Pride in Wilson, North Carolina

Few towns can beat Wilson, North Carolina for pride and effort in keeping the place livable. In the beginning, local farmers worked together to form a cohesive community in 1849. Everyone was self-sufficient, growing livestock and crops and drilling their own wells. They named the town after General Louis Dicken Wilson, a Mexican War hero who also served as a state senator.

Growth was slow until the first tobacco warehouse was built in 1890. Then things took off. Within ten years, Wilson became the world's largest bright leaf tobacco market. Although the tobacco industry has changed dramatically, Wilson is still home to one of the largest tobacco brokers. Not far away is a museum called the Tobacco Farm Life Museum. It brings to life the daily existence of tobacco farmers and their families.

It isn’t all tobacco in Wilson

The town continues to grow, acquiring accolades along the way: City of Beautiful Trees, City of Antiques, and even earning the title All-American City twice. They seem to reinvent and rejuvenate themselves over and over again. They are proud of themselves and rightly so. The well-kept water tower seen along I-95 near MP 120 is clear evidence. The town itself is about 5 miles east.

Tobacco to whirligigs

Lucama, home to the whirligig king Vollis Simpson, is a few miles from Wilson. The city is working on a centrally-located two-acre park to highlight the magnificent moveable sculptures. The park, ironically, will be located at the site of a demolished tobacco barn. They make a big deal over Vollis here already: every November thousands of people come here to celebrat the Whirligig Festival.