Wilkes County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the US state of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. It is a part of the state's western mountain region. As of the 2020 census the population was 65,969, in 2010 the census listed the population at 69,340. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

is Wilkesboro, and its largest town is

North Wilkesboro North Wilkesboro is a town in Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States, approximately 80 miles north of Charlotte. The population was 4,131 at the 2020 US Census. North Wilkesboro is the birthplace and original home of Lowe's Home Improvemen ...

. Wilkes County comprises the North Wilkesboro, NC, Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The county was formed from parts of Surry County and Washington District (now

Washington County, Tennessee Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,001. Its county seat is Jonesborough. The county's largest city and a regional educational, medical and commercial center is ...

) on April 20, 1778, by an act of the

North Carolina General Assembly of 1778 The North Carolina General Assembly of 1778 met in three sessions in three locations in the years 1778 and 1779. The first session was held in New Bern from April 14 to May 2, 1778; the second session in Hillsborough, from August 8 to August 19 ...

. The first session of the county court was held in John Brown's house near what is today Brown's Ford. The act creating the county became effective on February 15, 1778, and the county celebrates its anniversary on February 15. Wilkes County was named for the English political radical

John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he f ...

, who lost his position as

Lord Mayor of the City of London Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

due to his support for the colonists during the American Revolution. In 1799, the northern and western parts of Wilkes County became Ashe County. In 1841, parts of Wilkes County and Burke County were combined to form Caldwell County. In 1847, another part of Wilkes County was combined with parts of Caldwell County and Iredell County to become Alexander County. In 1849, additional parts of Wilkes County and Caldwell County were combined with parts of Ashe County and

Yancey County Yancey County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,470. Its county seat is Burnsville. This land was inhabited by the Cherokee prior to European settlement, as was much of the S ...

to form

Watauga County Watauga County ( )
from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

. Numerous boundary adjustments were made thereafter, but none resulted in new counties.

Moonshine production and the birth of NASCAR

Wilkes County was once known as the "

Moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

Capital of the World", and was a leading producer of illegal homemade liquor. From the 1920s to the 1950s some young Wilkes County males made their living by delivering moonshine to North Carolina's larger towns and cities. Wilkes County natives also used bootleg liquor as a means for barter far beyond the borders of North Carolina. Many Wilkes County distillers ran white liquor as far as

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and South Florida. Since this often involved outrunning local police and federal agents in auto chases, the county became one of the birthplaces of the sport of

stock-car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specif ...

. The

North Wilkesboro Speedway North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill fr ...

was the first

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

(National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing) track; it held its first race on May 18, 1947, and the first NASCAR-sanctioned race on October 16, 1949. Wilkes County native and resident

Junior Johnson Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became ...

was one of the early superstars of NASCAR, as well as a legendary moonshiner. Johnson was featured by the writer

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

in a 1965 ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' magazine article titled "The Last American Hero Is Junior Johnson. Yes!", which gave him national exposure. Wolfe's vivid article was later adapted as the movie ''

The Last American Hero ''The Last American Hero'' (also known as ''Hard Driver'') is a 1973 American sports drama film based on the true story of NASCAR driver Junior Johnson. Directed by Lamont Johnson (no relation), the film stars Jeff Bridges as Junior Jackson, a cha ...

'' (1973), starring

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...

and

Valerie Perrine Valerie Ritchie Perrine (born September 3, 1943) is an American actress. For her role as Honey Bruce in the 1974 film ''Lenny'', she won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles, the Cannes Film Festival Award for Bes ...

Benny Parsons Benjamin Stewart Parsons (July 12, 1941 – January 16, 2007) was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst/pit reporter on SETN, TBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC, and TNT. He became famous as the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, ...

and

Jimmy Pardue James Pardue (October 26, 1930 – September 22, 1964) was a NASCAR race car driver who lived in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, USA. Summary He made his debut in 1955 at Martinsville, where he finished 28th after suffering hub problems in hi ...

were two other notable NASCAR drivers from Wilkes. The North Wilkesboro Speedway was closed following the 1996 NASCAR season. Two new owners, Bob Bahre and Bruton Smith, moved North Wilkesboro's NASCAR races to their tracks in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. In 2009, Speedway Associates, Inc., obtained a three-year lease and started running races and other events at the speedway. However, in May 2011, the group announced that funding had fallen through and they were ending their lease prematurely. Following the track's closure in 1996, numerous news media stories and articles were written about the rich history of the speedway, the physical decay of the track and grandstands, and efforts to renovate and save the speedway. In November 2021, the North Carolina state legislature and North Carolina Governor

