History

In 1860, Warren County was the most prosperous county in North Carolina (NC) (www.warrenton-nc.com). This fact stands in sharp contrast to the situation that exists in Warren County today. Indeed, poverty has been a periodic problem in the area since after the end of the Civil War.

Warren County came into existence when strong patriotic sentiment demanded the former county of Bute, named after the former British prime minister, change its name and divide into two counties, Warren to the north and Franklin to the south. The name Warren came from an honored Boston doctor who died at the battle of Bunker Hill (www.warrenton-nc.com). After the revolution, county residents took advantage of ample supplies of fertile earth and slave labor. The community rapidly grew to a flourishing plantation based economy. Wealthy people in the community worked hard to continue the county's prosperity and wealthy image. In the words of one article, "Warren worked up a high, rich polish" (Sharpe, B. & Zarr, S.B., 1962).

Tobacco and cotton were the moneymaking crops in antebellum Warren County, but with all the wealth, county residents were also able to develop more high-end pursuits such as horse racing and breeding. Warren County was the "undisputed center of this sport" in the old South (Sharpe, B. & Zarr, S.B., 1962). There were also three major hot springs resorts that attracted the aristocracy from the coast when the weather became unbearable there. These were the Jones White Sulphur Springs Hotel, the Shocco Springs Hotel, and Panacea Springs. All hotels boasted elegant dinners and evenings with dancing and other leisurely pursuits. The springs reached their popular peak from around 1830 - 1850 (Sharpe, B. & Zarr, S.B., 1962). Warrenton was an educational center as well. The Warrenton Male and Female Academies attracted students from all over the state (Lefler & Newsome, 1973). These schools were yet another form of Warren County's prosperity that diminished after the civil war.

Warren County had its share of prominent people, both before and after the War Between the States. Marcus George, an actor and scholar, was principal of the Warrenton Academy (Lefler & Newsome, 1973). Nathaniel Macon, one of the nation's most effective congressmen, came from the county (www.warrenton-nc.com). Jacob Holt and others came to the county with plans for elegant homes, many of which stand today. Until very recently, the county boasted the grave of Annie Carter Lee, daughter of General Robert E. Lee, who died in Warrenton during the Civil War. She had been staying there to escape the fighting.

More recently, the county has produced prominent leaders such as Floyd McKissick and Congresswoman Clayton. McKissick worked with the civil rights movement in the 1960's and was the leader behind the effort to create Soul City, a new town in the county near Warrenton designed to attract African American people and businesses. Due to funding problems, the project never got off the ground (Omang, J., 1979). Congresswoman Clayton represents North Carolina in the United States Congress and has made her vocal presence known in the county where she grew up .

But the era of McKissick and Congresswoman Clayton differs greatly from the Reconstruction era that hit Warren County hard. While the county did not witness much fighting during the civil war, "change and deterioration stole the antebellum splendor" (Sharpe, B. & Zarr, S.B., 1962). The county had to develop a new economy since the plantation-slave system was no longer feasible. This was a time when the county did elect its first African American government representatives. Most histories of Warrenton and the county focus on its antebellum prosperity, calling Warrenton one of a few lingering "small, exquisite ante-bellum Southern towns" that are now an "endangered species" (www.warrenton-nc.com). Yet, despite the African-American majority, there is little documentation of the Black experience in Warrenton and the county.

In contrast to the Reconstruction era, qualitative data from elderly Warren County citizens, indicate that the 1950s were a time of relative prosperity. People could buy the things they needed like clothes, shoes, and hardware items in downtown Warrenton. Although the community was predominately African-American, it prospered despite legalized discrimination practices. However, the seniors noted that since that time, Warrenton and Warren County have declined and become isolated from the southern economic boom, noting that the most prominent business as they see it is funeral homes.

The county made the national news in the early 1980s when local residents and others protested the depositing of PCB contaminated soil in a landfill four miles south of Warrenton. Citizens vehemently opposed the landfill, getting at least 350 people arrested or taken into custody during the protests (Carolinians See Governor, 1982). The people felt that the county was chosen because it was poor, rural, and African American, like most other counties in the southeast that were chosen for similar toxic waste disposal sites (Tread Softly, 1984). The landfill was created, however, at governor Jim Hunt's legislative hand. Warren County residents were not the only people to acknowledge the racial and economic underpinnings of the landfill's location in the county. A U.S. General Accounting Office report about four offsite hazardous waste landfills in the southeastern region of the country stated, "Southeastern US Blacks make up the majority of the population in three of the four communities where landfills are located. At least 26% of the population in all four communities have income below the poverty level and most of this population is Black" (US General Accounting Office, 1983).

The landfill is not the only frustration the county has had to endure. Several opportunities for economic expansion have been dangled just within the county's reach and then snapped away. Floyd McKissick's Soul City was one dream of economic prosperity that never came to fruition. Claims of corruption, along with frustrating government regulations on fund distribution kept the plan from succeeding. As McKissick stated, "The villains in the Soul City story… are Washington bureaucrats. Government officials would approve road construction funds along before they approved the design…. They would require a shopping center before freeing housing money and then hold the housing funds because the center was mostly unoccupied" (Omang, J., 1979). More recently, CVS pharmacy had planned to build a large distribution plant in the area, but at the last minute decided to place it in a neighboring county. Many Warren County residents felt betrayed and realized that yet another opportunity for jobs had disappeared.

Today, Warren County, like many other rural, Southern communities is facing the challenge of surviving in the new Southern economy. Urban areas are developing economically and expanding their populations at an unprecedented rate, while rural areas are losing population and jobs. Textile areas in rural areas are closing, leaving many American residents out of work as companies find cheaper labor abroad. Warren County is no exception. Traditional development strategies, coupled with low quality education are barriers to rural areas developing in a way commensurate with their urban neighbors. The decline of the agricultural industry also devastated rural areas as farmers, often low income African-American farmers like those who live in Warren County, are forced out of farming. Since 1980, there have been budget cuts in federal programs for rural economic development, and per capita income for these areas are significantly lower than the national average (The Warren Plan, 1989).

In addition, infrastructure developments in the area have directed traffic away from Warren County. Interstates 85 and 95 run along either side of Warrenton. Furthermore, Highway 158 bypass provided a way to circumvent downtown Warrenton. There became little reason to drive through this part of the county. Consequently, without economic development, the county has few funds to improve itself and some residents in focus group discussion noted that old prejudices and power relationships keep the resources that are in the county from being used to benefit all residents.

In sum, Warren County is an economically disadvantaged area subject to both environmental and social injustice. However, as many service providers and community members noted, one of the strongest things about Warren County is its people, so perhaps organization of the people can bring about positive change.

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