Erwin, North Carolina

Erwin is a town that is located in the eastern part of Harnett County, North Carolina, United States, located approximately from Dunn and approximately from Fayetteville. The city is a part of the Dunn, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is additionally a part of the greater Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC CSA, according to the United States Census Bureau. Currently, the city has a population of 5,270 as of the 2020 census. Its current mayor is Randy Baker, who has been the mayor since being elected on May 17, 2022.

History

Prior to Erwin, there was a colonial-era settlement in the area known as "Averasboro". The Battle of Averasborough was fought nearby during the American Civil War. In 1902, the Duke family built the Erwin Cotton Mill, which closed on December 1, 2000, due to the North American Free Trade Agreement increasing the labor costs of the mill workers, leaving Swift Textiles to relocate the mill's operations to Mexico. The new town was named "Duke" after the founding shareholders. In 1925, the name was changed to "Erwin" because of the formation of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Oak Grove, Averasboro Battlefield Historic District, and Downtown Erwin are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town of Erwin has a total area of , of which , or 0.91%, are water. The Cape Fear River forms part of the western border of the town. Juniper Creek, a tributary to the Cape Fear River, enters in Erwin.

Transportation

By road

: The highway enters the city from the northwest, and continues into Dunn, North Carolina, where it meets with , a major north–south highway across the East Coast.

: This short highway enters the city from the south, and its northern terminus is to the north of the city, where it intersects with .

: This highway also enters the city from the south, and it meets with through the center of Erwin, known as 13th Street. The highway, with , ends at in the northern part of the city.

By air

Harnett Regional Jetport is the only airport in the city, which is 10 miles near Buies Creek, NC. The airport currently does not support any airlines yet.

RDU Airport: Although not in the city, the airport serves the Triangle area, which includes Erwin.

By transit

There are no public transportation services that currently service the city.

Carpool services, such as Uber or Lyft are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to and from the city.

Education

Higher education

Campbell University

Central Carolina Community College

Public school

High school

Triton High School (North Carolina)

Middle school

Coats-Erwin Middle

Elementary school

Erwin Elementary: Merged with Gentry to form the new Erwin Elementary, which opened on April 18, 2022.

Demographics

2020 census

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

|+Erwin racial composition

!scope="col"| Race

!scope="col"| Number

!scope="col"| Percentage

!scope="row"| White (non-Hispanic)

| 2,900

| 63.85%

!scope="row"| Black or African American (non-Hispanic)

| 794

| 17.48%

!scope="row"| Native American

| 28

| 0.62%

!scope="row"| Asian

| 9

| 0.2%

!scope="row"| Pacific Islander

| 6

| 0.13%

!scope="row"| Other/Mixed

| 193

| 4.25%

!scope="row"| Hispanic or Latino

| 612

| 13.47%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 4,542 people, 1,890 households, and 1,254 families residing in the town.

2000 census

As of the census However, photographs of the Erwin water tower revealed the new tower to be a water spheroid, not an actual water sphere (pictured).