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III (born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician, serving as the 75th governor of North Carolina since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th attorney general of North Carolina from 20 ...

approved giving $18 million to the North Wilkesboro Speedway for extensive renovations and repairs in an effort to return auto racing to the track. Following the renovation, the Speedway held its first races in a decade in August 2022, drawing a sellout crowd to the CARS Tour's Window World 125. In September 2022 it was announced that the 2023

NASCAR All-Star Race The NASCAR All-Star Race, formerly known as The Winston from 1985 to 2003, the Nextel All-Star Challenge from 2004 to 2007, the Sprint All-Star Race from 2008 to 2016, and the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race from 2017 to 2019, is an annual NAS ...

will be held at the North Wilkesboro Speedway in May 2023, marking the first NASCAR race to be held at the track since 1996.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.3%) is water. Wilkes County is located on the eastern slope of the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...

, a part of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

chain. The county's elevation ranges from 900 feet (375 meters) in the east to over 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) in the west. The Blue Ridge Mountains run from the southwest to the northeast, and dominate the county's western and northern horizons. Tomkins Knob, the highest point in the county, rises to 4,079 feet (1243 meters). The

Blue Ridge Parkway The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is America's longest linear park, runs for through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking Shenand ...

runs along the crest of the Blue Ridge on the county's northern and western borders. The foothills and valleys of the Blue Ridge form most of the county's midsection, with some elevations exceeding 2,000 feet (610 meters). Stone Mountain State Park, located in the foothills of northern Wilkes County, is one of the most popular state parks in North Carolina, and is noted for its excellent

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

and

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

fishing. The Brushy Mountains, an isolated spur of the Blue Ridge, form the county's southern border. Wilkes County's terrain gradually becomes more level and less hilly as one moves to the east; the far eastern section of the county lies within the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

region of North Carolina. The largest river in Wilkes is the

Yadkin River The Yadkin River is one of the longest rivers in North Carolina, flowing . It rises in the northwestern portion of the state near the Blue Ridge Parkway's Thunder Hill Overlook. Several parts of the river are impounded by dams for water, p ...

, which flows through the central part of the county. The county's three other major streams, all of which flow into the Yadkin, are the

Reddies River The Reddies River is a tributary of the Yadkin River in northwestern North Carolina in the United States.DeLorme (2001). ''North Carolina Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. Via the Yadkin it is part of the watershed of the Pee Dee Ri ...

, Roaring River, and Mulberry Creek. Following the devastating floods of 1916 and 1940, the US Army's Corps of Engineers constructed the W. Kerr Scott Dam and Reservoir on the Yadkin River four miles west of Wilkesboro. Opened in 1962, the dam created a lake with a shoreline of 56 miles. The lake is used for boating, swimming, fishing, and

waterskiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffici ...

; it is especially noted for its excellent bass fishing. The W. Kerr Scott lake is the largest body of water in Wilkes. Due to its wide range of elevation, Wilkes County's climate varies considerably. In winter, it is not unusual for it to be sunny with the temperature in the forties in the county's eastern section, while at the same time it is snowing or sleeting with the temperature below freezing in the county's mountainous north, west, and south. Generally speaking, Wilkes receives ample amounts of precipitation, with frequent

thunderstorms A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are somet ...

in the spring and summer months; and rain, snow, sleet, and

freezing rain Freezing rain is rain maintained at temperatures below freezing by the ambient air mass that causes freezing on contact with surfaces. Unlike a mixture of rain and snow or ice pellets, freezing rain is made entirely of liquid droplets. The rain ...

all occur at times during the winter, with the frequency increasing with the altitude. Severe weather is not common in Wilkes but does occur. Tornadoes are rare, but severe thunderstorms can bring strong winds which can down trees and power lines, as well as cause hail. On October 23, 2017, a rare EF 1 tornado touched down in the community of Moravian Falls, before moving into the towns of Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro, and then through the Mulberry, Fairplains, and Hays communities, causing significant damage. Wilkes County is far enough inland that

hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

rarely cause problems, but a strong hurricane which moves inland quickly enough may cause damage, as with

Hurricane Hugo Hurricane Hugo was a powerful Cape Verde tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread damage across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. Across its track, Hugo affected approximately 2 million peop ...

in 1989. Due to the numerous creeks and streams which run through its valleys, Wilkes is especially prone to devastating

flash floods A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing ...

