Ayden is a town in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,977 at the 2020 census. The town is a part of the Greenville Metropolitan Area of North Carolina's Inner Banks region.

Ayden has a total area of 3.84 square miles, all of which is land.

History

In 1891, William Henry Harris asked the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad to build a railroad depot on a portion of his farm in order to create a village. A parcel of land was divided into residential lots surrounding the depot in "Harristown", with Harris owning every other lot. Within the next several years, lots were sold and homes built. Businesses began to open up to support the new residents, and on February 3, 1891, the town was incorporated as "Ayden." Within a few years, the Carolina Christian College and the Free Will Baptist Seminary were established. By 1919, Ayden had full-time electricity supplied by the Ayden municipal light plant. In 1922, the Mutual Building and Loan Association of Ayden was organized to help families obtain mortgages to build homes in Ayden.

Demographics

2020 census

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"

|+Ayden racial composition

96.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 3.4% lived in rural areas.

There were 2,206 households in Ayden, of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 32.1% were married-couple households, 16.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 44.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Education

Education in Ayden is administered by the Pitt County Schools System. The three schools located in Ayden include Ayden Elementary School, Ayden Middle School and Ayden-Grifton High School. Higher education is provided by Pitt Community College, located between Ayden and Greenville. East Carolina University is located in downtown Greenville.

Local events

The Ayden Collard Festival is held the week immediately following Labor Day in September. The annual event started in 1975 and includes a Collard Queen contest which has been renamed as the Miss Ayden contest, sporting events, rides, live music, food, and a parade.

Notable people

  • Eric Blount, gridiron football player
  • Demetrius Edwards "Oak Tree", boxer and kickboxer
  • Loonis McGlohon, jazz musician
  • Timothy Reeder, physician and politician in the North Carolina House of Representatives

References

  • Official Ayden, NC website