Nash County, North Carolina

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Nash County, North Carolina
Location in the state of North Carolina
North Carolina's location in the U.S.
Founded	1777
Seat	Nashville
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	543 sq mi (1,406 km²) 540 sq mi (1,399 km²) 2 sq mi (5 km²), 0.45%
Population  - (2020)  - Density	94,970 161/sq mi (62/km²)
Website	www.co.nash.nc.us

Nash County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is part of the Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2020, the population was 94,970. Its county seat is Nashville.

History

Nash County was formed in 1777 from Edgecombe County. It was named for Revolutionary War Brigadier General Francis Nash, who had been mortally wounded at the Battle of Germantown that year.

In 1855 parts of Nash County, Edgecombe County, Johnston County, and Wayne County were combined to form Wilson County, North Carolina.

Politics, law and government

Nash County was originally a typically overwhelmingly Democratic "Solid South" county with a large and completely disfranchised black population. Although it gave a plurality to Populist candidate James B. Weaver in 1892, it did not like Sampson County or Alabama's Chilton County subsequently turn to the Republican Party. Nash County would vote Democratic in every election from 1896 to 1964 – in Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman's five elections the Republicans never received eleven percent of the county's limited electorate's ballots – before supporting George Wallace's American Independent candidacy in 1968, and voting Republican for the first time in 1972. After turning like most Wallace counties to Southern Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976, Nash would become solidly Republican from 1980 to 2004 before turning into one of the nation's most closely contested counties in the past three elections. Mitt Romney became the first Republican to lose the county since Gerald Ford, but Donald Trump narrowly reclaimed Nash in 2016, only to lose it by a hair in 2020.

United States presidential election results for Nash County, North Carolina

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	25,827	49.41%	25,947	49.64%	497	0.95%
2016	23,319	48.92%	23,235	48.75%	1,111	2.33%
2012	23,842	49.17%	24,313	50.14%	337	0.69%
2008	23,728	50.36%	23,099	49.02%	291	0.62%
2004	21,902	58.14%	15,693	41.66%	78	0.21%
2000	17,995	58.97%	12,376	40.56%	142	0.47%
1996	15,309	54.17%	11,142	39.42%	1,811	6.41%
1992	14,446	48.34%	10,809	36.17%	4,631	15.50%
1988	15,906	64.34%	8,740	35.35%	76	0.31%
1984	17,295	66.73%	8,588	33.14%	34	0.13%
1980	11,043	56.34%	8,184	41.75%	374	1.91%
1976	8,477	48.12%	8,937	50.73%	202	1.15%
1972	12,679	71.39%	4,503	25.35%	579	3.26%
1968	4,602	24.08%	5,283	27.64%	9,230	48.29%
1964	6,396	41.11%	9,163	58.89%	0	0.00%
1960	3,896	27.86%	10,086	72.14%	0	0.00%
1956	2,665	21.09%	9,969	78.91%	0	0.00%
1952	2,636	20.18%	10,424	79.82%	0	0.00%
1948	684	7.98%	7,590	88.50%	302	3.52%
1944	876	10.36%	7,577	89.64%	0	0.00%
1940	613	6.76%	8,456	93.24%	0	0.00%
1936	517	5.62%	8,682	94.38%	0	0.00%
1932	532	6.61%	7,472	92.79%	49	0.61%
1928	2,066	32.72%	4,249	67.28%	0	0.00%
1924	823	20.16%	3,129	76.63%	131	3.21%
1920	1,556	27.85%	4,031	72.15%	0	0.00%
1916	826	27.22%	2,189	72.15%	19	0.63%
1912	172	6.49%	1,862	70.21%	618	23.30%
1908	1,334	44.29%	1,678	55.71%	0	0.00%
1904	645	31.02%	1,428	68.69%	6	0.29%
1900	1,337	33.96%	2,600	66.04%	0	0.00%
1896	1,699	36.81%	2,916	63.17%	1	0.02%
1892	476	16.96%	997	35.53%	1,333	47.51%
1888	1,719	44.08%	2,181	55.92%	0	0.00%
1884	1,556	45.75%	1,845	54.25%	0	0.00%
1880	1,406	46.59%	1,612	53.41%	0	0.00%

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 543 square miles (1,406 km²), of which, 540 square miles (1,399 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (6 km²) of it (0.45%) is water.

Townships

The county is divided into seventeen townships: Bailey, Battleboro, Castalia, Coopers, Dry Wells, Ferrells, Griffins, Jackson, Mannings, Nashville, North Whitakers, Oak Level, Red Oak, Rocky Mount, Spring Hope, South Whitakers, and Stony Creek.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 87,420 people, 33,644 households, and 23,920 families residing in the county. The population density was 162 people per square mile (62/km²). There were 37,051 housing units at an average density of 69 per square mile (26/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 61.94% White, 33.93% Black or African American, 0.45% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.06% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. 3.36% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 33,644 households out of which 32.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.70% were married couples living together, 14.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.90% were non-families. 25.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.40% under the age of 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 30.10% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 92.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,147, and the median income for a family was $44,769. Males had a median income of $32,459 versus $24,438 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,863. About 10.30% of families and 13.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.80% of those under age 18 and 15.20% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

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

• Bailey
• Castalia
• Dortches
• Middlesex
• Momeyer
• Nashville
• Red Oak
• Rocky Mount
• Spring Hope
• Whitakers

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Nash County, North Carolina

External links

• Nash County government official website