. The two most memorable floods occurred in 1916 and 1940, killing a number of residents and causing millions of dollars in damages. Since the opening of the W. Kerr Scott Dam in 1962, the Yadkin River has not flooded in the county. Although Wilkes County has never had a severe earthquake, a fault runs through the Brushy Mountains, and mild earth tremors are not uncommon. On August 31, 1861 an earthquake estimated at 5.0 on the

Richter magnitude scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...

hit the southern part of the county and caused minor damage.

National protected area

(part)

State and local protected areas

* Doughton Recreation Area (part) *

Rendezvous Mountain State Park Rendezvous Mountain State Park is a North Carolina state park in Purlear, North Carolina. It was originally established as North Carolina's third state park. From 1984 to early 2022, the park was operated by the North Carolina Forest Service ...

* Stone Mountain State Park (part) *

Thurmond Chatham Wildlife Management Area Thurmond can refer to: People * Thurmond (surname), including a list of people with the name Places * Thurmond, North Carolina *Thurmond, West Virginia **Thurmond (Amtrak station) Thurmond station is a train station in Thurmond, West Virginia, U ...

(part)

Major water bodies

* Big Sandy Creek * Big Warrior Creek * Brier Creek * Coal Creek * Cub Creek * Dugger Creek * East Prong Roaring River * Elk Creek *

Elkin Creek Elkin Creek is a long 4th order tributary to the Yadkin River in Surry and Wilkes Counties, North Carolina. This is the only stream of this name in the United States. Variant names According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has ...

* Fall Creek * Fishing Creek *

Grassy Fork (Elkin Creek tributary) Grassy Fork is a long 2nd order tributary to Elkin Creek in Wilkes Counties, North Carolina. Course Grassy Fork rises about 0.5 miles northeast of Austin in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Grassy Fork then flows southeast to join Elkin Creek ...

Hunting Creek Hunting Creek is a cove and tributary stream of the Potomac River between the City of Alexandria and Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commo ...

* Laurel Branch * Little Dugger Creek *

Little Elkin Creek Little Elkin Creek is a long 3rd order tributary to the Yadkin River in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Variant names According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as: *Little Elkin River Course Littl ...

Little Hunting Creek Little Hunting Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 primarily tidal tributary of the Potomac River located in Fairfax County, Virginia, not to be c ...

Lousy Creek (Reddies River tributary) Lousy Creek is a long 1st order tributary to the Reddies River in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Course Lousy Creek rises about 2 miles northwest of Mulberry, North Carolina and then flows south to join the Reddies River The Reddies River ...

* Mulberry Creek * North Fork Reddies River * North Little Hunting Creek *

* Roaring River * Sandy Creek * South Fork Reddies River * W. Kerr Scott Dam and Reservoir *

* Yates Creek

Adjacent counties

* Alexander County - south * Alleghany County - north * Ashe County - northwest * Caldwell County - southwest * Iredell County - southeast * Surry County - northeast *

Watauga County Watauga County ( )
from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

- west *

Yadkin County Yadkin County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,214. Its county seat is Yadkinville. Yadkin County is included in the Winston-Salem, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also inc ...

- east

Major highways

* * * * * * * * (

Alternative Route Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

) * Wilkes County is home to several NC and US Highways, as well as an airport and public transportation. Wilkes is also one of the twenty-seven NC counties which the

runs through.

