Jacksonville At A Glance

Population (2004 estimate)     

Jacksonville: 72‚335

Onslow County: 154‚297

Location

Onslow County is in southeastern North Carolina‚ about 120 miles southeast of Raleigh and 50 miles north of Wilmington.

Beginnings

Onslow County was formally established in 1734 and named for Arthur Onslow‚ speaker of the House of Commons in the British Parliament. The city of Jacksonville was originally known as Wantland’s Ferry but was later renamed in honor of President Andrew Jackson.

Jacksonville Fast Facts

New River, despite its name, is one of the oldest rivers in America. It is also the only river in the continental U.S. with its headwaters and mouth in the same county, and one of the few larger rivers that flows almost due south.

The USO on Tallman Street, which opened in 1941, is the oldest continuously operating USO in the country.

Onslow County consists of seven communities: Holly Ridge, Jacksonville, North Topsail Beach, Richlands, Sneads Ferry, Surf City and Swansboro.

The county is graced with six colleges and universities within its boundaries.

The residents of Sneads Ferry catch more than 385 tons of shrimp, 25 tons of flounder and about 490 tons of other seafood annually.

The entire city of Swansboro is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

*Images Magazine 2007.

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N).

Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km).
Pop. (2000) 8,049,313, a 21.4% increase since the 1990 census.
Capital, Raleigh.
Largest city, Charlotte. 
Motto, Esse Quam Videri [To Be Rather than to Seem].
State bird, cardinal.
State flower, dogwood.
State tree, pine.

North Carolina, in the warm temperate zone, has a generally mild climate, with abundant and well distributed rainfall. The state's congenial climate, its many miles of beaches, and its beautiful mountains attract large numbers of visitors and vacationers each year. Chief among the tourist attractions are the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the Cape Lookout National Seashore, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Great Smoky Mts. National Park. Wildlife abounds in national forests (the state has four) and in the Dismal Swamp. Places of historic interest include Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, on Roanoke Island; the Wright Brothers National Memorial, at Kitty Hawk; Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, at Flatrock; and Guilford Courthouse and Moores Creek national military parks.

North Carolina leads the nation in the production of tobacco and is a major producer of textiles and furniture. It grows 40% of all U.S. tobacco, but the continuing trend is toward diversification. Broilers, hogs, turkeys, greenhouse products, sweet potatoes, corn, soybeans, peanuts, and eggs are important. Plentiful forests supply the thriving furniture and lumber industries. The state has long been a major textile manufacturer, producing cotton, synthetic, and silk goods as well as various kinds of knit items. Other leading manufactures are electrical machinery, computers, and chemicals; the Research Triangle complex near Chapel Hill has spurred high-tech manufacturing, as well as bringing federal jobs into the state. The state also has mineral resources: It leads the nation in the production of feldspar, mica, and lithium materials and produces substantial quantities of olivine, crushed granite, talc, clays, and phosphate rock. There are valuable coastal fisheries, with shrimp, menhaden, and crabs the principal catches. Charlotte developed in the 1980s into a major U.S. banking center, and related businesses have flourished in the area.

*Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2003.