 |
8,342
people lived in Watauga County in 1950, with 2973
of those people living within the Boone Township |
|
Average
population density was 57.3 persons per square mile. |
|
The males outnumbered the females in Watauga
by 18 with a total of 9162 males to 9180 females.
| Age
Group |
#
Males in 1950 |
#
Females in 1950 |
| 0-4 |
1110 |
1108 |
| 5-9 |
996
|
1010
|
|
10-14 |
960 |
922 |
| 15-19 |
935 |
1082 |
| 20-24 |
885 |
874 |
| 75+ |
218 |
196 |
|
|
12.1%
of Watauga's population fell in the 0-4 age group,
32.3% in the 5-19 group, 23% in the 20-34 group, 26.1%
in the 35-64 group and 6.5 % fell in the retired or
over 65 group. |
|
1042
people lived in Blowing Rock in 1950, decreasing to
982 residents in 1959. |
|
In
1959, Watauga County ranked 71st in North Carolina
per capita income.
1959 Family Income Distribution For Watauga County:
816 or 19.7% of families earned under $1000.
899 or 21.7% earned $1000-$1999.
719 or 17.4% earned $2000-$2999.
593 or 14.3% earned $3000-$3999.
319 or 7.7% earned $4000-$4999.
264 or 6.3% earned $5000-$5999.
195 or 4.7% earned $6000-$6999.
201 or 4.9% earned $7000-$7999.
138 or 3.3% earned $10,000 and over.
|
|
The
median family income in Watauga at the time was $2497,
compared to the rest of the state's median family
income, which was $4843, and the country's median
income figured to be $6166. |
|
In 1954 Boone had 57.3% of all retail establishments
and 76.3% of all retail sales in Watauga County, while
Boone lost five establishments in 1958, while 52 new
businesses opened in county. |
|
In
1954, 150 establishments in Watauga County earned
$8,936,000 in yearly sales, had payrolls equaling
$610,000, and employed 329 people. |
|
Also
in 1954, 86 establishments in the Town of Boone, earned
$6,824,000 in yearly sales, had payrolls equaling
$498,000, and employed 276 people. |
|
Ten
wholesale establishments in Watauga County in 1954
earned $2,642,000 in yearly sales, had payrolls equaling
$105,000, and employed 54 people. |
|
In 1950, there were 2639 farms in Watauga County,
totaling 163,426 acres, making up 79.8% of the county. |
|
In
1959, there were 1940 farms with an average size of
63.4 acres. Approximately 75% of those farms were
less than 100 acres in size. |
|
In
1950, 2032 of the 2639 farmhouses had electricity,
with only 211 having telephones. |
|
|
|
In
1950, the sauerkraut factory used several tons of
cabbage but employed few, while a hosiery mill employed
a few men and several women. |
|
|
|
Milk
products were collected by a company for a plant in
Sugar Grove, transporting the milk by motortruck to
North Wilkesboro. |
|
|
|
Tobacco
warehouses were also becoming plentiful. |
|
|
|
In 1958, there were 2,979,000 board feet of timber
harvested at a value of $148,950. There were 38 sawmills
employing 142 workers. Between 1944 and 1958, there
were ten forest fires consuming 113 acres of forest. |
|
In September of 1950, radio station WATA began broadcasting. |