Major infrastructure

, famous speedway in Wilkes County. * Wilkes County Airport * Wilkes Transportation Authority serves Wilkes County with buses and vans along a scheduled route and rural service.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 65,969 people, 28,376 households, and 17,409 families residing in the county.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 69,340 people, 28,360 households, and 19,683 families residing in the county. The population density was 91.91 people per square mile (35.49/km²). There were 33,065 housing units at an average density of 43.84 per square mile (16.93/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.60% White or European American, 4.08% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.33% from other races, and 1.33% from two or more races. Of all races, 5.44% of the population were Hispanic or Latino. There were 28,360 households, out of which 26.76% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.03% were married couples living together, 10.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.60% were non-families. Of all households, 26.69% were made up of individuals, and 11.59% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.89. In the county, the population breakdown by age is: 22.41% under the age of 18, 7.16% from 18 to 24, 23.96% from 25 to 44, 29.49% from 45 to 64, and 16.99% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.4 years. For every 100 females there were 97.69 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.42 males. The median income for a household in the county was $30,668, and the median income for a family was $39,670. Males had a median income of $30,917 versus $26,182 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,319. About 17.60% of families and 21.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.60% of those under age 18 and 13.40% of those age 65 or over.

Religion

Since colonial times Wilkes County has been overwhelmingly

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Christian. The two earliest churches to be established in Wilkes were the Episcopalian and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

. However, by the 1850s the

Southern Baptists The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptists, Baptist denomination, and the Protestantism in the United States, largest Protestantism, Protestant and Christia ...

had eclipsed them, and the Baptists have remained the dominant church in Wilkes. The county also contains a significant number of

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and non-denominational

Evangelical Protestant Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual exper ...

congregations. Historically, few

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

lived in Wilkes, but recent immigration from other U.S. States and especially by people of

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

descent has increased their numbers. Wilkes County has a single Catholic parish, Saint John Baptist de LaSalle Catholic Church in North Wilkesboro, which serves all the Catholics of Wilkes County. In contrast, relatively few

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

or members of other non-Christian faiths have settled in the county.

Government and politics

Since the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Wilkes County has been heavily Republican, owing to its strong Unionist sentiment during the war, which partly stemmed from its rocky and infertile soil unsuited for plantation farming. The last Democratic presidential candidate to carry Wilkes County was

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

in 1832. The Whig Party dominated politics in the county from 1836 until its dissolution in the middle 1850s. Since the formation of the Republican Party in 1854, Wilkes County has voted Republican in every election bar three: in 1856 it voted for "Know-Nothing"

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...

, in 1860 for Constitutional Unionist John Bell, and in 1912 for Progressive

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. The primary governing body of Wilkes County follows a

council–manager government The council–manager government is a form of local government used for municipalities, counties, or other equivalent regions. It is one of the two most common forms of local government in the United States along with the mayor–council gover ...

format with a five-member

Board of Commissioners A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

and the County Manager. The current County Manager is John Yates. The current Commissioners are: Keith Elmore (Chairman), Gary D. Blevins (Vice-Chairman), David Gambill, Gary L. Blevins, and Eddie Settle. Wilkes County is a member of the regional High Country Council of Governments. In the North Carolina General Assembly, Wilkes is represented by

Deanna Ballard Deanna Ballard (born October 2, 1978) is an American politician served in the North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representa ...

district 36 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

in the North Carolina State Senate, and by Sarah Stevens in district 90 and Jeffery Elmore in district 94 in the State House. In the

US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

, the county is represented by

Richard Burr Richard Mauze Burr (born November 30, 1955) is an American businessman and politician who is the senior United States senator from North Carolina, serving since 2005. A member of the Republican Party, Burr was previously a member of the United S ...

and

Thom Tillis Thomas Roland Tillis (born August 30, 1960) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from North Carolina since 2015. A Republican, he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2006, and began ser ...

. Wilkes is entirely in the Fifth District of the

US House The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

, represented by

Virginia Foxx Virginia Ann Foxx ( Palmieri;Foxx, Virginia Ann
. ''Biographical Directory of ...

. Wilkes County's economic struggles since 2000, and the county's strong support for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

in the 2016 presidential election and after, has led to Wilkes being prominently featured in numerous stories and articles by national news media outlets such as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

'', ''

PBS NewsHour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virg ...

'', '' U.S. News & World Report'', and ''

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

''.

Economy

Despite its rural character and relatively small population, Wilkes County has been the birthplace of numerous large industries. Lowe's, the second-largest chain of home-improvement stores in the nation (after

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...

) was started in Wilkes County in 1946. Until 2003, Lowe's had its corporate headquarters in Wilkes County, but the company has since relocated most of its corporate functions to

Mooresville, North Carolina Mooresville is a large town located in the southwestern section of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and is a part of the fast-growing Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 50,193 at the 2020 United States Census making it ...

