Richmond County, North Carolina: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 21:59, 23 March 2025

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox U.S. county

Richmond County is a county located on the central southern border of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its county seat is Rockingham. The county was formed in 1779 from a portion of Anson County and named in honor of Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond and Lennox. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,946.

History

Early history

The earliest inhabitants of the land eventually comprising Richmond County were Cheraw Native Americans.<ref name= Mazzocchi/> The first European settlers in the area were Scottish Highlanders, who traveled up the Cape Fear River valley to find farmland. English settlers initially arrived in the northwestern section of the eventual county after traveling down the Pee Dee River and gradually became the dominant European-descent group in the area.Template:Sfn Many early settlers reared cattle.Template:Sfn Politically, the area was first organized as a portion of Bladen County and then eventually Anson County.<ref name= whitlock/>

Creation and Antebellum period

Richmond County was formed in 1779 from a portion of Anson in order to reduce the amount of travel needed by residents to reach a county courthouse.Template:Sfn It was named for Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond and Lennox who was an Englishman and a member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom who sided with the colonists in America during the American Revolution.<ref name= mcknightprofile>Template:Cite news</ref> The county seat was established at Richmond Court House, which was renamed Rockingham in 1785 in homage to Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, a British politician who had friendly relations with the Americans.<ref name= Mazzocchi>Template:Cite web</ref> During the American Revolutionary War, Richmond was afflicted by numerous Loyalist raids. By 1790, the county had 5,885 residents, with 583 of them being slaves.Template:Sfn

Following the war, area farmers moved away from cattle switched to growing corn, oats, indigo, and cotton.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn In 1837, the county's first textile mill, Richmond Manufacturing Company, was built. A growth in cotton production, concentrated in the western portion of the county, led the enslaved population to increase to the point where they made up half of local residents.Template:Sfn Around 1850 the largely unused Sandhills region in the eastern section of the county began to be exploited by the naval stores industry, particularly for the harvest of turpentine from longleaf pines.Template:Sfn Railway service was introduced in Richmond in 1861.Template:Sfn

Civil War and Reconstruction era

File:Old Greatfall Mill, built in 1869, Rockingham, N. C. (5812053580).jpg

The Great Falls Cotton Mill was built in 1869.

During the American Civil War, Richmond County had troops serve in various units of the Confederate States Army, including the Pee Dee Guards, Scotch Boys, and the Harrington Light Artillery.Template:Sfn Federal troops under General William Tecumseh Sherman entered Richmond County in March 1865. Confederate troops fled, and the federal forces sabotaged local industry before moving north.<ref name= Ruffin>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name= whitlock>Template:Cite news</ref> The Richmond Manufacturing Company mill, having been burned, was rebuilt as the Great Falls Mill in 1869. That year rail service was extended to Rockingham. A second cotton mill was built in 1876 and rapidly followed by more textile plants.Template:Sfn Cotton production increased after the war and remained a significant crop in the county until the mid-1900s.Template:Sfn Farmers also began diversifying their crops, with tobacco and peach trees growing in popularity, with peach orchards being concentrated in the Sandhills.Template:Sfn

By the late 1800s, Richmond County had a majority black population and tended to support the Republican Party in elections, while the state of North Carolina was dominated by the Democratic Party. In response to this, white Democrats built up a political base in Laurinburg.<ref name="elder">Template:Cite news</ref> During the state legislative elections of 1898, Democrats organized intensely in the area to unseat the Fusionist coalition of state Republicans and Populists, including the deployment of paramilitary Red Shirts in Laurinburg to intimidate blacks and other opponents at the polls.Template:Sfn Democrats regained a majority in the General Assembly. In tribute to the efforts of Democrats in Laurinburg, on February 20, 1899, the assembly split off the town and the surrounding area from Richmond County and created the new Scotland County,Template:Sfn Template:Sfn which began operating as an effective unit of government in December the following year.Template:Sfn

Development

File:Hamlet, North Carolina in February 1912.jpg

Hamlet (pictured in 1912) developed as a railway town in the early 1900s.

