St. Pauls is a town in

Robeson County Robeson County ( )Talk Like a Tarheel
, from the North Carolina C ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, United States. The population was 2,045 at the 2020 census.

History

The town of St. Pauls was built up around St. Pauls

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

, which was built on land donated in 1799 by William Davis. St. Pauls grew slowly from a town of just the church, Davis' home, a post office and a

livery stable A livery yard, livery stable or boarding stable, is a stable where horse owners pay a weekly or monthly fee to keep their horses. A livery or boarding yard is not usually a riding school and the horses are not normally for hire (unless on wor ...

. The livery was built at the 16-mile post on the

Fayetteville Fayetteville may refer to: *Fayetteville, Alabama *Fayetteville, Arkansas ** The Fayetteville Formation *Fayetteville, Georgia *Fayetteville, Illinois *Fayetteville, Indiana *Fayetteville, Washington County, Indiana *Fayetteville, Missouri *Fayette ...

to Lumberton

stage coach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

road. Growth began in earnest following the construction of the Robeson Institute, a co-educational school that served the children of northern Robeson County. The construction of the Virginia and Carolina Southern Railway through St. Pauls helped establish the community as a leading producer of

textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

. Three

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...

s were constructed in the early part of the 20th century. The mills experienced periods of success and failure before coming under the control of the

Burlington Mills Corporation Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name Burlington * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, now k ...

in 1943. The mills provided significant tax revenue to the town, at one point enabling it to supply free water, sewer, and trash services to residents. Nearly all the mills closed in the 1990s as the textile industry moved from the American South to Latin America and Southeast Asia. The closure of two yarn plants in 2001 led to the loss of over 500 jobs. In the 2000s the job market in the town stagnated, experiencing only minimal growth from the commercial sector developed near

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

. In the 2010s the town secured multiple large corporate investments and relocations. The Gilmore-Patterson Farm and Kenneth McKinnon House are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,045 people, 884 households, and 463 families residing in the town.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 2,035 people living in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 48.9% White, 18.5% Black, 5.4% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.1% from some other race and 1.7% from two or more races. 25.1% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,137 people, 859 households, and 571 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 935 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 25.32%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 60.46%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 3.56% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 8.14% from other races, and 2.11% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 14.74% of the population. 29.8% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.9% were married couples living together, 17.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 people and the average family size was 3.02 members. The median income for a household in the town was $22,347, and the median income for a family was $27,708. Males had a median income of $27,218 versus $20,750 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,520. About 17.2% of families and 22.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.4% of those under age 18 and 24.9% of those age 65 or over. The town has an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school, all named after St. Pauls. The population was spread out, with 25.8% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. There were 94.8 males for every 100 females, and 89.7 males for every 100 females age 18 and over.

Sports

The

Carolina Raging Wolves The Carolina Raging Wolves were a team of the Women's Football Alliance The Women's Football Alliance (WFA) is a semi-pro full-contact women's American football league in the United States. Founded in 2009, it is the largest 11-on-11 foot ...

of the

Women's Football Alliance The Women's Football Alliance (WFA) is a semi-pro full-contact women's American football league in the United States. Founded in 2009, it is the largest 11-on-11 football league for women in the world, and the longest running active women's ...

plays at St. Pauls High School, located in the town.

Notable people

John Beard John Beard may refer to: * John Beard (artist) (born 1943), Welsh artist and painter * John Beard (colonial administrator) (died 1685), Chief Agent and Governor of Bengal * John Beard (embryologist) (1858–1924), Scottish embryologist and anatomis ...

, news anchor, was born in St. Pauls. *

Judy Clay Judy Clay (September 12, 1938 – July 19, 2001) was an American soul and gospel singer, who achieved greatest success as a member of two recording duos in the 1960s. Life Born Judith Grace Guions, in St. Pauls, North Carolina, she was raised ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

singer, was born in St. Pauls.Profile
Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved September 11, 2016.

References

Works cited

External links

Official website

St. Pauls Chamber of Commerce
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Pauls, North Carolina Towns in Robeson County, North Carolina Towns in North Carolina