, a fast-growing suburb of

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. However, Lowe's large office in Wilkesboro still houses many corporate departments, and Lowe's remains the county's second-largest employer. A telecommunications firm, Carolina West Wireless, was started in Wilkesboro in 1991 and is also headquartered in the county. Other industries which started in Wilkes County are

Lowes Foods Lowes Foods is an American supermarket chain based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The chain initially grew in the mountains of North Carolina and rural areas of Virginia, but, starting in the late 1990s, it expanded in metropolitan areas of ...

(now headquartered in

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...

) and The Northwestern Bank, which was once North Carolina's fourth-largest banking chain until it was merged with

First Union First Union Corporation was a bank holding company that provided commercial and retail banking services in eleven states in the eastern U.S. First Union also provided various other financial services, including mortgage banking, credit card, inv ...

Bank in 1986. The Carolina Mirror Company in North Wilkesboro, founded in the 1930s, was for many years the largest mirror factory in America. Today Gardner Glass Products Inc. still produces mirrors in North Wilkesboro. Holly Farms, in Wilkesboro, was the largest poultry producer in the Southeastern United States until it was bought by

Tyson Foods Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after JBS S.A. It annually ...

in 1989. Wilkes County remains one of the largest producers of poultry in the Eastern United States, and many of the county's farmers are poultry farmers for Tyson Foods. Tyson is the largest employer in Wilkes. Like many rural areas in North Carolina, Wilkes County has suffered since 2000 from the closing of nearly all of its textile and furniture factories, which formed a major part of its economic base. Most of these factories have moved to low-wage locations in Latin America and Asia, especially China and Vietnam. According to ''Stateline'', the number of Wilkes County residents employed in manufacturing dropped from 8,548 in 2000 to approximately 4,000 as of 2015, a reduction of over 53%. From 2000 to 2014, the median household income in Wilkes declined by over 30%. However, from 2014 to 2017 the median household income increased by nearly 22%, and in 2017 Wilkes was ranked 47th out of 100 counties for "economic distress" by the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

Wine region

Wilkes County is part of the

Yadkin Valley AVA The Yadkin Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area that includes land in seven counties of northwestern North Carolina. The AVA encompasses an area of approximately in the Yadkin River valley. The Yadkin Valley AVA includes all of Wilkes, ...

, an

American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...

. Wines made from grapes grown in Wilkes County may use the

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

Yadkin Valley on their labels. With the decline of tobacco farming, some Wilkes County farmers have switched to wine-making, and have hired experts from Europe and California for assistance. As a result, wine-making is growing in popularity in both Wilkes and surrounding counties. In May of each year, Wilkes county celebrates the new wine industry with the ''Shine to Wine Festival'', held in downtown North Wilkesboro.

Education

The Wilkes County Schools system has 22 schools ranging from

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

, including an

early college high school The Early College High School Initiative in the United States allows students to receive a high school diploma and an associate degree, or up to two years of college credit, by taking a mixture of high school and college classes. This differs fro ...

. Those 22 schools are separated into 5

high schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, 4 middle schools and 13

elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

. There is only one charter school in Wilkes County: Bridges Charter School in

State Road, North Carolina State Road is an unincorporated community located in the Bryan Township of Surry County, North Carolina and part of Edwards III Township in eastern Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2000 census, the State Road postal dist ...

. The

Elkin City Schools The Elkin City Schools system is a PK– 12 graded school district located in the town of Elkin, North Carolina which lies on the border of Wilkes and Surry counties. The three schools in the district serve 1,217 students as of 2010–11. Hist ...

district also covers parts of Wilkes. Wilkes County has three private schools, all three are associated with one of the larger

Protestant Christian Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

churches in the county. The largest private school in Wilkes is Millers Creek Christian School. In recent years, the number of students being

home schooled Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

in Wilkes has steadily increased, while public school enrollment has decreased. The only college in Wilkes is

Wilkes Community College Wilkes Community College (WCC) is a public community college in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. It is part of the North Carolina Community College System and serves the people of Wilkes, Ashe and Alleghany counties, and beyond. The college is best k ...

(WCC), a public

two-year college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

within the

North Carolina Community College System The North Carolina Community College System (System Office) is a statewide network of 58 public community colleges. The system enrolls over 500,000 students annually. It also provides the North Carolina Learning Object Repository as a central loc ...

