Wake County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2008, the population was 866,410, making it the second most populated county in the state after Mecklenburg County. Its county seat is Raleigh, which is also the state capital.
Wake County is part of the Research Triangle metropolitan region, which consists of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill and surrounding areas. The regional name originated after the 1959 creation of the Research Triangle Park, located midway between Raleigh and Durham. The Research Triangle region encompasses the U.S. Census Bureau's Combined Statistical Area (CSA) of Raleigh-Durham-Cary. The estimated population of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary CSA was 1,690,557 as of July 1, 2008, with the Raleigh-Cary Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) portion estimated at 1,088,765 residents.
Wake County is the 9th fastest growing county in the United States, with the Town of Cary and the City of Raleigh being the 8th and 15th fastest growing cities, respectively.
History
Early history
The earliest inhabitants of present day Wake County were the Tuscarora Native Americans. After the Tuscarora War in 1711, they were defeated and moved to New York to join the Iroquois nation.
The county was formed in 1771 from parts of Cumberland County, Johnston County, and Orange County. It was named for Margaret Wake, wife of Governor William Tryon. The first courthouse was built at a place called Wake Courthouse, commonly known as Bloomsbury. In 1771, the first elections and court were held, and the first militia was formed.
Wake County lost some its land area during the subsequent formation of other new counties. Portions were taken by Franklin County in 1787 and by Durham County in 1881 and 1911.
During the colonial period of North Carolina, the state capital was New Bern. For several years, during and after the Revolutionary War, there was no capital, and the General Assembly met in various locations.Fayetteville was the state capital from 1789 to 1793 when Raleigh became the permanent state capital. In 1792, a commission was appointed to select a site for a permanent state capital. The members of the commission were leaning toward land owned by Colonel John Hinton across the Neuse River, but on the night before the final vote, the committee adjourned to the home of Joel Lane for an evening of food and spirits. The next day, the vote was in Lane's favor.
Raleigh was named after Sir Walter Raleigh, and established on 1,000 acres (4.0 km 2 ) purchased from Lane. Sir Walter Raleigh never set foot in the North Carolina, but two centuries earlier he had sponsored the establishment of the first English colony on the North Carolina shore at Roanoke Island. The city of Raleigh became both the state capital as well as the new county seat of Wake County. Raleigh is the only planned state capital in the United States.
19th century
20th century
Law and government
Wake County is a member of the regional Triangle J Council of Governments. The county is governed by a seven-member board of County Commissioners, elected at large to serve four-year terms. Terms are staggered so that, every two years, three or four Commissioners are up for election. The Commissioners enact policies such as establishment of the property tax rate, regulation of land use and zoning outside municipal jurisdictions, and adoption of the annual budget. Commissioners meet on the first and third Mondays of each month.
Current Commissioners are Harold Webb (Chair), Lindy Brown (Vice-Chair), Joe Bryan, Betty Lou Ward, Paul Coble, Tony Gurley, and Stan Norwalk. David Cooke is the County Manager.
Politics
Although Democratic presidential candidates have only won the county in four of the last 13 elections (Kennedy in 1960, Johnson in 1964, Clinton in 1992 and Obama in 2008), the races have almost always been close, such as in 1980, when Ronald Reagan won by a landslide nationwide, but by a mere 1% in Wake County. Recently, Republican George W. Bush won the county in 2000 with 53% and defeated John Kerry in 2004 by a slim 51% to 49%. In 2008 Democrat Barack Obama defeated John McCain 56-43%.
Recently, statewide Democrats have fared well here. In the 1998 Senate race, John Edwards won in Wake County, which helped him defeat incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth. In 2000 Mike Easley won the governor's race here with 55% of the vote. In 2004, Easley won again, winning with 59% to 40% for opponent Patrick Ballantine. Democrat Beverly Perdue won Wake County in the 2008 Governor's election by a 51%-45% margin. Democratic candidate for US Senate Erskine Bowles won the county with 52 percent, despite losing statewide to Richard Burr by the same margin. In 2002, however, Republican Elizabeth Dole defeated Bowles with 55% of the vote here, and won by a large margin statewide. In 2008 Kay Hagan defeated Dole 56-40%.
Democratic voters are mainly located in the city of Raleigh, while Republicans are the majority in the rural areas in the north and western parts of the county. The outskirts of Raleigh, and the cities of Cary and Apex are where most of the swing voters are located and thus where moderates have recently voted Democratic.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 857 square miles (2,220 km²), of which, 832 square miles (2,155 km²) of it is land and 25 square miles (66 km²) of it (2.95%) is water.
Wake County is located in the northeast central region of North Carolina, where the North American Piedmont and Atlantic Coastal Plain regions 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. As a result, most of Wake County features gently rolling hills that slope eastward toward the state's flat coastal plain. Its central Piedmont location situates the county about three hours west of Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, by car and four hours east of the Great Smoky Mountains of the Appalachian range.
Bodies of water that are located in Wake County include Lake Crabtree, Crabtree Creek, the Neuse River, and portions of Falls Lake and Jordan Lake.
Climate
Wake County enjoys a moderate subtropical climate, with moderate temperatures in the spring, fall, and winter. Summers are typically hot with high humidity. 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.
The county receives on average 2 inches (51 mm) of snow in the winter. Freezing rain and sleet occur most winters, and occasionally the area experiences a major damaging ice storm.
Economy
Wake County's economy is heavily influenced by the Research Triangle Park (RTP), located between Durham and Raleigh. RTP is the country's largest industrial park and a primary center in the United States for high-tech and biotech research, as well as textile development. The Park is home to more than 160 companies employing over 50,000 people. The largest employers in the Park include IBM (11,000 employees), GlaxoSmithKline (6,400 employees), and Cisco Systems (3,400 employees).
Wake County's industrial base includes electrical, medical, electronic and telecommunications equipment; clothing and apparel; food processing; paper products; and pharmaceuticals. The agriculture industry is visible in rural areas of the county, with tobacco, cotton, wheat, soybeans and corn being the most common products grown.
SAS Institute, one of the largest privately held software companies in the world, is located in Cary. Other major companies based in Wake County include RBC Centura, Progress Energy Inc, 3Dsolve, Carquest, Bear Rock Foods, Cotton Incorporated, Epic Games, Lord Corporation, Lenovo Group (U.S. headquarters), Tekelec, Red Hat, Golden Corral and Martin Marietta Materials.
In 2007, Forbes magazine listed Raleigh and Cary among the best cities to find jobs in the United States, as well as being the area ranked as the best place for business and careers. Also in 2007, CNN ranked the region has the 3rd best area for job growth, the top region for technology workers, and Bizjournals.com ranked it as the 4th best place for young adult job seekers.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 627,846 people, 242,040 households, and 158,778 families residing in the county. The population density was 755 people per square mile (291/km²). There were 258,953 housing units at an average density of 311 per square mile (
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