At the turn of the century, Richmond County's economy revolved around agriculture and textile mills in Rockingham. In the early 1900s, Hamlet grew as a center for the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, which had five lines cross through the town. The railway created numerous jobs and, in conjunction with the establishment of Blewett Falls Dam and its hydroelectric power, facilitated the expansion of the textile industry.Template:Sfn By the end of World War II, Richmond County hosted ten textile mills which employed as many as 15,000 people.Template:Sfn Through the 1940s, most of the independent mills were acquired by larger outside corporations and many began producing non-cotton fabrics, facilitating a local decline in cotton production.Template:Sfn Seaboard established an $11 million classification yard, the first one in the Southeastern United States, about one mile north of Hamlet in 1954.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1968 the county, Rockingham, and Hamlet school systems merged.<ref name= Ruffin/>

Economic decline

Hamlet's economic situation came under strain beginning in the 1960s, as the railroad faced increasing competition from growing road networks, trucking, and air travel. Seaboard acquired smaller competitors and consolidated its operations, moving workers out of the area. It also froze wages, terminated some positions, and reduced passenger services, diminishing the number of outside visitors. Seaboard became CSX Transportation in 1986.Template:Sfn Foreign competition and increasing automation led the county textile industry to cut jobs, and by the 1970s mills in Richmond only retained about 5,000 workers. Declines in textile employment continued through the 1980s and 1990s.Template:Sfn In 1986, the county's single largest manufacturing employer, Clark Equipment Company, closed its plant in Rockingham. Many of the remaining available manufacturing jobs required skilled labor which the county lacked.<ref name= Ruffin/> The traditional railroad and manufacturing jobs were supplanted by menial service positions and work in food processing plants,Template:Sfn while local small businesses were displaced by national retail chains.Template:Sfn

File:Imperial foods - plant front and side.jpg

A 1991 fire at the Imperial Food Products plant (pictured) in Hamlet led to 25 deaths and a record fine from state regulators.

In 1986, the Southeast Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact voted to build a low-level radioactive waste disposal site in North Carolina.<ref name= pilcher>Template:Cite news</ref> In November 1989, Chem-Nuclear Systems, the contractor in charge of constructing the disposal facility, announced a prospective Richmond County site for the nuclear waste. Local residents promptly formed For Richmond County Environment (FORRCE) to lobby against the site.Template:Sfn The group attracted wide grassroots support across Richmond, including significant backing from both white and black communities and both of the county's major municipalities, Hamlet and Rockingham.Template:Sfn FORRCE conducted an opposition petition drive and obtained 26,756 signatures, over 60 percent of the county's total population.Template:Sfn Under significant political pressure, local officials denounced the site,Template:Sfn and 1,200 residents traveled to Raleigh to deliver the FORRCE petition to the governor.Template:Sfn In 1993, a state panel voted to move the site to Wake County, but listed the Richmond location as its second choice.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The project was later abandoned under scrutiny from state regulators.<ref name= pilcher/>

On September 3, 1991, a fire broke at the Imperial Food Products plant in Hamlet. Many exits at the plant were locked in violation of fire codes, and 24 workers and one visiting delivery driver died in the conflagration. Emmett J. Roe, the plant owner, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the involuntary manslaughter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> State authorities imposed a record fine upon the company for the violations and the incident brought negative national attention to the town.<ref name= quillen>Template:Cite news</ref> National declines in textiles through the 1990s and into the early 2000s further strained the county's economy;<ref name= mims1>Template:Cite news</ref> from 1993 to 2005, the county suffered nine textile mill closures and the loss of 1,730 mill jobs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Unemployment rates worsened after the Great Recession commenced in December 2007.<ref name= dunn>Template:Cite news</ref>

Geography

Template:Maplink According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (1.25%) is water.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is the 38th largest county in the state by land area.Template:Sfn It is bordered by Montgomery County, Moore County, Scotland County, Anson County,<ref name= mcknightprofile/> and Marlboro County in South Carolina.<ref name= censusprofile/> Richmond lies along the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line and rests at the convergence of the Piedmont, Sandhills, and Coastal Plain physiographic regions, with the Piedmont making up most of the western part of the county and the Sandhills and Coastal Plain predominating in the center and east.Template:Sfn The Uwharrie Mountains extend along the county's western border.Template:Sfn

