Editing Kinston, North Carolina (section)

===Early history===
[[File:Peebles House.JPG|thumb|[[Harmony Hall (Kinston, North Carolina)|Harmony Hall]], the oldest building in Kinston, was owned by North Carolina's first governor, [[Richard Caswell]].]]
At the time of English settlement, the area was inhabited by the [[Neusiok]] people. Preceding the historic tribe, [[indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous peoples]] of a variety of cultures had lived in the area for thousands of years. Before the English colonists established the city, the area was called "Atkins Bank", referring to a bluff once owned by Robert Atkins just above the [[Neuse River]]; it was the site of farms, a [[tobacco]] warehouse, and a [[Church of England]] [[Christian mission|mission]].

Kinston was created by an act of the [[North Carolina General Assembly]] in December 1762 as "Kingston", in honor of [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA176 | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=176}}</ref> who had just recently ascended to the throne. The bill to incorporate it was introduced by Richard Caswell, who made his home there and later served as the first governor of the state of North Carolina from 1776 to 1780. After victory in the [[American Revolution]], the citizens renamed the city "Kinston" in 1784 to show the population's disavowal of royalty. In 1833, Kinston briefly became "Caswell", in honor of Governor Caswell, but the name Kinston was restored the following year.

Commissioners appointed to design the town began to accept "subscriptions" for numbered lots. To keep a lot, subscribers were required to build brick homes of specific dimensions within three years or lose their rights to the property. The town was laid out with border streets named East, North, and South, with the western border the [[Neuse River]]. The two principal roads within these borders were named for King George and [[Queen Charlotte]]. They remain King and Queen Streets to this day. Other streets were named in honor of Governor [[Arthur Dobbs]] (later renamed Independence Street) and the commissioners.

In December 1791, an act was passed in the General Assembly to abolish Dobbs County and form Lenoir and [[Glasgow County, North Carolina|Glasgow (now Greene)]] Counties. At that time, Kinston was designated the county seat for Lenoir County.

Kinston was incorporated as a town through an act of the legislature in January 1849, after which the population grew rapidly. In 1850, the population was estimated at 455 people, and just 10 years later, it had more than doubled to over 1000.