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Yancey County, North Carolina
Yancey County Courthouse 2014-08-03
Yancey County Courthouse
Seal of Yancey County, North Carolina
Seal
Logo of Yancey County, North Carolina
Logo
Map of North Carolina highlighting Yancey County
Location in the state of North Carolina
Map of the U.S
North Carolina's location in the U.S.
Founded 1833
Named for Bartlett Yancey
Seat Burnsville
Largest town Burnsville
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

313 sq mi (811 km²)
313 sq mi (811 km²)
0.6 sq mi (2 km²), 0.2
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

18,470
60/sq mi (23/km²)
Congressional district 11th
Time zone Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website www.yanceycountync.gov

Yancey County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,470.[1] Its county seat is Burnsville.[2]

This land was inhabited by the Cherokee prior to European settlement, as was much of the Southern Appalachian region.

History[]

Independent and sturdy Scottish, English, and Scotch-Irish and Irish settlers of the Carolina frontier had crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains and settled the Toe River Valley by the mid-18th century. In the year 1796, one of the early land speculators, John Gray Blount, paid for 326,640 acres (1322 km2) of land, a portion of which later became Yancey County, North Carolina.

In December 1833, the General Assembly established a new western county, named Yancey, from sections of Burke and Buncombe counties. Yancey County was named in honor of Bartlett Yancey, of Caswell County. As a U.S. Congressman (1813–1817) and as speaker of the N.C. Senate (1817–1827), he was instrumental in many accomplishments that benefited the state, including the creation of an education fund that was the beginning of the N.C. Public School System. He was an advocate of correcting the inequality in representation in the General Assembly by the creation of new western counties; but he died on August 30, 1828, over five years before the General Assembly created a new county named in his honor. In Yancey's boundaries looms Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in the Eastern U.S., at 6,684 feet (2037 m) above sea level.

On March 6, 1834, "Yellow Jacket" John Bailey conveyed 100 acres (0.4 km2) of land for the county seat. John was given the nickname for his famous temper as told in the books The Bailey Family of Yancey County, North Carolina and Heritage of the Tow River Valley by Lloyd Richard Bailey Sr. The town was named Burnsville in honor of Captain Otway Burns, who voted for the creation of the new western county when he was serving in the General Assembly. He was also a naval hero in the War of 1812. A statue of Captain Burns stands on a 40-ton, Mount Airy granite pedestal in the center of the town's public square, which was given the official name of "Bailey Square" by the Yancey County Board of Commissioners on September 1, 1930. The statue of Captain Burns was given to the county on July 5, 1909, by Walter Francis Burns, a grandson of the naval captain. The inscription reads:

Otway Burns - Born in Onslow County, North Carolina, 1777 - Died at Portsmouth, North Carolina, 1850. Sailor - Soldier - Statesman. North Carolina's Foremost Son in the War of 1812-1815 - For Him, This Town Is Named - He Guarded Well Our Seas, Let Our Mountains Honor Him.

Geography[]

Script error: No such module "Mapframe". According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 313 square miles (810 km2), of which 313 square miles (810 km2) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km2) (0.2%) is water.[3] Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet (2,037 m), within Mount Mitchell State Park in Yancey County, is the highest point in the United States east of the Mississippi River.[4] The Black Mountains, of which Mt. Mitchell is a part, contains five of the 10 highest peaks east of the Mississippi, all over 6,400 ft (1,951 m). In descending order of height, they are: Mount Mitchell, Mount Craig, Balsam Cone, Mount Gibbs and Potato Hill.[5]

National protected areas[]

  • Blue Ridge Parkway (part)
  • Pisgah National Forest (part)

State and local protected areas[]

  • Bare Dark Sky Observatory (part)
  • Carolina Hemlocks Recreation Area
  • Mt. Mitchell State Park
  • Ray-Cort Recreation Park

Major water bodies[]

  • Big Crabtree Creek
  • Big Creek
  • Bowlers Creek
  • Cane River
  • Nolichucky River
  • South Toe River

Adjacent counties[]

Major highways[]

  • US 19 US 19
  • US 19E US 19E
  • US 19W US 19W
  • NC 80 NC 80
  • NC 128 NC 128
  • NC 197 NC 197

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1840 5,962
1850 8,205 37.6%
1860 8,655 5.5%
1870 5,909 −31.7%
1880 7,694 30.2%
1890 9,490 23.3%
1900 11,464 20.8%
1910 12,072 5.3%
1920 15,093 25.0%
1930 14,486 −4.0%
1940 17,202 18.7%
1950 16,306 −5.2%
1960 14,008 −14.1%
1970 12,629 −9.8%
1980 14,934 18.3%
1990 15,419 3.2%
2000 17,774 15.3%
2010 17,818 0.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
1790-1960[7] 1900-1990[8]
1990-2000[9] 2010-2020[10]

2020 census[]

Yancey County racial composition[11]
Race Number Percentage
White (non-Hispanic) 16,625 90.01%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 104 0.56%
Native American 57 0.31%
Asian 40 0.22%
Pacific Islander 1 0.01%
Other/Mixed 627 3.39%
Hispanic or Latino 1,016 5.5%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 18,470 people, 7,510 households, and 5,081 families residing in the county.