. Wilkes County is served by the Appalachian Regional Library.

Media

Wilkes County has two local newspapers: * ''

Wilkes Journal-Patriot The ''Wilkes Journal-Patriot'' is a newspaper based in North Wilkesboro, Wilkes County, North Carolina and published weekly each Wednesday. At one time it was published twice per week (Tuesday and Friday). The paper has a circulation of 11,000 pa ...

'' – Founded in 1906, the ''Journal-Patriot'' is published one time per week. * ''The Record of Wilkes'' – Published once per week on the internet, it usually focuses on the local arts scene in Wilkes. The county has three radio stations: *

WKBC-FM WKBC-FM (97.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format. Most of its programming comes from Dial Global's Hot AC. Licensed to North Wilkesboro, North Carolina and formally owned by Wilkes Broadcasting Company, it featur ...

(97.3 FM) –

Adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

(

Hot AC Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet sto ...

) music and flagship station for football and basketball games of nearby Appalachian State University. * WKBC (AM) (800 AM) – American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. * WWWC (AM) (1240 AM & 100.1 FM) –

Southern Gospel Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as ...

music and local news and high school sports broadcasts. Most of the county can pick up the Television Stations broadcasting from

Wilkes County is also home to ''GoWilkes.com'', an internet media source that allows residents to discuss current events and local happenings in real time. GoWilkes.com was voted the 2004 Small Business of the Year by the

North Carolina Chamber of Commerce The North Carolina Chamber of Commerce is a business network and advocacy organization whose chief mission is to promote business interests in the state of North Carolina. The NC Chamber is an affiliate of the United States Chamber of Commerce. Its ...

Hospitals

Wilkes Medical Center was opened in 1952 as Wilkes General Hospital. In 2017, Wake Forest Baptist Health brought the hospital, at the time known as Wilkes Regional Medical Center, into their system. WMC is the largest hospital in northwestern North Carolina and is Wilkes County's fourth largest employer. West Park, formerly a large shopping center built in the 1970s, was, starting in 2000, transformed into a large medical park with numerous offices for physicians, medical specialists, pharmacies, physical therapists, and other medical and health-related fields.

Events and festivals

Wilkes County has strong musical roots, and those roots are displayed at: It hosts the annual ''Shine to Wine Festival'', in downtown North Wilkesboro. Held on the first Saturday of May, the Shine to Wine festival pays tribute to the county's heritage of growing from the Moonshine Capital of the World to what is now recognized as a strong viticultural industry. Wilkes County is also home to the annual Brushy Mountain Apple Festival, which is held in downtown North Wilkesboro the first weekend in October. The festival, which attracts over 160,000 visitors each year, is one of the largest single-day arts and crafts fairs in the Southern United States. Carolina in the Fall is another music festival each September in the Historic Downtown Wilkesboro and is hosted by the Heart of Folk and the Kruger Brothers. The festival and venue won an award at the IBMA and features music, wine and beer garden and food truck competition. It continues to grow in popularity. The Carolina West Wireless Community Commons and Wilkes Communications Pavilion has "Concerts on the Commons," a live music concert series held from May through October annually. In 1988 legendary,

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-winning folk music guitarist

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. W ...

and Bill Young started the Doc Watson Festival (later renamed the MerleFest music festival) in Wilkesboro. Held on the campus of Wilkes Community College, and named in honor of Doc's late son Merle Watson, MerleFest has grown into one of the largest folk and bluegrass music festivals in the United States, drawing an average of over 75,000 music fans each year. The festival has become the main fundraiser for the college, and brings over $10 million in estimated business and tourist revenues to Wilkes County and surrounding areas each year.

Communities

Towns

* Elkin (also in Surry County) *

(largest town) *

Ronda Ronda () is a town in the Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about west of the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is about 35,000. Ronda is known for its cliff-side location and a deep chasm ...

* Wilkesboro (county seat)

Census-designated places

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

* Fairplains * Hays * Millers Creek *

Moravian Falls Moravian Falls is a waterfall in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Geology The waterfall is located on Moravian Creek, where it flows over a large bedrock to a lower plunge pool. Natural history The falls is privately owned by a campground who ha ...

Mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

* Pleasant Hill

Unincorporated communities

Call Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call, a type of betting in poker * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...

* Clingman * Darby * Ferguson * McGrady * Parsonsville * Purlear * Roaring River * Thurmond

Townships

* Antioch * Beaver Creek * Boomer * Brushy Mountains * Edwards * Elk * Jobs Cabin * Lewis Fork * Lovelace * Moravian Falls * Mulberry * New Castle * North Wilkesboro * Rock Creek * Reddies River * Somers * Stanton * Traphill * Union * Walnut Grove * Wilkesboro

Notable people

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

(1734–1820), explorer and pioneer, lived in Wilkes County for several years and married a Wilkes County native before moving west to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. * John Brown (1738–1812), militia

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

during the Revolutionary War, served as one of the state Treasurers (1782–1784), and served in the

state legislature (1784–1787). *

Chang and Eng Bunker Chang Bunker and Eng Bunker (May 11, 1811 – January 17, 1874) were Siamese-American conjoined twin brothers whose fame propelled the expression " Siamese twins" to become synonymous for conjoined twins in general. They were widely exhibited as ...

(1811–1874),

Siamese twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence ...

, who were a popular attraction in Asia, Europe, and North America in the nineteenth century, settled in Wilkes County in the 1850s, married two local sisters, and between them fathered 21 children. *

Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...

(1917–2010),

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from West Virginia 1959–2010; longest-serving Senator in American history. *

Benjamin Cleveland Benjamin Cleveland (May 28, 1738 – October 1806) was an American pioneer and officer in the North Carolina militia. He is best remembered for his service as a colonel in the Wilkes County Regiment of the North Carolina militia during the War ...

(1738–1806),

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in the North Carolina militia during the Revolutionary War. He was one of the American commanders at the

Battle of Kings Mountain The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took pla ...

in 1780. *

Tom Dula Thomas C. Dula (June 23‚ 1844 – May 1, 1868) was a former Confederate soldier who was convicted of murdering Laura Foster. National publicity from newspapers such as ''The New York Times'' turned Dula's story into a folk legend. Although Lau ...

(Dooley) (1844–1868), Confederate veteran who was tried and hanged for the murder of his fiancée, Laura Foster; subject of the folk

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

" Tom Dooley". *

Zach Galifianakis Zachary Knight Galifianakis (born October 1, 1969) is an American actor and comedian. He appeared in ''Comedy Central Presents'' special and presented his show '' Late World with Zach'' on VH1. Galifianakis has starred in films including ''T ...

(born 1969), actor and comedian. * George Allen Gilreath (1834–1863), a captain in the Confederate Army during the

; killed while commanding the regiment which advanced the farthest into enemy lines during

Pickett's Charge Pickett's Charge (July 3, 1863), also known as the Pickett–Pettigrew–Trimble Charge, was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee against Major General George G. Meade's Union positions on the last day of the ...

at the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

. * James B. Gordon (1822–1864), a general of

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

in the Confederate Army during the

. *

Deneen Graham Deneen Zezell Graham Kernsis a dance teacher and pageant contestant from North Carolina. In 1983 she became the first African-American to win the Miss North Carolina beauty pageant; she remained the only African-American to have won the Miss North ...

(born 1964), the first black woman to be crowned

Miss North Carolina The Miss North Carolina competition selects the representative for the state of North Carolina to compete in the annual Miss America competition. The competition has been held in Raleigh every year since 1978. Prior to that, it was held in vario ...

(1983). *

Roger Hamby Roger Hamby (born July 2, 1943 in Ferguson, North Carolina) is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and NASCAR team owner whose career spanned from 1977 to 1981. He was one of the runners-up for the 1978 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award and ...

(born 1943), Former NASCAR driver and former team owner *

(1931–2019), in the 1950s, Johnson became a legend in the rural South by consistently outrunning law-enforcement officials in auto chases while delivering homemade liquor (

moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

) to his customers. Johnson then became a champion

racer, winning 50 NASCAR races before his retirement. * Sallie Chapman Gordon Law (1805–1894), first recorded Confederate nurse in the Civil War. *

William Ballard Lenoir William Ballard Lenoir (1775–1852; also given as 1781-1855) was known as a businessman and politician in what is now known as Lenoir City, Tennessee, where he moved in the early nineteenth century. He had served in the militia and reached the ran ...