Nearly three-fourths of the county lies within the Great Pee Dee River drainage basin, with the remainder mostly draining into Drowning Creek,Template:Sfn the headwaters of the Lumber River.Template:Sfn The county hosts several lakes/reservoirs (like Blewett Falls Lake)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and creeks.<ref name= Mazzocchi/> Most of the county is forested.Template:Sfn Longleaf pine grows naturally in the area.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Significant amounts of longleaf pine forest are preserved in the Sandhills Game Land, over half of which is in Richmond County.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Pee Dee River Game Land is also partially located in the county.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Agricultural land in Richmond is home to many landbirds, including loggerhead shrike and vesper sparrow.Template:Sfn The Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge, which covers part of the county and includes grassland and swamps, hosts numerous migratory waterfowl and white-tailed deer.<ref name= wood>Template:Cite news</ref>

Demographics

2020 census

Richmond County racial composition<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Race	Number	Percentage
White (non-Hispanic)	23,610	54.98%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	12,770	29.74%
Native American	994	2.31%
Asian	360	0.84%
Pacific Islander	7	0.02%
Other/Mixed	2,133	4.97%
Hispanic or Latino	3,072	7.15%

As of the 2020 census, there were 42,946 people,<ref name= censusprofile/> 18,380 households, and 11,783 families residing in the county.

Richmond County comprises the Rockingham, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

2010 census

At the 2010 census,<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> there were 46,564 people, 17,873 households, and 12,582 families residing in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 19,886 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 56.5% White, 31.70% Black or African American, 0.60% Native American, 2.10% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.08% from other races, and 1.18% from two or more races. 5.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 17,873 households, out of which 32.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.30% were married couples living together, 17.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.60% were non-families. 26.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.80% under the age of 18, 10.10% from 18 to 24, 27.70% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64, and 13.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,830, and the median income for a family was $35,226. Males had a median income of $27,308 versus $20,453 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,485. About 15.90% of families and 19.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.70% of those under age 18 and 18.90% of those age 65 or over.

Demographic change

Historical population

Template:US Census population

Between 2010 and 2022, the county lost about 3,900 residents.<ref name= barkin1/>

Law and government

Government

Richmond County is governed by a seven-member board of commissioners. The commissioners are elected at-large in four-year staggered terms beginning the first Monday of December following the November in which they were elected. The commissioners select one of their own to serve as chairman and another to serve as vice-chairman.<ref name= commission>Template:Cite web</ref> The board sets county policy, passes ordinances, and hires the county manager. The manager serves as the chief executive officer of the county government. They execute the commissioners' directives and represent the county in intergovernmental dealings.<ref name= administration>Template:Cite web</ref> The county government is funded by a local property tax.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Richmond County is a member of the Lumber River Council of Governments, a regional planning board representing five counties.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It is located in North Carolina's 9th and 8th congressional districts,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the North Carolina Senate's 29th district, and the North Carolina House of Representatives' 52nd district.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The United States Army operates Camp Mackall, which partially lies within the county.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Law enforcement and judicial system

Richmond County lies within the bounds of the 21st Prosecutorial District, the 16A Superior Court District, and the 16A District Court District.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> County voters elect a sheriff.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Law enforcement is provided across the county by the sheriff's office, while the cities of Hamlet and Rockingham retain their own police departments.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Politics

