Guilford County, North Carolina

Guilford County, North Carolina is a United States located in United States of North Carolina. The population in 2007 was 465,931 people. The county seat is Greensboro.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 658 sqmi of which, 649 sqmi is the land area and 8 sqmi of the total area (1.26%) is the water surface area.

At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that became Guilford County were a people called the Saura. Beginning in the 1740s, settlers arrived in the region in search of fertile and affordable land. These first settlers included American Quakers from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New England at what is now Greensboro, as well as German Reformed and Lutherans in the east, British Quakers in the south and west, and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians in the center of today's Guilford County. As population increased, the North Carolina colonial legislature organized the county in 1771, from parts of Rowan and Orange counties. It was named for Francis North, Earl of Guilford, father of Frederick North, Lord North, British Prime Minister from 1770 to 1782.

The meeting also played a major role in the European settlement of the county. Numerous Quakers still live in the county. New Garden Friends Meeting, established in 1754 and first affiliated with a Pennsylvania meeting, still operates in Greensboro. as well as German Reformed and Lutherans in the east, British Quakers in the south and west, and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians in the center of today's Guilford County.

Alamance Presbyterian Church, a log structure, was built in 1762. The congregation was not officially organized until 1764 by the Rev. Henry Patillo, pastor of Hawfields Presbyterian Church. It has operated since then on the same site in present-day Greensboro. According to the church history, the congregation has built five churches on that site and now has its eighteenth pastor.

On March 15, 1781, during the, the was fought just north of present-day Greensboro between Generals  and. This battle marked a turning point in the Revolutionary War in the South. Although General Cornwallis, the British Commander, held the field at the end of the battle, his losses were so severe that he decided to withdraw to the Carolina coastline, where he could receive reinforcements at Wilmington and his battered army could be protected by the British Navy. His decision ultimately led to his defeat later in 1781 at Yorktown, Virginia, by a combined force of American and French troops and warships.

In 1779 the southern third of Guilford County was separated as Randolph County, North Carolina. In 1785, following the American Revolution, the northern half of its remaining territory was organized as Rockingham County, North Carolina.

In 1808, Greensboro replaced the hamlet of Guilford Court House as the county seat. It was more centrally located, making it a better location for travelers of the time.

The county was the site of early industrial development, namely, the Mt. Hecla Cotton Mill, established in 1818 as one of the earliest cotton mills in the state. First run by water power, the mill was refitted to be powered by steam, and was one of the earliest examples in the state of the use of steam power for manufacturing.

In the antebellum era, many of the county's residents were opposed to, including Lutherans, Quakers and Methodists. The county was a stop on the, for which volunteers aided refugee slaves en route to freedom in the North. People gave them safe places to stay and often food and clothing. Levi Coffin, among the founders of the "railroad," was a Guilford County native. He is credited with personally helping more than 2,000 slaves escape to freedom before the war.

Education has long been a hallmark of the county, which founded "first" among its institutions. Guilford College was founded in 1837 as the New Garden Boarding School; its name was changed in 1888 when the academic program was expanded considerably. Guilford is the third-oldest coeducational institution in the country and the oldest such institution in the South. Greensboro College, established by the Methodist Church through a charter secured in 1838, is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States.

Immanuel Lutheran College and Seminary was located on a small campus on East Market Street until it closed in 1961. "Lutheran" was founded by white ethnic German Lutherans for black students in 1903 in Concord, at a time when education was racially segregated and blacks had limited access to higher education. The school moved to the county seat of Greensboro in 1905, where Lutherans built a large granite main building for it. The school operated a high school, junior college, and seminary under the jurisdiction of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America.

