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History · Winton

15% of Winton’s homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 140 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1880.

3on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Winton’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Winton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Winton Historic District takes in 139 historic buildings.Boom and bustPeaked at 956 in 2000; 629 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19083 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 2000. Watch Winton change.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

3 listings protect 141 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
141
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Gray Gables
Gray GablesBrown, C. S., School AuditoriumWinton Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
Colonial Revival1
Gray GablesQueen Anne
All 3 listings
Brown, C. S., School AuditoriumDistrict · listed 1985Winton Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2020

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Winton, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 956

Peaked at 956 in 2000; 629 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Winton’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Winton on the map, 1908 to 2000

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Winton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Winton on the 1908 USGS mapWinton on the 1982 USGS mapWinton on the 2000 USGS map1908Winton sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Winton.

The story

How Winton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Winton.

Read it all →

The area eventually comprising the town of Winton was proximate to a community of Meherrin people. The area was first named Cotton's Ferry in homage to Alexander Cotton, a settler who operated a ferry in the 1740s. Hertford County was formed effective 1760. The county's first session of court was held at Cotton's Ferry. Benjamin Wynns, who had since acquired Cotton's property, donated 150 acres to the county for the creation of a town in the mid-1760s. In 1766 the town of Winton—originally styled Wynnton after the erstwhile landowner—was established as Hertford's seat of government and a courthouse was subsequently constructed. The original spelling of the name was used into the 1800s. The town's economy in its early years relied primarily upon agriculture. In 1830 the original courthouse was burned.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Winton, 1795 to 2000

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1795Post officeThe Winton post office opens
  3. 19th century
  4. 1863In the archive"Building used as Guardhouse for Rebel Prisoners, Winton, N. Carolina", 07/28/1863
  5. 1890Born hereHoyt Patrick Taylor is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1906In the archiveHertford County commissioners, 1906
  8. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1932Born hereThomas C. Parramore is born here
  10. 1932Born hereDudley Flood is born here
  11. 1935Born hereSherman Jones is born here
  12. 21st century
  13. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 956
By decade

Winton, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s2 items
"Building used as Guardhouse for Rebel Prisoners, Winton, N. Carolina", 07/28/18631863"Building used as Guardhouse for Rebel Prisoners, Win…Ruins of1863Ruins of
1900s3 items
Hertford County commissioners, 19061906Hertford County commissioners, 1906Old Hertford County Courthouse1906Old Hertford County CourthouseWest Chowan Baptist Messenger, Volume 1 - Issue 41906West Chowan Baptist Messenger, Volume 1 - Issue 4Book
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Winton, North Carolina 042020Winton, North Carolina 04Winton, North Carolina 032020Winton, North Carolina 03Winton, North Carolina 022020Winton, North Carolina 02Winton, North Carolina 012020Winton, North Carolina 01NCMap-doton-Winton2004NCMap-doton-Winton
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

"Building used as Guardhouse for Rebel Prisoners, Winton, N. Carolina", 07/28/1863
Retake this view"Building used as Guardhouse for Rebel Prisoners, Winton, N. Carolina", 07/28/1863, 1863

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Winton’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

4 famous people were born in Winton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
H
Hoyt Patrick TaylorNorth Carolina politician; Silver Star and Purp… · b. 1890
Sherman JonesAmerican politician and baseball player · b. 1935
T
Thomas C. ParramoreAmerican historian · b. 1932
D
Dudley FloodAmerican educator · b. 1932
Help out

Finish Winton’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view"Building used as Guardhouse for Rebel …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Winton’s history

What is on the National Register in Winton?

Three places: the Gray Gables (listed 1982), the Brown, C. S., School Auditorium (1985) and the Winton Historic District (2020).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (10), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.