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North Carolina Counties

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North Carolina Counties

North Carolina is divided into 100 counties. North Carolina ranks 28th in size by area, but has the seventh most counties in the country.

Wake County, North Carolina

Wake County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Raleigh
Year Organized: 1771
Square Miles: 831.92
MSA:

Court House:

PO Box 550
County Courthouse
Raleigh, NC 27602-0550

Etymology - Origin of County Name

It was named in honor of Margaret Wake, wife of William Tryon.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Wake was formed in 1771 from Johnston, Cumberland and Orange. The act became effective March 12,1771. It was named in honor of Margaret Wake, wife of William Tryon. It is in the east central section of the State and is bounded by Johnston, Harnett, Chatham, Durham, Granville and Franklin counties. The present land area is 831.92 square miles and the population in 2000 was 627,866. The first courthouse was erected at what is known as Bloomsbury. It was called Wake County Court House until 1792, when Raleigh was established and was made the capital of the State. Raleigh is the county seat.

Neighboring Counties:

Johnston
Harnett
Chatham
Durham
Granville
Franklin

Cities and Towns:

- Apex	town	Incorporated Area
- Cary	town	Incorporated Area
- Fuquay-Varina	town	Incorporated Area
- Garner	town	Incorporated Area
- Holly Springs	town	Incorporated Area
- Knightdale	town	Incorporated Area
- Morrisville	town	Incorporated Area
- Raleigh (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Rolesville	town	Incorporated Area
- Wake Forest	town	Incorporated Area
- Wendell	town	Incorporated Area
- Zebulon	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."