Northampton County, North Carolina

History

The county was formed in 1741 from Bertie County. It was named for James Compton, 5th Earl of Northampton. In 1759 parts of Northampton County, Bertie County, and Chowan County were combined to form Hertford County.

In 1959, the county went to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend the use of a literacy test as a requirement to vote. In Lassiter v. Northampton County Board of Elections, the court held that, provided the tests were applied equally to all races and were not "merely a device to make racial discrimination easy," they were allowable. Congress subsequently prohibited use of such tests under the National Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 551 square miles (1,430 km²), of which 537 square miles (1,390 km²) is land and 14 square miles (36 km²) (2.5%) is water.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 22,099 people residing in the county. 58.4% were Black or African American, 39.2% White, 0.5% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.8% of some other race and 1.0% of two or more races. 1.4% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

As of the census of 2000, there were 22,086 people, 8,691 households, and 5,953 families residing in the county. The population density was 41 people per square mile (16/km²). There were 10,455 housing units at an average density of 20 per square mile (8/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 39.09% White, 59.43% Black or African American, 0.32% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.39% from other races, and 0.63% from two or more races. 0.73% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 8,691 households out of which 27.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.50% were married couples living together, 18.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.50% were non-families. 28.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.30% under the age of 18, 6.90% from 18 to 24, 26.50% from 25 to 44, 24.90% from 45 to 64, and 17.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 92.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $26,652, and the median income for a family was $34,648. Males had a median income of $27,970 versus $21,183 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,413. About 17.00% of families and 21.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.80% of those under age 18 and 21.50% of those age 65 or over.

Law and government

Northampton County is a member of the regional Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments.

Politics

It is a traditionally Democratic county, being one of only two counties in the state won by George McGovern during his 1972 landslide loss. Apart from several contiguous counties in South Texas; Northampton County is the only county in the United States to vote Democrat at every election over the past century; the last Democratic candidate to lose the county was William Jennings Bryan in 1896. In the last five Presidential elections the Democratic candidate has consistently received over 63 percent of the county’s vote.

It is part of North Carolina's 1st congressional district, which has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+9 and has been represented by a Democratic Congressman since 1899. It is currently represented by G. K. Butterfield.

Unincorporated communities