Winton, North Carolina

Winton is a town and the county seat of Hertford County, North Carolina, United States. It is governed by the Town Council which consists of a Mayor and five Council members. The population was 769 at the 2010 census.

History
Winton was established and has been the county seat of Hertford County since 1766.

On September 19, 1862, Union soldiers under Colonel Rush C. Hawkins sacked and burned the town.

The earliest buildings in the Winton Historic District reflect the Italianate, Queen Anne, and Gothic Revival styles of the mid-to-late ninetineth century.

In 1924, Winton was connected south to Ahoskie by the Winton-Ahoskie Highway, now US Highway 13, and a steel highway bridge was built across the Chowan River at Winton in 1925, the first in the county to cross the river.

The C. S. Brown School Auditorium, Gray Gables, and King Parker House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.8 sqmi, all land.

2020 census
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 629 people, 291 households, and 192 families residing in the town.

2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 956 people, 373 households, and 252 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,180.6 PD/sqmi. There were 385 housing units at an average density of 475.4 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 67.99% African American, 27.62% White, 2.41% Native American, 0.84% from other races, 0.63% Asian, and 0.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.78% of the population.

There were 373 households, out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.9% were married couples living together, 29.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.8% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $19,706, and the median income for a family was $21,838. Males had a median income of $21,875 compared to $17,059 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,049. About 19.3% of families and 20.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.7% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

Winton and the surrounding area is the home of the Meherrin Indian Tribe. This state-recognized tribe has more than 900 members.

Government and infrastructure
Rivers Correctional Institution, a private prison operated by the GEO Group which operates under contract from the Federal Bureau of Prisons and houses many felons who committed crimes in Washington, DC, is 1 mi from Winton.

Education
The Hertford County Public Schools system serves students in the area, many of whom attend Hertford County High School in Ahoskie. C. S. Brown High School STEM, and The Alternative Learning Program are located in Winton.

Notable people

 * Sherman Jones, Major League Baseball player and Kansas politician
 * Thad Eure Politician who holds the record for longest tenure as an elected official in the United States, serving as North Carolina Secretary of State from 1936 to 1989.