Anson County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the U.S. state of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,055. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

is Wadesboro.

History

The county was formed in 1750 from

Bladen County Bladen County ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

. It was named for

George Anson, Baron Anson Admiral of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson, (23 April 1697 – 6 June 1762) was a Royal Navy officer. Anson served as a junior officer during the War of the Spanish Succession and then saw active service against Spain at the Battl ...

, a British admiral, who circumnavigated the globe from 1740 to 1744, and later became

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

. Anson purchased land in the state. Like its parent county Bladen being occupied by Native American tribes(Waccamaw people), Anson County was originally occupied by Catawba Siouan tribe as a vast territory with indefinite northern and western boundaries. Reductions in its extent began in 1753, when the northern part of it became Rowan County. In 1762 the western part of Anson County became Mecklenburg County. In 1779 the northern part of what remained of Anson County became Montgomery County, and the part east of the Pee Dee River became

Richmond County Richmond County may refer to places: Australia *Richmond County, New South Wales, a cadastral division Canada *Richmond County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Richmondshire, the original Richmond County in Yorkshire, England United States ...

. Finally, in 1842 the western part of Anson County was combined with the southeastern part of Mecklenburg County to become Union County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.1%) is water.

National protected area

* Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge (part)

State and local protected areas/sites

* Arrowhead Lake *

Gaddy Covered Bridge Gaddy is a Scottish surname. Background It is possibly first used by people of the Kingdom of Strathclyde along the Anglo-Scottish border. It is a name for someone who lived in Midlothian. It is possible that it evolved from the name Goldie, whic ...

* Pee Dee River Game Land * Wadesboro Downtown Historic District

Major water bodies

* Brown Creek (Pee Dee River tributary) *

Goulds Fork (Brown Creek tributary) Goulds Fork is a long 3rd order tributary to Brown Creek in Anson County, North Carolina. Variant names According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as: *Little Browns Creek Course Goulds Fork ri ...

Great Pee Dee River The Pee Dee River, also known as the Great Pee Dee River, is a river in the Carolinas of the United States. It originates in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, where its upper course, above the mouth of the Uwharrie River, is known as ...

Lanes Creek (Rocky River tributary) Lanes Creek is a long 4th order tributary of the Rocky River in south-central North Carolina that drains Union County, North Carolina, and Anson County, North Carolina Anson County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. A ...

* Pee Dee River * Rocky River *

Thoroughfare Creek A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way as a transit route through regularly trafficked areas, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. On land, a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a multi- lane highway ...

Adjacent counties

* Stanly County — north * Montgomery County — northeast *

— east *

Chesterfield County, South Carolina Chesterfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 43,273. Its county seat is Chesterfield. The largest city in the county is Cheraw. Chesterfield County is part of the Cha ...

— south * Union County — west

Major highways

* * * (Future Bypass around Wadesboro) * * * *

Major infrastructure

Anson County Airport Anson County Airport is a public airport located three miles (5 km) north of the central business district of Wadesboro, a town in Anson County, North Carolina, United States. It is owned by Anson County. Although most U.S. airports use th ...

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 22,055 people, 9,521 households, and 5,809 families residing in the county.

2010 census

In the 2010 Census, there were 26,948 people. The racial makeup of the county was 48.58% African American, 47.15% White American, 1.07% Asian, 0.61% Native American, 1.25% multiracial and 1.32% of other race. People of Hispanic and Latino origin account for 3.02% of the population.

2000 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 25,275 people, 9,204 households, and 6,663 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 48 people per square mile (18/km²). There were 10,221 housing units at an average density of 19 per square mile (7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 51.64%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 48.53%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 0.45% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.32% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.46% from two or more races. 0.83% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

or Latino of any race. There were 9,204 households, out of which 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.80% were married couples living together, 19.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 25.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.09. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.20% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 29.00% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64, and 14.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 96.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $29,849, and the median income for a family was $35,870. Males had a median income of $27,297 versus $20,537 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $14,853. About 15.50% of families and 17.80% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 23.90% of those under age 18 and 16.70% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics

Anson County is a member of the regional Centralina Council of Governments.

Education

There are 11 schools in the

Anson County Schools Anson County Schools is a PK– 12 graded school district serving Anson County, North Carolina. Its 11 schools serve 3,845 students as of the 2010–2011 school year. History Attempts at common schools began in Anson County as early as the mid- ...

system that serve the students of the county. South Piedmont Community College has a campus on Highway 74 near Polkton that serves Anson County residents.

Communities

File:Comté_d'Anson.png, 450px, Clickable map of Anson County, North Carolina With Municipal labels
interactive map
rect 449 247 552 282 Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge poly 415 181 440 172 452 204 424 213 Ansonville poly 603 423 629 421 628 447 602 451 Lilesville poly 616 696 641 698 639 722 613 720 McFarlan poly 581 610 607 607 607 634 578 636 Morven poly 192 379 218 379 218 406 192 405

Peachland Peachland is a district municipality in the Okanagan Valley on the west side of Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1899 by John Moore Robinson, although the region had long been home to the Okanagan people. Peachland ...

poly 282 344 282 383 315 385 318 420 334 415 337 389 320 375 317 344 Polkton poly 394 408 455 410 500 410 511 431 536 436 535 475 510 492 456 471 455 428 391 419 Wadesboro desc bottom-left

Towns

* Ansonville * Lilesville * McFarlan * Morven *

* Polkton * Wadesboro (county seat and largest town)

Townships

* Ansonville * Burnsville * Gulledge * Lanesboro * Lilesville * Morven * Wadesboro * White Store

Unincorporated communities

* Burnsville *

Pee Dee The Pee Dee is a region in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It lies along the lower watershed of the Pee Dee River, which was named after the Pee Dee, a Native American tribe that historically inhabited the region. Hi ...

Ghost town

* Sneedsboro

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2021 Estimates of Anson County. † ''county seat''

In popular culture

Steven Spielberg filmed '' The Color Purple'' mostly in Lilesville, and a large white farmhouse (the Huntley house, which is located in Lilesville, NC and is an old farmhouse located few miles off Highway 74) was used extensively as the main exterior location in that film.

Notable people

Stephone Anthony Stephone Anthony (born July 28, 1992) is a former American football linebacker and current coach. He played college football at Clemson. Early years A native of Polkton, North Carolina, Anthony attended Anson High School, where he was a four- ...

(born 1992), linebacker with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

* Hugh Hammond Bennett (1881–1960), soil conservation specialist * John Culpepper (1761–1841), born near Wadesboro,

United States Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

, long-tenured Baptist minister. *

Blind Boy Fuller Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen, July 10, 1904February 13, 1941) was an American blues guitarist and singer. Fuller was one of the most popular of the recorded Piedmont blues artists, rural African Americans, along with Blind Blake, Josh Whi ...

(1907–1941), American blues guitarist and vocalist. * James Holland (1754–1823), born in Anson County, United States Congressman from North Carolina. * Juanita Moody (1924–-2015), born in Morven, NC, gifted cryptographer whose intelligence gathering contributed greatly during the Cuban Missile Crisis. *

Leonidas Lafayette Polk Leonidas Lafayette Polk (April 24, 1837 – June 11, 1892), or L.L. Polk, was an American farmer, journalist and political figure. He was a leader of the Farmers' Alliance and helped found the Populist Party. Life and career Polk was born in ...

(1837–1892), first North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture *

Sylvester Ritter Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as the Junkyard Dog (or JYD), a nickname ...

(1952–1998), born in Anson County, professional wrestler also known as The Junkyard Dog.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1750 establishments in North Carolina Populated places established in 1750 Majority-minority counties in North Carolina