Jones County, North Carolina

 On April 6, I took a day trip to Jones County. It was my first county visit in over a year, and it felt great to get back into the North Carolina travel groove! 

 Jones County is in eastern North Carolina, a rural county with the fourth-least county population in the state. The county has three incorporated towns. Trenton, the county seat, is one of those towns. Just 238 residents lived there in the 2020 census. It's a cute little town, though! I stopped to take a few photos of the downtown area, including the Jones County Courthouse. Jones County is an agricultural area; most of its land is farming (and swampland).  Only 8 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, Jones County doesn't border the ocean, but the Trent River and the White Oak River run through it. I found a little bit of water during my Jones County travels, enjoying a surprise stop at the lovely Brock Mill Pond.

I enjoyed a stop in Maysville, the largest town in Jones County. One of the highlights of my day was finding the Maysville Public Library. It's closed on Saturdays, but  I found a geocache in the landscaping!  

 A little bit of Jones County history: the area was inhabited by Native Americans (members of the Tuscarora tribe) before European (German and Swiss) settlers arrived. Jones County was named for Willie Jones, a planter from Halifax County, North Carolina. (Jones Street in Raleigh is also named for him.) Jones County was formed in 1779 from part of neighboring Craven County.

On a personal note, I've driven through Jones County a number of times on my way to visit family in Emerald Isle. It was fun to slow down and explore the county, and to learn more about the area!

The rest of my Jones County photos have been uploaded to Flickr, and you can find them here.