Canton, North Carolina

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canton is a town in Haywood County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,029 at the 2000 census. Canton's high school, Pisgah, won the 2005 Basketball State Championship.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Demographics
4 Schools
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Canton is located at 35°32′5″N, 82°50′15″W (35.534828, -82.837422)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 9.9 km² (3.8 mi²), all land.

Canton is located on the Pigeon River.

[edit] History

Canton was founded in 1889 as Buford. The name was changed to Pigeon Ford in 1891. The name was changed to Canton in 1893. The town was named for Canton, Ohio, the source of the steel for the bridge over the Pigeon River.

Canton was the site of a Champion Paper factory. Champion contributed largely to the local economy, and was the largest employer in Canton. Upon Champion's decision to close the plant in 1997, the employees of Champion purchased the plant and formed Blue Ridge Paper Company. Under an ESOP plan, the employees own a 45% stake in the new company.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 4,029 people, 1,819 households, and 1,118 families residing in the town. The population density was 407.2/km² (1,054.6/mi²). There were 2,003 housing units at an average density of 202.5/km² (524.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.13% White, 1.59% African American, 0.57% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.94% from other races, and 0.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.41% of the population.

There were 1,819 households out of which 22.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.7% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.5% were non-families. 35.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.78.

In the town the population was spread out with 19.6% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 85.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $28,775, and the median income for a family was $38,191. Males had a median income of $28,792 versus $22,143 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,995. About 9.5% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.6% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.