Farmville, North Carolina

For the Chatham County community, see Farmville, Chatham County, North Carolina.

Farmville, North Carolina
Town
Motto(s):  "Honoring Our Past, Shaping Our Future"
Location of Farmville, North Carolina
Coordinates: 35°35′42″N77°35′26″W / 35.59500°N 77.59056°W / 35.59500; -77.59056
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
County	Pitt
Government
• Type	Council-Manager
• Mayor	John O. Moore
• Town Manager	David P. Hodgkins
Area [1]
• Total	3.20 sq mi (8.30 km2)
• Land	3.20 sq mi (8.30 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation [2]	82 ft (25 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	4,461
• Density	1,392.6/sq mi (537.67/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	27828
Area code	252
FIPS code	37-22820 [3]
GNIS feature ID	2406493 [2]
Website	https://www.farmvillenc.gov

Farmville is a town in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States, eight miles to the west of Greenville. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,461. Farmville is a part of the Greenville Metropolitan Area located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. Farmville has been a Tree City USA community through the Arbor Day Foundation for 36 years, proving its commitment to managing and expanding its public trees. The Town government, in cooperation with other non-profit groups that work for the advancement of the town, sponsor annual events such as the Farmville Dogwood Festival, the Christmas Parade, Independence Day Celebration, A Taste of Farmville, and the Holiday Open House, among others.

History

Established in February 1872, the town was named Farmville because all of its undertakings and activities were farm related. Among the influential founding fathers of Farmville, James Williams May and William Gray Lang made exceptional contributions to the towns development. Mr. James Williams May was a commissioner named in the original town charter. He donated sites for churches and was a business leader willing to invest his services and resources towards the success of the town. He was the grandson of Major Benjamin May. William Gray Lang served as a commissioner on the town board for more than 10 years. He also serviced on the executive committee appointed to establish the Tobacco Market in Farmville. The town grew slowly, with the 1880 census showing 111 in Farmville and 79 in Marlborough, a nearby unincorporated settlement along the wooden Historic Plank Road. The Marlborough settlement is now inside the town limits of Farmville. The cultivation of Tobacco in Pitt County and the Farmville area began in the 1890s, which helped bring the East Carolina Railway to Farmville in 1900. Most of buildings in downtown Farmville were built shortly after due to the economic boom the railroad helped begin. The Farmville Historic District and Benjamin May-Lewis House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ^[4]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	111		—
1890	140		26.1%
1900	262		87.1%
1910	816		211.5%
1920	1,780		118.1%
1930	2,056		15.5%
1940	2,980		44.9%
1950	2,942		−1.3%
1960	3,997		35.9%
1970	4,424		10.7%
1980	4,707		6.4%
1990	4,392		−6.7%
2000	4,302		−2.0%
2010	4,654		8.2%
2020	4,461		−4.1%
U.S. Decennial Census [5]

2020 census

Farmville racial composition ^[6]

Race	Number	Percentage
White (non-Hispanic)	2,020	45.28%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	2,106	47.21%
Native American	16	0.36%
Asian	13	0.29%
Other/Mixed	140	3.14%
Hispanic or Latino	166	3.72%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 4,461 people, 1,813 households, and 1,212 families residing in the town.

Notable people

• Sam D. Bundy – Member, North Carolina General Assembly
• Joseph Dixon – United States Congressman (1870–1871)
• Roberta Flack – American singer, taught music in Farmville
• Blenda Gay – Former NFL player, murdered in 1976
• Walter B. Jones Sr. – United States Congressman (1967–1992)
• Walter B. Jones Jr. – United States Congressman (1993–2019)
• Elizabeth Schmoke Randolph (1917–2004), educator
• Terquavion Smith (born 2002) - college basketball player for the NC State Wolfpack
• Mike Sutton – Head Basketball Coach, Tennessee Technological University
• Allen H. Turnage – General, United States Marine Corps
• Edith D. Warren – Member, North Carolina General Assembly

References

1. "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Farmville, North Carolina
3. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 31, 2008.
4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
5. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
6. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 24, 2021.

External links

• Official Farmville, NC website