Editing Stokes County, North Carolina (section)

==History==
[[File:View of walls Rock House Stokes County North Carolina.JPG|thumb|left|200px|Ruins of the Rock House, c. 1770, built by Capt. Jack Martin, Revolutionary War soldier and pioneer]]
The county was formed in 1789 from [[Surry County, North Carolina|Surry County]], and before 1770, it was part of [[Rowan County, North Carolina|Rowan County]]. It was named for [[John Stokes (North Carolina judge)|John Stokes]], an [[American Revolutionary War]] captain severely wounded when British Colonel [[Banastre Tarleton]]'s cavalry practically destroyed Col. [[Abraham Buford]]'s Virginia regiment in the [[Waxhaws]] region in 1780. After the war, Captain Stokes was appointed a judge of the [[United States district court]] for North Carolina. In 1849 the southern half of Stokes County became [[Forsyth County, North Carolina|Forsyth County]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Chad |title=Stokes County |date=2004 |publisher=Arcadia |location=Charleston, SC |isbn=9780738516561 |page=10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cyJSq-Q0S3UC |access-date=August 8, 2021}}</ref>

Stokes was most heavily settled from 1750 to 1775.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Phillips|first=Laura A W|date=1989|title=Stokes County Historic Inventory|journal=Final Report for the Stokes County Historical Society}}</ref> The [[Great Wagon Road]] passed through the eastern portion of the county, and this influenced the pattern of European settlement so that most settlers came from the Virginia Piedmont, and some came from further away in Pennsylvania and other colonies.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McGee|first=William H|date=1984|title=The Great wagon Road: The Route Traveled by the First Settlers in This Area|journal=Unpublished Report}}</ref>

As North Carolina held their [[Secession in the United States|Secession Convention]] in May 1861, John Hill represented Stokes County. Unfortunately, while attending the convention in Raleigh, Hill had a stroke and died. He is buried in the Old Hill Burying Ground near [[Germanton, North Carolina|Germanton]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hill, John |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/hill-john#:~:text=After%20representing%20Stokes%20in%20the,Carolina%20out%20of%20the%20Union. |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=NCpedia}}</ref> 

During the [[American Civil War]], [[Moratock Park|Moratock Iron Furnace]] located near [[Danbury, North Carolina|Danbury]] served as a [[foundry]] for the [[Confederate Army]]. It was destroyed in April 1865 when Union cavalry under the command of General [[George Stoneman]] conducted extensive raiding through the region.

[[Hanging Rock State Park]] was formed primarily from blocks of land donated in 1936 and contained {{convert|6921|acre|km2}} in 2005. Many of the facilities in the park were built by the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] between 1935 and 1942. The park is located atop the [[Sauratown Mountains]], and contains a visitor center, a manmade lake, and plenty of hiking trails, climbing trails, picnic areas, and primitive campgrounds.