In Your Hometown: A Look at Kinston's Past and Future

It's a city situated along the banks of the Neuse river rich in war tales. Kinston embraces its historic heritage and uses those stories to help bring pride to the city today. Nine on your side takes a look back at the city's roots and what's next for the All-America city.

Before settlers even set up camp in our state, Kinston was already on the map.

"The first time Kinston or the Neuse River was cited in written history was in 1585," said Adrian King, Executive Director of PRIDE of Kinston.

Two English captains were commissioned by Sir Walter Raleigh to explore this part of the new world; it would eventually become Kingston, named for King George III of England. But the town dropped the letter "g" after the Revolutionary War in 1784.

"We had the first elected governor of North Carolina came from Kinston. His name was Richard Caswell," King said.

Caswell even brought the state capital to the city for a while.

"It was the state capital of North Carolina during a period of time, during the colonial era, and it housed the state records to keep them safe whenever Governor Caswell felt that they would not be safe in New Bern because it was too close to the waterway," said Jan Barwick, Director of Visit Kinston.

Kinston served as the site of the state's second largest battle during the Civil War, the Battle of Kinston. The city is home to the CSS Neuse, a Confederate gunboat, and its replica, along with artifacts from the ship.

Kinston enjoyed decades of prominence as the tobacco and cotton industries grew but went through tough times during the 1960's when companies moved textiles overseas.

Now, folks in Kinston will tell you it's a city on the rise, full of new economic promises and opportunities.

"We’ve done a lot to promote Kinston as a destination and it's paying off. People are coming here, they're moving here to live; they're moving here to do business," said King.

"We have two major industries that are coming to town at a time when even the economy is still kinda slow," said Kinston Mayor BJ Murphy.

Those industries, Spirit Aerosystems and Sanderson Farms, will bring more than a thousand jobs to the area. They're part of the world's first global transpark, a major manufacturing and transportation center.

And projects are underway to revitalize the downtown; small businesses are moving in and finding success, like Mother Earth Brewing.

"The people here are so great. Everybody's been so supportive and we're just a real tight-knit community that really wants to help all the small business owners really want to help each other out," said Trent Mooring, President of Mother Earth Brewing.

In fact, Kinston’s efforts garnered national attention when it was named one of only 10 All-American cities in 2009.

"We're a community that's pulling together, working together as evidenced by our All-America city status now, we're proud of that," said Barwick.

Folks looking for fun in Kinston can look no further than America’s favorite past time, baseball is big here.

"We are one of the smallest towns in the country with a professional baseball team and we're really happy to have them. We've got wonderful Grainger Stadium so the families can enjoy," Murphy said.

"That is just a fun place to be; that's home, that's home to me.”

It’s a small city with a big history and a bright future in store and more to share.

"We always have stories to tell here."