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Forsyth County, North Carolina
Seal of Forsyth County, North Carolina
Seal
Map of North Carolina highlighting Forsyth County
Location in the state of North Carolina
Map of the U.S
North Carolina's location in the U.S.
Founded 1849
Seat Winston-Salem
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

413 sq mi (1,070 km²)
410 sq mi (1,062 km²)
3 sq mi (8 km²), 0.80%
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

382,590
749/sq mi (289/km²)
Website www.co.forsyth.nc.us

Forsyth County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2020, the population was 382,590. Its county seat is Winston-Salem.

History[]

The county was formed in 1849 from Stokes County. It was named for Colonel Benjamin Forsyth, who was killed in the War of 1812.

Law and government[]

The Forsyth County Government Center is located at 201 North Chestnut Street in Downtown Winston-Salem.

Forsyth County is a member of the regional Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments.

The Forsyth County Public Library, founded in 1906, is free for residents of Forsyth and surrounding counties, while all others must pay a small yearly fee for a library card. The library runs Adult, Children's, and Hispanic Outreach programs. Its main "Central Library" is in downtown Winston-Salem, with locations all across the county.

Politics[]

Like most major urban counties, Forsyth has seen a trend towards the Democratic Party in recent elections after having voted Republican at every election between 1980 and 2004.

United States presidential election results for Forsyth County, North Carolina[1]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 85,064 42.26% 113,033 56.16% 3,173 1.58%
2016 75,975 42.61% 94,464 52.98% 7,873 4.42%
2012 79,768 45.83% 92,323 53.04% 1,978 1.14%
2008 73,674 44.35% 91,085 54.83% 1,374 0.83%
2004 75,294 54.12% 63,340 45.53% 491 0.35%
2000 67,700 55.98% 52,457 43.37% 785 0.65%
1996 59,160 52.81% 46,543 41.54% 6,330 5.65%
1992 52,787 45.40% 49,006 42.15% 14,481 12.45%
1988 57,688 59.02% 39,726 40.65% 321 0.33%
1984 59,208 61.54% 36,814 38.26% 189 0.20%
1980 42,389 49.99% 38,870 45.84% 3,539 4.17%
1976 38,886 49.34% 39,561 50.20% 361 0.46%
1972 46,415 67.69% 20,928 30.52% 1,226 1.79%
1968 31,623 46.79% 20,281 30.01% 15,681 23.20%
1964 30,276 48.92% 31,615 51.08% 0 0.00%
1960 33,374 58.13% 24,035 41.87% 0 0.00%
1956 29,368 64.99% 15,819 35.01% 0 0.00%
1952 26,436 51.86% 24,535 48.14% 0 0.00%
1948 10,147 41.04% 12,201 49.35% 2,377 9.61%
1944 10,014 37.93% 16,390 62.07% 0 0.00%
1940 7,125 25.64% 20,664 74.36% 0 0.00%
1936 5,256 21.91% 18,734 78.09% 0 0.00%
1932 5,727 28.49% 14,016 69.73% 357 1.78%
1928 13,258 66.63% 6,639 33.37% 0 0.00%
1924 5,315 40.33% 7,404 56.18% 459 3.48%
1920 6,792 45.54% 8,123 54.46% 0 0.00%
1916 3,585 45.16% 4,115 51.84% 238 3.00%
1912 1,689 26.72% 3,042 48.12% 1,591 25.17%
1908 2,876 52.28% 2,472 44.94% 153 2.78%
1904 2,209 47.94% 2,301 49.93% 98 2.13%
1900 2,588 50.77% 2,482 48.70% 27 0.53%
1896 3,888 57.85% 2,778 41.33% 55 0.82%
1892 2,447 42.13% 2,880 49.59% 481 8.28%
1888 2,613 53.28% 2,238 45.64% 53 1.08%
1884 1,941 48.46% 2,060 51.44% 4 0.10%
1880 1,791 49.42% 1,778 49.06% 55 1.52%



Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 413 square miles (1,069.7 km2), of which 410 square miles (1,061.9 km2) is land and 3 square miles (7.8 km2) (0.80%) is water.

Adjacent counties[]

Wine region[]

Parts of Forsyth County are in the Yadkin Valley wine region.

Demographics[]

As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 306,067 people, 123,851 households, and 81,741 families residing in the county. The population density was 747 people per square mile (289/km²). There were 133,093 housing units at an average density of 325 per square mile (125/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 68.47% White, 25.61% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 1.04% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.25% from other races, and 1.30% from two or more races. 6.40% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

In 2005 62.9% of Forsyth county's population was non-Hispanic whites. 25.9% of the population was African-American. 9.5% was Latino. 1.3% was Asian and 1.1% reported two or more races. The decline in the last is due to changes in counting which basically excluded all Latinos from this category.

In 2000 there were 123,851 households out of which 30.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.90% were married couples living together, 13.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.00% were non-families. 28.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.90% under the age of 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 31.10% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64, and 12.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 91.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,097, and the median income for a family was $52,032. Males had a median income of $36,158 versus $27,319 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,023. About 7.90% of families and 11.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.10% of those under age 18 and 9.70% of those age 65 or over.

Included areas[]

Map of Forsyth County North Carolina With Municipal and Township Labels

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

Cities and towns[]

Townships[]

The county is divided into fourteen townships:

  • Abbots Creek
  • Belews Creek
  • Bethania
  • Broadbay
  • Clemmonsville
  • Kernersville
  • Lewisville
  • Middle Fork
  • Old Richmond
  • Old Town
  • Salem Chapel
  • South Fork
  • Vienna
  • Winston

Unincorporated communities[]

  • Belews Creek
  • Bethabara
  • Donnaha
  • Dozier
  • Pfafftown
  • Seward
  • Stanleyville
  • Union Cross
  • Vienna

See also[]

  • Adelaide Fries- author of the 1898 Forsyth County
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Forsyth County, North Carolina
  • Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools School district

References[]

External links[]

Coordinates: 36°08′N 80°16′W / 36.13, -80.26


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Forsyth County, North Carolina. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
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