Wikipedia

Wake Forest, North Carolina

Wake Forestis a town inWakeandFranklincounties in theU.S. stateofNorth Carolina.Located almost entirely in Wake County, it lies just north of the state capital,Raleigh.At the2020 census,the population was 47,601,[5]up from 30,117 in2010.[6]It is part of theRaleigh metropolitan area.Wake Forest was the original home ofWake Forest Universityfor 122 years before it moved toWinston-Salemin 1956.

Wake Forest
Town
White Street
White Street
Official seal of Wake Forest
Seal
Location in Wake County and the state of North Carolina.
Location inWake Countyand the state ofNorth Carolina.
Coordinates:35°57′24″N78°31′29″W/ 35.95667°N 78.52472°W/35.95667; -78.52472
CountryUnited States
StateNorth Carolina
CountiesWake,Franklin
Incorporated1880
Named forThe large wooded areas of northern Wake County[1]
Government
•MayorVivian A. Jones (R)
Area
[2]
• Total
19.67 sq mi (50.95 km2)
• Land19.52 sq mi (50.55 km2)
• Water0.15 sq mi (0.40 km2) 0.76%
Elevation
[3]
295 ft (90 m)
Population
(2020)
• Total
47,601
• Estimate
(2023)
54,337
• Density2,438.83/sq mi (941.62/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5(Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)UTC−4(EDT)
ZIP Codes
27587–27588
Area code(s)919, 984
FIPS code37-70540[4]
GNISfeature ID2406816[3]
Websitewww.wakeforestnc.gov

History

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In 1832,[7]Dr.Calvin Jones,originally fromNew England,bought 615 acres (2.49 km2) of forested land in Wake County, North Carolina. He built hisplantationhere. The sparsely populated area became known as the Forest of Wake, or Wake Forest. Jones sold his farm to the North CarolinaBaptistConvention for $2,000, who opened the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute, later Wake Forest College, on the site. TheRaleigh & Gaston Railroad,completed in 1840, established a depot in nearbyForestvillethat stimulated the school and surrounding village. College leaders convinced the railroad to move the depot even closer to the college in 1874, leading to more economic development. This community was incorporated as the "Town of Wake Forest College" in 1880. In 1909, the word "College" was removed from the name of the town. The college moved to the much larger city ofWinston-Salemin 1956.[8]Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminarybegan offering classes on the original campus of Wake Forest University in 1950, and occupied the entire campus when the university completed its move.

In 2007, the town was listed byForbesmagazine as the 20th fastest growing suburb in America, with a 73.2 percent increase in population between 2000 and 2006.[9][10]

Geography

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Interactive map of Wake Forest

According to theUnited States Census Bureau,the town has a total area of 19.67 square miles (50.9 km2), of which 19.52 square miles (50.6 km2) is land and 0.15 square miles (0.39 km2) (0.76%) is water.[2]

Wake Forest is located in the northeast-central region of North Carolina, where theNorth American PiedmontandAtlantic Coastal Plainregions meet. This area is known as the "Fall Line"because it marks the elevation inland at which waterfalls begin to appear in creeks and rivers. Its central Piedmont location situates Wake Forest approximately three hours by car west ofAtlantic Beach,and four hours east of theGreat Smoky Mountains.

Climate

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Wake Forest enjoys a moderatesubtropical climate,with moderate temperatures in the spring, fall, and winter. Summers are typically hot with highhumidity.Winter highs generally range in the low 50s°F(10 to 13°C) with lows in the low-to-mid 30s °F (−2 to 2 °C), although an occasional 60 °F (15 °C) or warmer winter day is not uncommon. Spring and fall days usually reach the low-to-mid 70s °F (low 20s °C), with lows at night in the lower 50s °F (10 to 14 °C). Summer daytime highs often reach the upper 80s to low 90s °F (29 to 35 °C). The rainiest months are July and August.

Demographics

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Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1880456—
189085888.2%
1900823−4.1%
19101,44375.3%
19201,425−1.2%
19301,5367.8%
19401,5621.7%
19503,704137.1%
19602,664−28.1%
19703,14818.2%
19803,78020.1%
19905,76952.6%
200012,588118.2%
201030,117139.3%
202047,60158.1%
2023 (est.)54,337[5]14.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[11]

2020 census

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Wake Forest racial composition[12]
Race Number Percentage
White(non-Hispanic) 32,087 67.41%
Black or African American(non-Hispanic) 7,480 15.71%
Native American 88 0.18%
Asian 1,751 3.68%
Pacific Islander 24 0.05%
Other/Mixed 2,402 5.05%
HispanicorLatino 3,769 7.92%

As of the2020 census,there were 47,601 people, 14,732 households, and 11,104 families residing in the town.

