Editing Winton, North Carolina (section)

==History==
The area eventually comprising the town of Winton was proximate to a community of [[Meherrin]] people. The area was first named Cotton's Ferry in homage to Alexander Cotton, a settler who operated a ferry in the 1740s.<ref name= WHA17581860>{{cite web| url = https://sites.google.com/view/winton-historical-association/a-history-of-winton/early-history-1758-1860?authuser=0| title = Early History: 1758 - 1860| publisher = Winton Historical Association| access-date = January 28, 2025}}</ref> [[Hertford County, North Carolina|Hertford County]] was formed effective 1760. The county's first session of court was held at Cotton's Ferry.{{sfn|Corbitt|2000|p=155}} Benjamin Wynns, who had since acquired Cotton's property, donated 150 acres to the county for the creation of a town in the mid-1760s.<ref name= WHA17581860/> In 1766 the town of Winton—originally styled Wynnton after the erstwhile landowner{{sfn|Powell|1976|p=540}}—was established as Hertford's seat of government{{sfn|Corbitt|2000|p=155}} and a courthouse was subsequently constructed.<ref name= WHA17581860/> The original spelling of the name was used into the 1800s.{{sfn|Powell|1976|p=540}} The town's economy in its early years relied primarily upon agriculture. In 1830 the original courthouse was burned.<ref name= WHA17581860/>

[[File:Ruins of Winton, North Carolina.jpg|thumb|left|Ruins of Winton c. 1863]]
During the [[American Civil War]], North Carolina seceded from the United States and joined the [[Confederate States of America]]. Federal forces intervened in eastern North Carolina early in the conflict, and in February 1862 they [[Battle of Roanoke Island|captured]] [[Roanoke Island]],<ref name= gerard>{{cite news| last = Gerard| first = Phillip| title = Occupation of the East| newspaper = Our State| date = April 30, 2014| url = https://www.ourstate.com/occupation-east/| access-date = January 27, 2025}}</ref> exposing territory along the Chowan River vulnerable to further penetration.<ref name= WHAcivilwar>{{cite web| url = https://sites.google.com/view/winton-historical-association/a-history-of-winton/civil-war-1861-1865?authuser=0| title = Civil War: 1861 - 1865| publisher = Winton Historical Association| access-date = January 27, 2025}}</ref> Federal gunboats were subsequently dispatched up the river to destroy rail bridges north of Winton but were repulsed in an ambush by Confederate artillery.{{sfn|Grimsley|1995|p=60}} The following day federal troops under Colonel [[Rush C. Hawkins]] landed at Winton and found it deserted. Angered by the ambush and determined to deny Confederate troops the use of facilities, Hawkins ordered his troops to burn most of the buildings in town.{{sfn|Grimsley|1995|pp=60–61}} As a result, the vast majority of structures in the town were destroyed,<ref name= WHAcivilwar/> including the county courthouse.{{sfn|Harrell|2011|p=17}}

After the war the town slowly rebuilt, with a new courthouse erected in 1870. The area economy continued to be based in agriculture, though the local lumber and fishing industries grew in importance in the latter portion of the 19th century.<ref name= WHA18651880>{{cite web| url = https://sites.google.com/view/winton-historical-association/a-history-of-winton/rebuilding-winton-1865-1880?authuser=0| title = Rebuilding Winton: 1865 - 1880| publisher = Winton Historical Association| access-date = January 27, 2025}}</ref> The town's economy and population continued to grow in the following years. In 1924, Winton was connected south to [[Ahoskie, North Carolina|Ahoskie]] by the Winton-Ahoskie Highway, and a steel highway bridge was built across the Chowan River at Winton in 1925, the first in the county to cross the river. While the town's bank failed during the [[Great Depression]],<ref name= WHA18801930>{{cite web| url = https://sites.google.com/view/winton-historical-association/a-history-of-winton/rebuilding-winton-1880-1930?authuser=0| title = Rebuilding Winton: 1880 - 1930| publisher = Winton Historical Association| access-date = January 27, 2025}}</ref> the local lumber, fishing, and shipping industries continued to be of importance into the 1950s. Also in the 1950s, the county government invested in the construction of new facilities, including the erection of a new courthouse in 1956.<ref name= WHA19301970>{{cite web| url = https://sites.google.com/view/winton-historical-association/a-history-of-winton/1930-1970?authuser=0| title = 1930 - 1970| publisher = Winton Historical Association| access-date = January 27, 2025}}</ref>

The agricultural economy which underpinned the Winton region began to consolidate in the mid-20th century. In 1974, a bypass for U.S. Highway 13 was built diverting traffic around the community, leading to sharp decline in business in the town's center.<ref name= fofaria>{{cite web| url = https://www.ednc.org/winton-triangle-cofield-ahoskie-nc-chowan-school-black-farm-entrepreneur-csbrown-hertford-history/| title = An 18th century NC community where free people of color thrived, and where a school still sparks hope| last = Fofaria| first = Rupen| date = March 29, 2021| website = EDNC| publisher = | access-date = January 26, 2025}}</ref> Overfishing and pollution led to the sharp decline of the fishing industry in the 1990s.<ref name= WHA1970present>{{cite web| url = https://sites.google.com/view/winton-historical-association/a-history-of-winton/winton-today-1970-present?authuser=0| title = Winton Today: 1970 - Present| publisher = Winton Historical Association| access-date = January 27, 2025}}</ref>

The earliest buildings in the Winton Historic District reflect the Italianate, Queen Anne, and Gothic Revival styles of the mid-to-late nineteenth century.<ref>[https://sites.google.com/view/winton-historical-association/a-history-of-winton WHA - A History of Winton]. Retrieved June 11, 2023.</ref> The [[C. S. Brown School Auditorium]], [[Gray Gables (Winton, North Carolina)|Gray Gables]], and [[King Parker House]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>