2000 census[]

As of the census[12] of 2000, there were 17,774 people, 7,472 households, and 5,372 families residing in the county. The population density was 57 people per square mile (22/km2). There were 9,729 housing units at an average density of 31 per square mile (12/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 97.99% White, 0.57% Black or African American, 0.34% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.41% from other races, and 0.56% from two or more races. 2.69% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 7,472 households, out of which 27.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.20% were married couples living together, 7.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.10% were non-families. 25.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 21.20% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 26.40% from 25 to 44, 27.10% from 45 to 64, and 18.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 95.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,674, and the median income for a family was $35,879. Males had a median income of $26,800 versus $20,885 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,335. About 10.90% of families and 15.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.10% of those under age 18 and 16.30% of those age 65 or over.

Ancestry[]

As of 2015 the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Yancey County, North Carolina are:[13]

Largest ancestries (2015) Percent
English 16.4%
American 16.2%
German 15.1%
Irish 12.8%
Scottish 5.8%
Scots-Irish 4.8%
Welsh 2.0%
Dutch 1.5%
French(except Basque) 1.1%
Swedish 0.9%

Government and politics[]

Yancey County is a member of the North Carolina Councils of Governments, Region D: High Country Council of Governments.

United States presidential election results for Yancey County, North Carolina[14]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 7,516 66.21% 3,688 32.49% 148 1.30%
2016 6,385 64.11% 3,196 32.09% 379 3.81%
2012 5,278 55.85% 3,981 42.12% 192 2.03%
2008 5,045 51.92% 4,486 46.17% 186 1.91%
2004 4,940 52.38% 4,434 47.02% 57 0.60%
2000 4,970 56.71% 3,714 42.38% 80 0.91%
1996 3,973 45.75% 3,956 45.56% 755 8.69%
1992 3,994 43.38% 4,285 46.54% 929 10.09%
1988 4,160 52.00% 3,803 47.54% 37 0.46%
1984 4,296 53.96% 3,651 45.86% 14 0.18%
1980 3,363 44.57% 4,010 53.14% 173 2.29%
1976 2,688 40.43% 3,932 59.14% 29 0.44%
1972 3,106 57.10% 2,278 41.88% 56 1.03%
1968 2,448 45.21% 2,215 40.90% 752 13.89%
1964 2,004 35.05% 3,714 64.95% 0 0.00%
1960 3,284 49.80% 3,310 50.20% 0 0.00%
1956 2,808 48.65% 2,964 51.35% 0 0.00%
1952 2,953 44.43% 3,693 55.57% 0 0.00%
1948 2,282 39.13% 3,481 59.69% 69 1.18%
1944 2,402 42.12% 3,301 57.88% 0 0.00%
1940 2,516 41.90% 3,489 58.10% 0 0.00%
1936 2,691 42.76% 3,603 57.24% 0 0.00%
1932 2,396 41.19% 3,412 58.66% 9 0.15%
1928 2,712 52.27% 2,476 47.73% 0 0.00%
1924 2,156 45.21% 2,592 54.35% 21 0.44%
1920 2,596 53.24% 2,280 46.76% 0 0.00%
1916 1,082 45.94% 1,273 54.06% 0 0.00%
1912 60 2.72% 1,112 50.36% 1,036 46.92%
1908 950 49.27% 978 50.73% 0 0.00%
1904 864 46.03% 1,013 53.97% 0 0.00%
1900 1,082 53.14% 954 46.86% 0 0.00%
1896 982 48.18% 1,056 51.82% 0 0.00%
1892 651 37.83% 927 53.86% 143 8.31%
1888 805 46.42% 929 53.58% 0 0.00%
1884 658 46.67% 743 52.70% 9 0.64%
1880 443 38.35% 712 61.65% 0 0.00%



Communities[]

Map of Yancey County North Carolina With Municipal and Township Labels

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

Town[]

  • Burnsville (county seat and largest town)

Townships[]

  • Brush Creek
  • Burnsville
  • Cane River
  • Crabtree
  • Egypt
  • Green Mountain
  • Jacks Creek
  • Pensacola
  • Price's Creek
  • Ramseytown
  • South Toe

Unincorporated communities[]

  • Bald Creek
  • Bent Creek
  • Busick
  • Cane River
  • Celo
  • Day Book
  • Green Mountain
  • Hamrick
  • Micaville
  • Murchison
  • Newdale
  • Pensacola
  • Ramseytown
  • Sioux
  • Swiss
  • Windom

See also[]

  • List of counties in North Carolina
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Yancey County, North Carolina
  • North Carolina State Parks
  • National Park Service
  • List of national forests of the United States
  • Yancey County News
  • John Wesley McElroy House
  • Nu-Wray Inn
  • Parkway Playhouse
  • Arthur Morgan School

References[]

  1. ^ "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Yancey County, North Carolina" (in en). https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/yanceycountynorthcarolina. 
  2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. 
  3. ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_37.txt. 
  4. ^ "Mount Mitchell State Park". North Carolina State Parks. http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/momi/main.php. 
  5. ^ "The 10 Tallest Mountains East of the Mississippi". USA Today. http://traveltips.usatoday.com/10-tallest-mountains-east-mississippi-104158.html. 
  6. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html. 
  7. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu. 
  8. ^ Forstall, Richard L., ed (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/nc190090.txt. 
  9. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf. 
  10. ^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/37/37199.html. 
  11. ^ "Explore Census Data". https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=0500000US37199&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2. 
  12. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov. 
  13. ^ "American FactFinder - Results". https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_5YR/DP02/0500000US37199. 
  14. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS. 

External links[]

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Coordinates: 35°54′N 82°19′W / 35.90, -82.31

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Yancey 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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