Arts and culture

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Performing arts

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Wake Forest hosts the annualWake Forest Dance Festivalevery fall at E. Carroll Joyner Park.

Historical locations

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The DuBois Center is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[13]TheW. E. B. DuBois Schoolopened in 1926 for theAfrican-Americancommunity in Wake Forest beforeracial segregationceased in 1971. After the school outgrew the facility and moved to a new location, the building was vacant for a decade until the DuBois Alumni Association purchased the building and made it into acommunity center.[14]

Other listings in or near Wake Forest on the National Register of Historic Places are theBailey-Estes House,Downtown Wake Forest Historic District,Glen Royall Mill Village Historic District,Lea Laboratory,Oakforest,Powell House,Purefoy-Chappell House and Outbuildings,Purefoy-Dunn Plantation,Rock Cliff Farm,Royall Cotton Mill Commissary,South Brick House,Thompson House,Wake Forest Historic District,Wakefield Dairy Complex,andWakefields.[15][16][17]

Wake Forest Historical Museum, also known as theDr. Calvin Jones House,was built in 1820 and was the residence of the first president of Wake Forest College and the center of activities that took place at the school. The museum displays the history of the town of Wake Forest as well as Wake Forest University. The house contains collections of photos, books, college publications, furniture, documents, professors’ writings, and medical, law and sports memorabilia.[18]

Library

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Wake County Public Libraries operates a branch in Wake Forest.[19]

Parks and recreation

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Wake Forest is home to theFalls Lake State Recreation Area.Falls Lake Park contains the 12,000-acre (49 km2)Falls Lakeand 26,000 acres (110 km2) of woodlands.[20]

Wake Forest is served by ten parks and community centers. They include the following:[21]

  • Ailey Young Park
  • H.L. Miller Park
  • Holding Park and Wake Forest Community House
  • J.B. Flaherty Park
  • Joyner Park
  • Kiwanis Park
  • Plummer Park
  • Smith Creek Soccer Center
  • Taylor Street Park and Alston Massenburg Center
  • Tyler Run Park

Government

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Wake Forest operates under thecouncil–managerform of government. The citizens elect amayorand board of commissioners as the town's governing body. The town manager is appointed by the board to serve as the chief operating officer administering all municipal affairs.[22][23]The current mayor is Vivian A. Jones (R,term expires 2025) and the board of commissioners are James E. "Jim" Dyer (R, 2023), Nick Sliwinski (R, 2025), Chad D. Sary (R, 2023), R. Keith Shackleford (D,2025), and Adam B. Wright (D, 2023).[24]

A newtown hallfacility opened in downtown Wake Forest in September 2010,[25]and wasLEEDPlatinum certified in November 2011.[26]All town departments are housed in the facility, except police (which has its own building nearby) and public works.

Education

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Primary and secondary education

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The town is served by twelve public schools which are administered by theWake County Public School SystemandGranville County Schools.Public schools include:

Charter schools includeFranklin Academy(K–12), Wake Forest Charter Academy (K–8), Endeavor Charter School (K–8), and Envision Science Academy (K–8). Private schools include Thales Academy,[27]All Saints Academy,[28]andSt. Catherine of Siena Catholic School,serving grades K–8.[29]Wake Forest is also home to twoMontessorischools: Wake Forest Montessori[30]and Children's House of Wake Forest.[31]

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Higher learning

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Wake Technical Community College[32]is an area two-year college with a north campus on Louisburg Road in Raleigh.Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminaryis a seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention. It began offering classes in 1950 on the original campus of Wake Forest University and is commonly known by its acronym, SEBTS.

Transportation

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Passenger

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Roads

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Media

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On air

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  • WCPE-FM,located in Wake Forest, is a classical music station that provides its programming over the air, via the Internet, and viaC-bandandKu-bandsatellite.

