at-bats in that game, on July 22, 1938 and scored one run. Prior to his big league career, he attended Western Michigan University. He had a brief run as a manager in the minor leagues before retiring.

Harry F. Weyher Jr. (August 19, 1921 – March 27, 2002) was an American lawyer and president of the Pioneer Fund from 1958 to 2002. Born in Wilson, North Carolina, Weyher attended the University of North Carolina. After serving in World War II, he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1949, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Early in his career, he worked for Cravath, Swaine & Moore and served as special assistant attorney general to the New York State Crime Commission. In 1954, he co-founded the New York City firm Olwine, Connelly, Chase, O'Donnell & Weyher. He became an adjunct associate professor at New York University School of Law and a member of the Society of the Cincinnati

Stanwood Wendell Partenheimer [Party] (October 21, 1922 – January 28, 1989) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox (1944) and St. Louis Cardinals (1945). Listed at 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), 175 lb., Partenheimer batted right-handed and threw left-handed. He was born in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts. His father, Steve Partenheimer, also was a major league player.In a two-season-career, Partenheimer posted a 6.91 ERA in nine appearances, including three starts, six strikeouts, 18 walks, and 14 ⅓ innings of work without a decision.His son, Hal Partenheimer, played professional soccer. Partenheimer died in Wilson, North Carolina, at the age of 66

Walter Beaman Jones, Jr.(born February 10, 1943, in Farmville, North Carolina) is the U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 3rd congressional district, serving since 1995. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district encompasses the Outer Banks and areas near the Pamlico Sound. Jones' father was Walter B. Jones, Sr., a Democratic Party congressman from the neighboring 1st district.Jones is a lifelong resident of Farmville, a suburb of Greenville, North Carolina. He attended Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, and graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts from Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in Wilson, North Carolina.

Charles Lee Coon (1868–1927) was a teacher, school administrator, child labor reformer, and advocate for African American education. Coon was born near Lincolnton, North Carolina, and attended Concordia College in Conover, North Carolina. In addition to teaching, over the years Coon worked as superintendent of Salisbury, North Carolina schools; North Carolina African American normal schools; and Wilson County, North Carolina schools.

Colonel Thomas Stephen Kenan (February 12, 1838 – December 23, 1911) was a Confederate soldier, and later a politician. His parents were Sarah Rebecca Graham and Owen Rand Kenan; he was the grandson of U.S. Congressman Thomas Kenan and great-grandson of Revolutionary War general James Kenan. He started his education in Duplin County, North Carolina at Old Grove Academy in Kenansville (the town was named for his great-grandfather in 1818). Later, he spent a year at Central Military Institute in Selma, Alabama. Thomas spent his freshman year of college at Wake Forest in June[when?]. Thomas then transferred his sophomore year to the University of North Carolina where he would graduate in 1857. He studied law for two years with Judge Pearson at Richmond Hill where he practiced law in Kenansville. After graduation and during the Civil War he became Captain in the Duplin Rifles for the Confederate Army, elected Lieutenant Colonel of the 43rd Regiment in April 1862, and was promoted to Colonel later that year. He was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. While on an ambulance train, he and his older brother James Kenan were both captured; they were then imprisoned on Johnson Island, Ohio. On March 22, 1865, he was released on parole but never switched sides during the war. On his return home he was elected to the State legislature from 1865-1867. Later that year he ran for Congress and lost. Not letting that defeat end his political career, he moved to Wilson, North Carolina, where he became mayor and was elected North Carolina Attorney General, serving from 1877-1885.

Miguel A. Núñez, Jr. (born August 11, 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles in The Return of the Living Dead and Life and a leading role in Juwanna Mann.Núñez was born in New York City, is of Dominican descent, and was raised by his grandparents in Wilson, North Carolina. His first major screen role was the supporting role of Spider in The Return of the Living Dead, and his first major starring role was that of Marcus Taylor on the CBS series Tour of Duty, where he was a main cast member for all three seasons of the show. He later appeared on the UPN show Sparks as well as in movies such as Juwanna Mann. Núñez also held the recurring role of Zach in the second season of the Friends spinoff, Joey.

Hunter Houston Bell is an American book author and actor.Bell was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and was raised in Wilson, North Carolina until the seventh grade.

External links

• Wilson NC Homepage
• The Grey Area newspaper, local newspaper