(1751–1839), the first President of the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. * Lucius Smith Lowe (1879-1940), Founder of North Wilkesboro Hardware, which later became

Lowe's Home Improvement Lowe's Companies, Inc. (), often shortened to Lowe's, is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States and Canada. A ...

* James Lucius Lowe (1918–1965), Founder of

, son of Lucius Smith Lowe, Co-Owner of

. * Ruth Lowe Buchan (1912-1994), Daughter of Lucius Lowes and sister of James Lowe, After her father died in 1940 she inherited the North Wilkesboro Hardware store, who sold the company to her brother James Lowe that same year. James took on his brother-in-law Carl Buchan as a partner in 1943. *

(1941–2007), NASCAR racer who won the 1973 NASCAR championship. After his retirement, he became a TV racing analyst. * James Larkin Pearson (1879–1981), poet and newspaper publisher who served as North Carolina Poet Laureate from 1953 to 1981. *

Waylon Reavis Waylon Reavis (born September 19, 1978) is an American musician best known for being a former vocalist for American heavy metal band Mushroomhead. He was in Mushroomhead from 2004-2015 and with them released three albums: Savior Sorrow (2006) ...

(born 1978), musician, lead vocalist of

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

metal band

Mushroomhead Mushroomhead is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1993 in the Cleveland Warehouse District, the band is known for their avant-garde sound and horror film-inspired imagery which features masks and costumes as well as ...

. * Shirrel Rhoades (born 1942), writer, publisher, professor, filmmaker, and the former executive vice president of

Marvel Entertainment Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Enterprises) is an American show business, entertainment company (law), company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, New York (state), New York, formed by the merger of #Marvel Entertainment ...

. *

Morgan Shepherd Clay Morgan Shepherd (born October 12, 1941) is an American retired professional stock car racing driver and current team owner. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 89 Chevrolet Camaro for Shepherd Racing Ven ...

(born 1941), NASCAR driver for over fifty years; oldest driver to lead at least one lap in a NASCAR race. He currently owns his own team in the

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

as the Shepherd Racing Ventures team *

Montford Stokes Montfort Stokes (March 12, 1762November 4, 1842) was an American United States Democratic Party, Democratic (originally United States Democratic-Republican Party, Democratic-Republican) politician who served as United States Senate, U.S. Senato ...

(1762–1842),

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

, Governor of

(1816–1832), appointed by President

to lead the Federal Indian Commission in what is now

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

; he is believed to be the only veteran of the Revolutionary War buried in that state. *

John Swofford John Douglas Swofford is an American former college athletics administrator. He served as the athletic director at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1980 to 1997 and as the commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) f ...

(born 1948), since 1997 until June 2021 the Commissioner of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC); coordinator of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in college football. * William Oliver Swofford (1945–2000), pop singer in the 1960s and 1970s (under the name '' Oliver''), known for his hits ''

Good Morning Starshine "Good Morning Starshine" is a pop song from the musical '' Hair'' (1967). It was a No. 3 hit in the United States in July 1969 and a No. 6 hit in the United Kingdom in October 1969 for the singer Oliver. The chorus makes extensive use of appar ...

'' (featured in the Broadway musical ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

'') and ''

Jean Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

'', the theme song of the Oscar-winning film '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie''.

Tom Dooley

As noted above, another well-known Wilkes native was

(Dooley), a Confederate veteran of the American Civil War who was tried and hanged shortly after the war for the murder of his fiancée, Laura Foster. To this day many people believe that one of Dula's jealous ex-girlfriends murdered Laura Foster, that Dula was innocent of the crime, and that he accepted blame only to protect his former lover. The case was given nationwide publicity by newspapers such as ''

'' and the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

'', and thus became a folk legend in the rural South. Dula's legend was popularized in 1958 by the top-selling

Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

song "Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley." Dula's story was also turned into a 1959 movie starring Michael Landon as Dula, and each summer Bleu Moon Productions presents an outdoor drama based on the story. In 2001, Tom Dula was acquitted of all charges by the county.

References

External links

*
Wilkes County Chamber of Commerce

Wilkes Economic Development Corporation
{{authority control Counties of Appalachia 1778 establishments in North Carolina Populated places established in 1778