Newspaper

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  • The town's independently owned community newspaper,The Wake Weekly,has an average circulation of more than 8,400 copies per week.[36]

Online

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  • Wake Forest Newsis a humor publication with the motto, "Half our news is fit to print".[37]
  • Wake Forest Todayis the town's first digital daily news portal. It is an online news source that covers local news and events regarding Wake Forest and the surrounding area.[38]

Notable people

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Main category:People from Wake Forest, North Carolina

References

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  1. ^"North Carolina Gazetteer".RetrievedNovember 25,2023.
  2. ^ab"ArcGIS REST Services Directory".United States Census Bureau.RetrievedSeptember 20,2022.
  3. ^abU.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Wake Forest, North Carolina
  4. ^"U.S. Census website".United States Census Bureau.RetrievedJanuary 31,2008.
  5. ^ab"QuickFacts: Wake Forest town, North Carolina".United States Census Bureau.RetrievedAugust 31,2024.
  6. ^"Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (DP-1): Wake Forest town, North Carolina".United States Census Bureau.RetrievedDecember 30,2011.
  7. ^"History - Town of Wake Forest, NC".wakeforestnc.gov.RetrievedApril 3,2018.
  8. ^"History - Wake Forest, NC".wakeforestnc.gov.RetrievedApril 3,2018.
  9. ^WRAL (August 7, 2007)."3 Area Towns Among Fastest-Growing Suburbs:: WRAL".wral.RetrievedApril 3,2018.
  10. ^"America's Fastest-Growing Suburbs - Forbes".Forbes.February 20, 2008. Archived fromthe originalon February 20, 2008.RetrievedJuly 11,2017.
  11. ^"Census of Population and Housing".Census.gov.RetrievedJune 4,2015.
  12. ^"Explore Census Data".data.census.gov.RetrievedDecember 20,2021.
  13. ^"Area Attractions - Wake Forest, NC".wakeforestnc.gov.RetrievedApril 3,2018.
  14. ^"DuBois".wcpss.net.RetrievedApril 3,2018.
  15. ^"National Register Information System".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.July 9, 2010.
  16. ^"National Register of Historic Places Listings".Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 12/27/10 through 12/30/10.National Park Service. January 7, 2011.
  17. ^"National Register of Historic Places Listings".Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 5/26/14 through 5/30/14.National Park Service. June 6, 2014.
  18. ^"ギャンブルよりも, やっぱり phong tục なんだよなぁ".wakeforestbirthplace.org.RetrievedApril 3,2018.
  19. ^"Locations".Wake County Government.RetrievedAugust 31,2024.
  20. ^"Falls Lake State Recreation Area - NC State Parks".ncparks.gov.RetrievedApril 3,2018.
  21. ^"Parks & Facilities - Wake Forest, NC".wakeforestnc.gov.RetrievedApril 3,2018.
  22. ^"Mayor - Wake Forest, NC".wakeforestnc.gov.RetrievedApril 3,2018.
  23. ^"Board of Commissioners - Wake Forest, NC".wakeforestnc.gov.RetrievedApril 3,2018.
  24. ^"Board Members - Town of Wake Forest, NC".wakeforestnc.gov.RetrievedFebruary 28,2018.
  25. ^"Town Hall - Town of Wake Forest".RetrievedOctober 8,2014.
  26. ^"LEED Platinum Certification - Town of Wake Forest".RetrievedOctober 8,2014.
  27. ^"Home".thalesacademy.org.
  28. ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon October 11, 2015.RetrievedJanuary 8,2013.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  29. ^"schools in Wake Forest - YELLOWPAGES.COM".yellowpages.RetrievedApril 3,2018.
  30. ^"- YELLOWPAGES.COM".RetrievedOctober 8,2014.
  31. ^http:// mchofwfMontessori
  32. ^Wake Technical Community College/
  33. ^Stradling, Richard (December 15, 2023)."NC: NCDOT got $1.1 billion to build a railroad in Wake County. What does that buy?".Charlotte Observer– via Mass Transit magazine.
  34. ^Charles Duncan, Spectrum News, December 6, 2023 "$1B grant will help make high speed rail a reality from Raleigh to Richmond"https://spectrumlocalnews /nc/charlotte/news/2023/12/06/high-speed-rail-raleigh-richmond
  35. ^Ahmed Jallow, NC Newsline, July 2, 2024 "Buttigieg, Cooper break ground on new Raleigh-to-Richmond high speed rail line"https://ncnewsline /briefs/buttigieg-cooper-break-ground-on-new-raleigh-to-richmond-high-speed-rail-line/
  36. ^"The Wake Weekly".wakeweekly.RetrievedApril 3,2018.
  37. ^"Wake Forest News - Entertaining Wake Forest with news since 2013".Wake Forest News.RetrievedOctober 8,2014.
  38. ^"Wake Forest Today - The Community's First Digital Daily News Source".Wake Forest News - From Wake Forest North Carolina and surrounding community.RetrievedOctober 8,2014.
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