Yancey County, North Carolina

Yancey County is a located in the  of. As of, the population is 17,774. Its is. Yancey County is one of the five counties in North Carolina, along with, , , and.

History
Independent and sturdy, , and settlers of the Carolina frontier had crossed the  and settled the  Valley by the mid-1700's.  In the year , one of the early land speculators, , paid for 326,640 acres (1322 km²) of land, a portion of which later became Yancey County, N.C.

In December, 1833, the established a new western county, named Yancey, from sections of  and  Counties. Yancey County was named in honor of one of North Carolina's most distinguished statesmen,, of Caswell County. As a U.S. Congressman (1813-1817) and as speaker of the N.C. Senate (1817-1827), he was instrumental in many accomplishments that benefited the state, including the creation of an education fund that was the beginning of the N.C. Public School System. He was an advocate of correcting the inequality in representation in the General Assembly by the creation of new western counties; but he died on, over five years before the General Assembly created a new county named in his honor. In Yancey's boundaries looms, the highest peak in the Eastern U.S., at 6,684 feet (2037 m) above sea level.

On, "Yellow Jacket" John Bailey conveyed 100 acres (0.4 km²) of land for the county seat. The town was named Burnsville in honor of Captain, who voted for the creation of the new western county when he was serving in the General Assembly. The grateful people named their county seat for Captain Burns, a naval hero in the. A statue of Captain Burns stands on a 40 ton, Mount Airy granite pedestal in the center of the town's public square, which was given the official name of "Bailey Square" by the Yancey County Board of Commissioners on. The statue of Captain Burns was given to the county on, by Walter Francis Burns, a grandson of the sea captain. The inscription reads: Otway Burns - Born in Onslow County, North Carolina, 1777 - Died at Portsmouth, North Carolina, 1850. Sailor - Soldier - Statesman. North Carolina's Foremost Son in the War of 1812-1815 - For Him, This Town Is Named - He Guarded Well Our Seas, Let Our Mountains Honor Him.

Law and government
Yancey County is a member of the regional.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 811 (313 ). 809 km² (312 sq mi) of it is land and 2 km² (1 sq mi) of it (0.21%) is water.

Townships
The county is divided into eleven : Brush Creek, Burnsville, Cane River, Crabtree, Egypt, Green Mountain, Jacks Creek, Pensacola, Price's Creek, Ramseytown, and South Toe.

Adjacent counties

 * - northeast
 * - southeast
 * - southwest
 * - west
 * - northwest

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 17,774 people, 7,472 households, and 5,372 families residing in the county. The was 22/km² (57/sq mi). There were 9,729 housing units at an average density of 12/km² (31/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 97.99%, 0.57% or , 0.34% , 0.13% , 0.41% from , and 0.56% from two or more races. 2.69% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 7,472 households out of which 27.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.20% were living together, 7.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.10% were non-families. 25.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the county the population was spread out with 21.20% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 26.40% from 25 to 44, 27.10% from 45 to 64, and 18.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 95.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,674, and the median income for a family was $35,879. Males had a median income of $26,800 versus $20,885 for females. The for the county was $16,335. About 10.90% of families and 15.80% of the population were below the, including 22.10% of those under age 18 and 16.30% of those age 65 or over.