# Eastern North Carolina Encyclopedia/Johnston County

JOHNSTON COUNTY
GEOGRAPHY
Johnston County is situated on the western edge of the Coastal Plain area. It has an area of approximately 778 square miles, or 516,480 acres. The northwest side of the county is about 15 miles east of Raleigh. It is bounded on the northeast and east by Nash, Wilson and Wayne Counties, on the south by Wayne and Sampson Counties, on the west and southwest by Harnett and Sampson Counties, and on the north and northwest by Wake County. The surface features consist of high, rolling uplands and broad, gently undulating interstream areas in the wide, level stretches. There is a gentle but fairly well defined slope throughout the Coastal Plain Section of the county. Elevations vary from 350 feet through the central part of the county to about 80 feet on the southeast corner, where the Neuse River leaves the area.
SOILS AND SEASONS
The soils in Johnston County may be classed in three groups, according to their origin: The sedimentary soils of the Coastal Plain; the residual soils of the Piedmont Plateau, and the alluvial soil's developed along the streams throughout the county. There is a total of 28 types of soils, including meadow and swamp. The most prominent of these is the Norfolk sandy loam. This soil is well adapted to truck crops, cotton, corn and tobacco, all of which have very good yields. Other prevalent soils are the Cecil soils, of which the coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, stony sandy loam, and clay loam, are well suited for the production of oats, wheat, corn, clover, cowpeas and to some extent, tobacco and cotton. Land values in the county vary from $20 to $200 and more an acre.
The climate of the county is well suited for a wide range of products. Truck and stock farming are growing rapidly in extent. The winters are short and comparatively mild, the mean winter temperature being 42 degrees. The summers are long and not excessively hot. The mean summer temperature is 77 degrees F. The average rainfall is about 50 inches and is well distributed throughout the year. Crops seldom suffer from drought, and the growing season is about 200 days, long enough for all ordinary crops.
With such seasons, it is not surprising that ​agriculture is the principal industry of the people. The principal crops are cotton, corn and tobacco as leaders, with sweet potatoes, peas, forage and grain as secondary crops.
Johnston ranks first in the production of cotton in the State. Last year (1923) 65,000 bales were produced on 72,011 acres, a yield of .90 bales to the acre, which is .15 more bales to the acre than the State average. Much of this is used by the factories in the county, but a greater part is shipped away.
We rank second in the State in the production of corn. The average yield per acre is 22.1 bushels, as compared with the State average of 17.7 bushels. Practically all of this goes to feed the stock, and into meal. The yield is increasing annually, due to advanced methods of production, and to the activities of corn clubs and county agents.
In tobacco, Johnston ranks fourth in the State in production, producing 9,357,193 pounds of the golden weed in 1921, and bettering the State average per acre yield of 610.3 pounds by 75.3 pounds. The production of tobacco in the county has greatly increased within the last decade.
Potatoes are raised in large quantities also, but in production they are far behind the average named products. The same may be said for peas, forage, and grain. Peas are mostly sown broadcast in corn fields. Grain is raised chiefly in the northern part of the county. The forage is used in feeding workstock during the winter months. Peanuts are raised in small quantities. The possibilities for this crop are very good and the industry will in all probability grow in the future.
In 1920 the land in farms totaled 212,552 acres, with a value of $40,747,814. There were 2,508 farmers who reported expenditures for labor in that year, their returns amounting to $380,428. The 6,431 farmers reporting expenditures for fertilizers spent $2,391,401 on this item. The 3,230 farmers reporting as buying farm feed for live stock spent for this feed $298,003. In total value of crops, Johnston stands third in the State, with $19,229,785 in 1919. In that year there were 2,366 farms free from mortgage, while 604 reported mortgages.
RAILROADS AND HIGHWAYS
The central part of Johnston County, in a line running north and south, is traversed by the main line of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, which runs from New York to Jacksonville. There are two local freights that stop at every station on this road every day, one running north, and the other south. There are several through freights that stop only in Selma. In addition to this, there are six local passenger trains and four through trains on this road daily. The best transportation facilities in the county are furnished by this road.
The Southern Railway runs in an easterly-westerly direction from Goldsboro to Asheville. This road affords a good means for passenger and freight transportation, and stops at every town through which it runs in the county.
The principal highways in Johnston are the National and the Central. These roads are in excellent condition, being maintained by the State Highway Commission. Nearly all the main thoroughfares are also in good condition. Both the Central and the National Highways are soon to be paved.
Every town has a telephone system, and several telegraph offices.
OPPORTUNITIES
As has been stated above, Johnston County is primarily an agricultural county. There are very few manufacturing concerns in comparison to the great amount of farming. The greatest individual industry other than farming in the county is that of lumber. There are 98 rough lumber mills, and 12 dressing and planing mills. There are 25 garages and repair shops, and 14 miscellaneous industries, such as chemical and oil industries.
SIZE AND POPULATION
Johnston County is the eighth largest county in the State, with a total area of over half a million acres, nearly three-fourths of which was in farms according to the last census. This area represents exactly 807 square miles. Robeson, the largest county in the State, has an area of 990 square miles.
The increase in population during the last ten years has been very noticeable, amounting to 7,597, with over three-fourths of the increase white.
During this ten-year period the negro ratio of population decreased exactly one per cent. The increase of negro farm operators was ​smaller than in any county in the combination cotton and tobacco belt. Eighty-one per cent of the farms of Johnston are cultivated by white farmers. This is the highest rate to be found in the eastern half of North Carolina except Dare and Carteret down on the coast. The small increase in negro population can be attributed to the low negro population ratio of the county, and to a comparatively low migration of negroes into Johnston from other counties during the period.
A FARMING PEOPLE
While over half the counties of the State have more people living on farms than we have, over four-fifths of our people live in the rural districts. In this respect we are above the State average by more than ten per cent. In Johnston nearly five out of every six people live in the open country. In North Carolina seven out of every ten are country dwellers. Three counties have no incorporated towns. We are almost wholly an agricultural people, digging our living out of the soil, contributing enormous totals of agricultural wealth yearly, and building up a sturdy race amongst wholesome surroundings. The county is, as a result, densely populated, an average of more than fifty country people living on every square mile of our territory, or one person on every 13 acres for the entire county. We have no large towns and the population is well scattered over the county.
WEALTH
Farm property in Johnston in 1920 had a census value of $40,740,814, which includes farm buildings, implements, machinery and live stock. Not all this property was on the tax books, but the great bulk of our taxable wealth consists of farm properties.
In 1921 our wealth on the tax books amounted to $862 per capita while the per capita wealth of the State was $1,007. Johnston ranks below the State average because she is almost entirely agricultural, with few big manufacturing plants to swell the tax list. Farm property is seldom listed at what it will actually bring on the market. Our real wealth per person is somewhat above $862.
FARM WEALTH
We had a great increase in farm wealth from 1910 to 1920, the total increase amounting to 197.5 per cent. The soils of the county are being so treated as to gain in richness, and as a result land values are increasing yearly. Our rapidly growing population means rapidly increasing land values. Population growth is the greatest factor in land value increase. Another primary factor is the ability of the soil to produce wealth. We ranked third in this State in the production of agricultural wealth, which includes crops and live stock, with $20,647,000. Of the 3,000 counties in the United States, Johnston ranks among the 50 highest in the production of crop values. The production of agricultural wealth per farm in the county was nearly three thousand dollars, which is exceedingly high, and very gratifying. It was nearly a thousand dollars higher than the State average. We need more good farmers and more industries. For further information
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REGISTER OF DEEDS
SMITHFIELD, N. C.