Kinston, North Carolina

Kinston was created by an act of the North Carolina General Assembly in December 1762 as "Kingston", in honor of King George III, who had just recently ascended to the throne.

The bill to incorporate it was introduced by Richard Caswell, who made his home there and later served as the first governor of the state of North Carolina from 1776 to 1780.

After victory in the American Revolution, the citizens renamed the city "Kinston" in 1784 to show the population's disavowal of royalty.

It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791.

In 1833, Kinston briefly became "Caswell", in honor of Governor Caswell, but the name Kinston was restored the following year.

Kinston was incorporated as a town through an act of the legislature in January 1849, after which the population grew rapidly.

In 1850, the population was estimated at 455 people, and just 10 years later, it had more than doubled to over 1000.

The Battle of Kinston took place in and around the city on December 14, 1862.

From February 5 to February 22, 1864, 22 Union soldiers of the 2nd North Carolina Union Volunteer Infantry Regiment were executed by hanging in the city.

The Battle of Wyse Fork, also known as the Battle of Southwest Creek (March 7–10, 1865), took place near the city.

By 1870, the population had increased to 1,100 people and grew to more than 1,700 within a decade.

The town first hosted professional baseball in 1908 and among the many alumni is Rick Ferrell, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Manny Ramirez, and Lonnie Chisenh...

On April 6, 1916, Joseph Black was taken from the Lenoir County Jail and lynched by a mob of armed men.

Constructed in 1924 after a fire destroyed the previous Kinston High School building, the school was named after Jesse W.

The facility, which opened in 1944, has a prisoner capacity of 44.

In 1956, Kinston was the site of a rare, perfect game of billiards, as Willie Mosconi sank 150 balls in a row in one inning against Jimmy Moore.

After the decision in 1970 to make way for the newly constructed and integrated Kinston High School, it served as Kinston Jr.

The hottest temperature recorded in Kinston was 103 °F (39.4 °C) on July 20, 1977, and August 20–22, 1983, while the coldest temperature recorded was −2 °F (−18.9 °C) on January...

High School until 1987 (when ninth-grade students were moved to the campus of Kinston High School and eighth-grade students were relocated to the campus of Rochelle Middle School).

Kinston was heavily impacted by flooding in 1996 and 1999.

On September 16, 1999, Hurricane Floyd struck the area, bringing 17 inches (430 mm) of rain.

=== 2000 census === As of the census of 2000, 23,688 people, 9,829 households, and 6,074 families were living in the city.

Also a proponent of sustainable practices and local ingredients, Mother Earth Brewing was founded in Kinston in the summer of 2008.

In 2009, Kinston won the All-America City Award.

=== 2010 census === As of the 2010 United States census, 21,677 people were living in the city.

From here, Bill Harrelson of Fredericksburg, Virginia, left and returned on his Guinness world record-setting "around-the-globe-over-the-poles" flight in his custom-built Lancai...

In the 2017 municipal elections, Democratic candidate Dontario Hardy beat incumbent B.J.

In 2018, ESPN called Kinston "America's Basketball Heaven".

== Demographics == === 2020 census === As of the 2020 United States census, 19,900 people, 8,901 households, and 5,050 families were residing in the city.