Jones County is the fourth-least populous county in North Carolina. Its county seat is Trenton. There are only three incorporated towns in Jones County: Pollocksville, Trenton, and Maysville.
The area eventually encompassing Jones County was inhabited by Tuscarora Native Americans before the arrival of German and Swiss settlers in the early 1700s. The county was formed in 1779 from the southwestern part of Craven County. It was named for Willie Jones, a planter, slaveholder, Revolutionary leader, and president of the North Carolina Committee of Safety during the war. He opposed state ratification of the United States Constitution and did not attend the Fayetteville Convention, which voted to ratified it. In 1784, the town of Trenton was made the county seat of government.
The rural Low Country county was originally developed for plantations, which were dependent on the labor of enslaved African Americans. The county’s has heavily relied on agriculture (mostly tobacco) and lumber from its nearby forest.
Pollocksville
A quiet, agricultural town, Pollocksville derives its name from Thomas Pollock, a local landowner. Once prosperous for lumber milling, the town still maintains its rich architectural history nestled alongside the natural beauty of the Trent River. Pollocksville is a Bird Sanctuary and welcomes any aviaries. The Town boasts nearby fields of corn, soybean, and cotton, surrounded by the dense pines of the Hofmann Forest to the East, and the Croatan National Forest to the West.
In Pollocksville, you’ll find the Foscue Plantation and the Things From Yesteryear Museum (4187 Ten Mile Fork Rd.).
Maysville
At first, the Maysville area was known as Young’s Cross Roads, named after one of the prominent residents who lived along the river, Mr. John Young. Upon his and his wife Nancy’s death, his children sold their land and the town became known simply as the “Crossroads.”
In the late 1800s, the town took its present name of Maysville from the John D. May Family. Mr. May was instrumental in getting an elementary school established on the Jones County side of the river and he taught at this school. The new school was also used as a place of worship. The school was referred to as May’s School from the very beginning, and as time passed the entire settlement became known as Maysville. Maysville became incorporated as a town on March 9th, 1897.
Maysville was one of the first towns in North Carolina to elect a woman as mayor. In 1925, Mrs. Annie Koonce Jenkins was elected and served six years as the Mayor of Maysville. Today her legacy is still seen by all because she was responsible for planting the large oaks, many of which still line the city streets today.
Next stop… Martin County!
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