Richmond County was long politically dominated by Democrats.<ref name= sasserRepub/><ref name= campbell/><ref name= dunn/> R. W. Goodman, who served as sheriff of Richmond County from 1950 to 1994, was the boss of a conservative Democratic courthouse machine. He held wide influence in determining who served in local government and represented the county in the North Carolina General Assembly.<ref name= christensen>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn During his tenure Democrats dominated local offices and the politics of the county was largely conservative.Template:Sfn A majority of the county electorate voted for Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2012, but Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won by a 10 percent margin in 2016.<ref name= campbell>Template:Cite news</ref> Following the 2020 elections, Republicans gained a majority of the seats on the county board of commissioners.<ref name= sasserRepub/> In 2022 Republicans won a majority of local elections in the county and gained control of all of the seats on the board of commissioners.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As of March 2022, Richmond County had 27,358 registered voters of whom 12,346 were Democrats and 6,925 were Republicans.<ref name= sasserRepub>Template:Cite news</ref>

Economy

Richmond County is classified as economically distressed by the North Carolina Department of Commerce.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2022, the county experienced some success in industrial recruitment as several manufacturers expanded their local workforces and operations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name= barkin1>Template:Cite news</ref> According to the American Community Survey, from 2017 to 2021 the estimated median household income was $38,962.<ref name="2020CensusQuickFacts"/>

Transportation

Richmond County is served by Interstate 73 and Interstate 74 (sections of both interstates remain incomplete or designated within the county).Template:Sfn The Rockingham Bypass, a part of both routes, is scheduled to be completed in 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The county is served by U.S. Route 1, US 74 (Bus.),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> US 220, as well as North Carolina Highway 38,<ref name="BreedenSource2">Template:Cite news</ref> NC 73,<ref>Template:Cite map</ref> NC 109,<ref name="2013 map">Template:Cite map</ref> NC 177, and NC 381.<ref>Template:Cite map</ref> County government supports a public transport bus service, the Area of Richmond Transportation.Template:Sfn Local rail service is provided by CSX Transportation,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which maintains several yards and other facilities in Hamlet.Template:Sfn Amtrak's Silver Star passenger train has a stop in Hamlet.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Airplane facilities are provided by the Richmond County Airport.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Education

Public education is provided by Richmond County Schools, which operates seven elementary schools, four middle schools, and four secondary schools.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As across the rest of the state, the county education system was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the 2021/2022 school year, of 9,085 tested students, 56.1 percent were deemed non-proficient with regards to state standards.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Richmond Community College, based in Hamlet, serves the county.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to the 2021 American Community Survey, an estimated 17.5 percent of county residents have attained a bachelor's degree or higher level of education.<ref name= censusprofile>Template:Cite web</ref>

Culture

The Rockingham Speedway opened in 1965 and served as a regular venue for NASCAR racing events until 2004.<ref name= mims1/> It was last used by NASCAR for truck series racing in 2012 and 2013, and is currently undergoing refurbishment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A nearby dragway remains in regular use.<ref name= mims1/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Since 1982, Hamlet has hosted the Seaboard Festival, a community gathering including local vendors, running events, and music, designed to celebrate Hamlet's historical connections to the railroad.Template:Sfn<ref name= seaboardfest>Template:Cite web</ref> The Raiders, the football team of Richmond Senior High School, has long been popular among county residents.Template:Sfn The Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge is a popular regional destination for hunting and fishing.<ref name= wood/> Quail hunting has long been popular in Richmond County and in the larger Sandhills region.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Several area buildings and sites have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Communities

File:Map of Richmond County North Carolina With Municipal and Township Labels.PNG

Map of Richmond County with municipal and township labels

Townships

Steeles<ref name= mcknightprofile/>
Mineral Springs<ref name= mcknightprofile/>
Beaverdam<ref name= mcknightprofile/>
Mark's Creek<ref name= mcknightprofile/>
Wolf Pit<ref name= mcknightprofile/>
Rockingham<ref name= mcknightprofile/>
Blackjack<ref name= mcknightprofile/>

Notable people

Wayne Goodwin, politician and government official
Henry Frye, former member of the state legislature, former state supreme court chief justice
Leon Levine, founder of Family Dollar
John Coltrane, jazz saxophonist
Cameron A. Morrison, North Carolina governor, senator, mayor
Terius Youngdell Nash, singer-songwriter and record producer
Bucky Covington, country singer
Dannell Ellerbe, NFL player
Melvin Ingram, NFL player

References

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Works cited

External links

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