Kinston tourist information
The City of Kinston, North Carolina was established in 1740 by William Herritage, a prominent planter and jurist in the area. Originally, the town was known as "Kingston", and in 1750 it became the home of Richard Caswell, a Maryland native who later became the first elected governor of North Carolina.
Royal Governor Arthur Dobbs granted the official authorization to establish the town in 1762. Its first trustees were Richard Caswell, Frances McLewean, Simon Bright Jr., John Shine and David Gordon. These men laid out the town, naming the first streets after themselves. King George III and Queen Charlotte also garnered streets named after them. In 1784, in the wake of the American Revolution, zealous patriots in town dropped the "g" from its name, and it became simply Kinston. Lenoir County, of which Kinston is the County seat, was named for Revolutionary General William Lenoir. Lenoir County was carved from Dobbs County in 1791. Before that time, it was part of Bath County -- which enveloped a huge portion of land in Eastern North Carolina. Kinston also boasts one of the few ironclad ships used in the Civil War. Confederate troops scuttled the CSS Ram Neuse in the Neuse River 1865 to prevent it from falling into Union hands. The boat was recovered from the bottom of the Neuse River in 1963 and is now on display at the Richard Caswell Historical Site on Highway 70.
On the northeast corner of King and Queen streets sits the Lenoir County courthouse. It's the fourth courthouse built here. The first, a wooden building constructed in 1792, burned. Its replacement, a brick building erected in 1845 was set on fire by the Clerk of Court in 1878. That fire destroyed most of the County's records -- except for a few that were saved and moved to a nearby warehouse. But the determined clerk managed to burn those remaining records a few nights later. He was convicted and sent to prison -- but the County's records were gone. The third courthouse was torn down in 1938 and replaced with a modern four story concrete building. It was finished in 1940 and remains standing today.
Kinston aerial map
Please click on any icon on the Kinston aerial tourist map, to find close by places, offering hotels and tourist information. You can zoom in and zoom out our touristical map as well as switch between satelite and map view of Kinston.
Africa | Asia | Caribbean | Central America | Europe | Middle East | North America | Oceania | South America
