Welcome to Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina

Caswell County courthouse in Yanceyville; completed in 1861.

Grammy and Grandad will spend their mission in Yanceyville, so I thought we should know a little bit about that thriving metropolis and the surrounding area.

• The town has a total area of 4.7 miles (approximately twice the size of Blanding, but per the 2,000 census there are about 1,000 less people living in Yanceyville than in Blanding).
• Read here about the history of the town. It was a hotbed during reconstruction and was a stronghold of the Ku Klux Klan

Old Caswell County jail in Yanceyville.

• Interesting books about Caswell County can be found here.
• The Caswell County Training School (renamed the Caswell County High School) was started here by African Americans who wanted to establish equal educational opportunities for their children. It was a fully accredited high school.

Yancey House built around 1810.

• Historic walking guide of Yanceyville (you know I'll be doing this tour!).
• Slightly over half of the population, 50.3%, is African American (the percentage  is significantly higher than the state average). 

Azariah's Olde Storehouse built in 1817 - oldest commercial building in Yanceyville.

• 67% of the population over 25 years of age has graduated from high school, but only 6% have graduated from college.
• Yanceyville is only about 30 minutes from both Duke and North Carolina University.
• In 2009, over half of the population lived in poverty.
• 51% of the population voted for Obama while 48% voted for McCain.
• Only 28% of the population considers themselves affiliated with a religious congregation (as compared to 50.2% for the U.S. overall). By far the majority of those are Baptists, followed by Methodists (although the Methodists are more active in church attendance). Looks like there's lots of work for Mom & Dad to do!

Hyco Lake in Caswell County