Wilkes was formed in 1777 from Surry and the District of Washington. The act was to become effective February 15, 1778. It was named in honor of John Wilkes who was a violent opponent of the Tory party in England. He was not allowed to take his seat in Parliament to which he had been elected. The Americans imagined that he was suffering in the cause of liberty and named this county in his honor. It is in the northwestern section of the State and is bounded by Yadkin, Iredell, Alexander, Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany and Surry counties.
In 1795 an act was passed naming new commissioners to select a site for the erection of a courthouse, pillory and stocks. It also named commissioners to purchase fifty acres of land on which to lay out a town and to erect public buildings. By 1801 Wilkesborough had been laid out at the courthouse. In 1823 an act was passed authorizing a new courthouse to be erected on the public square in Wilkesboro. Wilkesboro is the county seat.
- Agriculture
- Archeology
- Arts
- Biography
- Wilkes County, North Carolina Political Graveyard
- Eng and Chang Bunker
- Robert Carlyle Byrd
- Robert C. Byrd
- Richard Nathaniel Hackett
- Montford Stokes
- Tyre York
- Brigadier General James B. Gordon
- Brigadier General James B. Gordon
- Christopher Gist
- The Legend of Tom Dooley (Dula)
- Tom Dula Story
- Tom Dula
- Judge Johnson Jay Hayes
- Biography of James Patton
- North Carolina WPA Life Histories
- Eng and Chang Bunker Siamese Twins
- Obituary of Nathaniel Vannoy 1835
- Captain Samuel Johnson by Larry Cockerham New
- Memoirs of Martha Caudill Brown Contributed by Dan Brown. New
- E-Books
- Business
- Historical
- Modern
- Cemeteries
- North Carolina Cemetery Statute
- Wilkes County Political Graveyard
- Deep Ford Hill Cemetery link from Brodrick Shepherd
- Partial Listing of the Reddies River Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery link from Brodrick Shepherd
- Rock Creek Baptist Church Cemetery by Heather Sexton
- Shepherd (D. Franklin) Cemetery link from Brodrick Shepherd
- Vannoy (Elder James) Cemetery Link from Brodrick Shepherd
- Census
- The1790 Wilkes County, NC Census
- Churches And Religion
- First Baptist Church of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
- Wilkesboro, NC Church List
- North Wilkesboro, NC Church List
- Atonement Evangelical Lutheran Church Wilkesboro, NC
- Wilkesboro Community Churches
- Cricket Baptist Church
- Minutes of the 1869 Session of the Primitive Baptist Association
- Statistical Table of the Primitive Baptist Association
- Minutes of the Mountain District Baptist Association - 1800
- Minutes of the 1887 Session of the Roaring River Primitive Baptist Association
- History of the Blue Ridge Baptist Association
- Demographics
- Education
- Environment
- Festivals and Fairs
- Genealogy
- Wilkes County Genealogical Society
- Faye Moran's Wilkes County Page
- Wilkes County NCGenWeb
- Wilkes County, NC Genforum
- Jason Duncan's Home Page (Adams, Atwood, Blackburn, Bauguess, Billings, Duncan, Mitchell, Williams and others)
- Bauguess Family of Wilkes County
- Smoot Family - Wilkes County, NC
- The Gentry Page
- Ashe Co., Wilkes Co., and Grayson Co., VA Ancestors
- Marty Grant's Genealogy
- Ussery-Usery-Usry-Ursery-Essary Genealogy
- William G. Hicks, Jr. Homepage
- Boone Ancestors and Descendants
- Combs Family - Wilkes County
- Nathaniel Vannoy
- Geography and Geology
- Government
- Historic Places
- History Links
- General Links
- Military
- Capture and Rescue of Benjamin Cleveland (1780)
- Over Mountain Men Victory Trail
- The North Carolina Regiment in the Cherokee Removal of 1838 Courtesy of Bill Navey. (Wilkes County's representation is in Company J)
- North Carolina Civil War Page
- Wilkes County, North Carolina Official Records for the Civil War Compiled and submitted by Len Moore
- 52nd NC Infantry, C.S.A.
- 54th North Carolina Infantry, C.S.A
- Fort Hamby, Wilkes County, North Carolina March-May 1865
- World War I Information
- Newspapers
- Photographs
- Tax Lists
- The 1787 Wilkes County, NC Tax List
- The 1797 Wilkes County Tax List from Faye Moran and friends.
- Transportation
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Last update March 13, 2006