Wake Forest, North Carolina | |
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Town | |
Location in Wake County and the state of North Carolina. |
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Coordinates: 35°58′24″N 78°31′8″W / 35.97333°N 78.51889°WCoordinates: 35°58′24″N 78°31′8″W / 35.97333°N 78.51889°W | |
Country | United States |
State | North Carolina |
Counties | Wake, Franklin |
Incorporated | 1880 |
Government | |
• Mayor | Vivian A. Jones |
Area | |
• Total | 15.2 sq mi (39.4 km2) |
• Land | 15.1 sq mi (39.1 km2) |
• Water | 0.1 sq mi (0.3 km2) |
Elevation | 387 ft (118 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 30,117 |
• Density | 2,000/sq mi (760/km2) |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
ZIP codes | 27587–27588 |
Area code(s) | 919, 984 |
FIPS code | 37-70540 |
GNIS feature ID | 1023094 |
Website | www.wakeforestnc.gov |
Wake Forest is a town in Franklin and Wake counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina; located almost entirely in Wake County, it lies just north of the state capital, Raleigh. The population was 30,117 at the 2010 census, up from 12,588 at the 2000 census. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the city's population to be 34,752 as of July 1, 2013. In 2007, the town was listed by Forbes magazine as the 20th fastest growing suburb in America, with a 73.2 percent increase in population between 2000 and 2006. Wake Forest was the original home of Wake Forest University for 122 years before it moved to Winston-Salem in 1956.
The US Office of Management and Budget also includes Wake Forest as a part of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Combined Statistical Area, which has a population of 1,998,808 as of U.S. Census 2012 Population Estimates. Effective June 6, 2003 the Office of Management and Budget redefined the Federal Statistical Areas and dismantled what had been for decades the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, MSA and split them into two separate MSAs even though the region still functions as a single metropolitan area.
In 1832, Dr. Calvin Jones, originally from New England, bought 615 acres (2.49 km2) of forested land in Wake County, North Carolina. The sparsely populated area became known as the Forest of Wake, or Wake Forest. Jones sold his farm to the North Carolina Baptist Convention for $2,000, who opened the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute, later Wake Forest College, on the site. The Raleigh & Gaston Railroad, completed in 1840, established a depot in nearby Forestville that stimulated the school and surrounding village. College leaders convinced the railroad to move the depot even closer to the college in 1874, leading to more economic development. This community was incorporated as the "Town of Wake Forest College" in 1880. In 1909, the word "College" was removed from the name of the town. The college moved to the much larger city of Winston-Salem in 1956.Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary began offering classes on the original campus of Wake Forest University in 1950, and occupied the entire campus when the university completed its move.