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Engaging North Carolina

Davidson County

Quick Facts

Students: 309
Applicants: 257
Alumni: 1151
Park Scholars: 1
Goodnight Scholars: 4
Caldwell Fellows: 3

Davidson County, established Dec. 9, 1822, is located in the state’s Piedmont, about 100 miles west of Raleigh. The county seat is Lexington, which is known as the “Barbecue Capital of North Carolina.” Thomasville, located in the northeastern corner of the county, is a traditional base for the state’s well-known furniture industry, particularly chairs and cabinets. The county is part of the Winston-Salem-Greensboro-High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Davidson County has a population of 165,466 and a total employment of 43,555 (26.3%).

The county’s most profitable agricultural product is poultry/eggs, while the largest product by acreage is forage land for grain production.

The type of livestock produced most by total number is meat-type chickens. The largest manufacturer is Atrium Windows and Doors, the county’s second-largest employer, which manufactures vinyl windows and patio doors.

Davidson County Community College, which opened in 1958, serves the area as part of the 58-school North Carolina Community College System.

 

NC State is Here

Racing in the Piedmont

NASCAR racing was born in the North Carolina foothills and flourished into a $6 billion industry. It still has a strong presence in the Piedmont. One of the biggest names in the sport is Richard Childress Racing, which is based in the Davidson County town of Welcome.

RCR Enterprises has three major drivers, and they turn to NC State engineers and business majors to keep the company moving with the fastest cars in the sport. Vice president for partner and marketing communication Jeremy Burleson is a 2002 Poole College of Management graduate, while two of the driver’s crew chiefs are College of Engineering graduates.

(Read more about NC State’s NASCAR and racing connections and the role engineering plays in the sport.)

Pride of the Pack

The State’s First Football All-American

Tackle John “Gus” Ripple of Lexington, N.C.

John “Gus” Ripple grew up on the rough side of the railroad tracks in Lexington, the oldest son of a single mother. He came to Raleigh right after the school was renamed the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering to play basketball, a game he knew well, and football, a game he never played in high school.

Not long after arriving, he began to make an impression on the football coaching staff. By his sophomore season, he was a starting tackle on the football team and earned a second-team spot on Walter Camp’s All-American team, the first player from any North Carolina college to do so. A husky member of the defensive line, Ripple helped coach Bill Fetzer’s team win a then-school-record seven games in each of his final two seasons.

He also played basketball for four seasons, helping NC State win state titles in 1917-18 and 1918-19 and serving as team captain in 1920-21. He spent a career in the textiles industry, working for manufacturers of sheets and towels. The football program has an endowed scholarship for an offensive lineman in his memory. (Read more about John Ripple.)

In the Hot Lights of Hollywood

Actress Jill Wagner was born in Winston-Salem, but lived near Wallburg where she was raised by her single father and grandmother. After earning a degree in business administration from NC State in 2001, she struck out for Hollywood to begin a career in modeling and movies.

She’s appeared in Teen Wolf, Stargate: Atlantis, Splinter, Wipeout (TV series) and Home & Family (TV series).

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