In 1891, the county became home to the state's first and only publicly supported institution of higher learning for women, the State Normal and Industrial School, established in Greensboro especially to train teachers. In 1932, the school joined with the and  in Raleigh to form the Consolidated University of North Carolina; it was renamed as the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina. From the 1930s to the 1960s, the Woman's College was the third-largest women's university in the world. In 1963, the university was changed to a coed institution, and its curriculum was gradually expanded to include graduate work. It is now known as the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

In 1911, a new county called Piedmont County was proposed, with High Point as its county seat, to be created from Guilford, Davidson and Randolph Counties. Many people appeared at the courthouse to oppose the plan, vowing to go to the state legislature to protest. The state legislature voted down the plan in February 1911.

In 1960, North Carolina still operated by racial segregation laws, and maintained the disenfranchisement of most black voters established at the end of the 19th century to suppress the Republican Party. It operated mostly as a one-party state dominated by conservative white Democrats. Following World War II, African-American veterans and young people heightened their activities in the American civil rights movement. Guilford County was the site of an influential protest in 1960 when four black students from the in Greensboro started an early. Known afterwards as the Greensboro Four, the four young men sat at a "whites-only" lunch counter at the Woolworth's store in downtown Greensboro and asked to be served after purchasing items in the store. When refused, they asked why their money was good enough for buying retail items, but not food at the counter. They were arrested, but their action led to many other college students in Greensboro - including white students from Guilford and the Women's College - to sit at the lunch counter in a show of support. The students carried on a regular sit-in and within two months, the sit-in movement spread to 54 cities in nine states; Woolworth's eventually agreed to desegregate its lunch counters, and other restaurants in Southern towns and cities followed suit.

Towns
The county is divided into 18 communities of the United States: Bruce, Center Grove, Clay, Deep River, Fentress, Friendship, Gilmer, Greene, High Point, Jamestown, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Morehead, Oak Ridge, Rock Creek, Sumner, and Washington.

Neighboring districts

 * Rockingham County (north)
 * Alamance County (east)
 * Randolph County (south)
 * Davidson County (southwest)
 * Forsyth County (west)

Demographic information
According to the. the county had a population of 421,048 people, 168,667 households, and 109,802 families residing in the county. was 648 sqmi There were 180,391 housing units at an average density of 278 sqmi. The racial structure of the population living in this county includes 64.53% of, 29.27% of ​​ or , 0.46% of , 2.44% of , 0.03% of , 1.81% from , and 1.45% from two or more races. 3.80% of the population is or  of any race.

There are 168,667 households out of which 30.40% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.00% are married couples living together, 13.40% have a female head of household with no husband living with, and 34.90% are familyless. 27.90% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.30% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 while the average family size was 2.96,

The age distribution of residents living in the district is 23.70% under the age of 18, 11.00% from 18 to 24, 31.40% from 25 to 44, 22.10% from 45 to 64, and 11, 80% of people are 65 years of age or older. The average age is 35 years old. For every 100 females there are 92.00 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there are 88.60 males.

The median income of a household in this county is $42,618, and the median household income in this county is $52,638, Men have a median income of $35,940 vs. $27,092 for women. for the county is $23,340, About 7.60% of families and 10.60% of the population live below the, including 13.80% of those aged 18 and 9.90% are people 65 years or older.

Friedens Church, whose name means "peace" in German, is in eastern Guilford County, at 6001 NC Hwy 61 North, northwest of Gibsonville. It is a historic church established by some of the earliest European settlers in this area. According to a church history, Rev. John Ulrich Giesendanner led his Lutheran congregation from Pennsylvania in 1740 into the part of North Carolina around Haw River, Reedy Fork, Eno River, Alamance Creek, Travis Creek, Beaver Creek, and Deep River. Friedens Church built a log structure in 1745, which the congregation used for 25 years. The second building, completed about 1771, was more substantial and was used for a century, being replaced in May 1871. That third building was destroyed by fire on January 8, 1939, with only the front columns surviving destruction. The church was rebuilt and reopened in May 1939.

Cities and towns

 * Greensboro
 * High Point
 * Jamestown
 * Oak Ridge
 * Pleasant Garden
 * Sedalia
 * Stokesdale
 * Summerfield
 * Whitsett
 * Colfax
 * Browns Summit
 * Gibsonville