Kernersville, North Carolina

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kernersville is a town in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 17,126 at the 2000 census, and a local census in 2005 showed it having 20,052 people. Kernersville is located at the heart of the Piedmont Triad metropolitan area, which consists of the cities of Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem. Although Kernersville has traditionally been considered a suburb of Winston-Salem, the arrival of new industries (particularly the Dell Computer plant), has given the city a booming population and a character all its own. Much of the rural farmland surrounding the town has been sold and turned into upper-class housing developments, and numerous shopping centers have been built in the town over the past few years.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History & Current Events
4 Attractions
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Geography

Location of Kernersville, North Carolina

Kernersville is located at 36°6′58″N, 80°4′55″W (36.116240, -80.081963)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 31.5 km² (12.2 mi²). 31.3 km² (12.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.58%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 17,126 people, 7,286 households, and 4,663 families residing in the town. The population density was 546.5/km² (1,415.7/mi²). There were 7,950 housing units at an average density of 253.7/km² (657.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 84.11% White, 8.74% African American, 0.32% Native American, 1.26% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 4.33% from other races, and 1.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.36% of the population.

There were 7,286 households out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.0% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 33.8% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $41,520, and the median income for a family was $52,266. Males had a median income of $36,777 versus $26,873 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,506. About 6.3% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.6% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History & Current Events

The site was first settled by an Irishman named Jacob Story in 1756. Around 1770 the site was purchased by William Dobson and was called Dobson's Crossroads. George Washington was served breakfast at Dobson's tavern on June 2, 1791. Joseph Kerner bought the property in 1871 and the town became known as Kerners Crossroads. Eventually the town became Kernersville. ^[1]

In late 2005 President George W. Bush visited Kernersville's Deere Hitachi plant to give a speech on the economy.

[edit] Attractions

Körner’s Folly was built in 1878 by Jule Körner. It is now a minor tourist attraction, as a result of its very unusual design and architecture. It also housed the first private Little Theatre in the US. The house was recently featured in the New York Times (March 10, 2006), and has been featured in Southern Living Magazine (May 2004) and in a televised Our State Magazine production. Click on the links to see a picture of Körner's Folly and one of its rooms. [1] [2] A model of the house was made into an ornament to represent North Carolina on the White House Chistmas Tree in 2001.

A new attraction to grace the streets of Kernersville is the new ownership and conversion of the Julius S. Harmon House. The Harmon House, which was previously used as the location for a local business, Lizzie's Herb Shop, has recently been bought by Imogene Lambe. The house has been refurnished and redecorated to provide a beautiful, antiquated events center. Its most common functions are receptions and conferences. The new Harmon House can be seen here [3].