Old Fort, North Carolina

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Old Fort is a town in McDowell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 963 at the 2000 census. The town is well known for its weekly Mountain Music jamboree, which draws a large audience and many musicians from the surrounding areas to Old Fort's downtown on Fridays at 7:30.

[edit] Geography

Old Fort is located at 35°37′46″N, 82°10′45″W (35.629541, -82.179178)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.2 km² (1.2 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 963 people, 441 households, and 269 families residing in the town. The population density was 297.5/km² (769.4/mi²). There were 496 housing units at an average density of 153.2/km² (396.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 79.13% White, 17.24% African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.83% from other races, and 2.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.66% of the population.

There were 441 households out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.9% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% were non-families. 35.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.76.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $25,000, and the median income for a family was $28,854. Males had a median income of $25,347 versus $21,058 for females. The per capita income for the town was $20,782. About 8.7% of families and 17.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.2% of those under age 18 and 15.3% of those age 65 or over.