A Short History of Wilson, NC: Railroad Depot to Tobacco Market

Wilson, North Carolina is known today for its whirligigs, its museums and its food. The story underneath is older. It runs through a railroad depot, a state senator who died in the Mexican-American War, and the tobacco auction that made the city famous.

Toisnot and Hickory Grove

Before there was a Wilson, there was a small community that grew up around Toisnot Baptist Church, established in 1803 and known as Hickory Grove. The railroad reached the area around 1839 to 1840, and a depot known as Toisnot Depot grew up beside the tracks. Train service helped the settlement grow.

1849: A town gets a name

In 1849, Toisnot Depot and Hickory Grove were incorporated together as the town of Wilson. The North Carolina General Assembly chartered the town on January 29, 1849. It was named for Louis D. Wilson, a state senator from Edgecombe County who served in the Mexican-American War and died of fever. Wilson County followed in 1855, formed from parts of Edgecombe, Nash, Johnston and Wayne counties.

From cotton to bright leaf

For its first decades the town grew slowly. That changed as tobacco replaced cotton as Wilson County's main cash crop in the 1880s. The sandy soil of the Coastal Plain suited bright leaf, flue-cured tobacco, and Wilson's first tobacco market opened on September 10, 1890.

The market grew quickly. More than a dozen brick warehouses rose around downtown, and by 1919 Wilson had become the largest bright leaf tobacco market in the world.

What is still here

Much of that brick architecture survives. Wilson's Tobacco Warehouse District is part of a National Register historic district, and some of the old warehouses have been redeveloped for new uses. The Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park now stands close to them.

The tobacco market is still part of Wilson life. In August 2024 the city opened its 135th tobacco market and unveiled a North Carolina historical marker commemorating the founding of the market in 1890. Wilson's museums add more of the story, including the North Carolina Baseball Museum and the Imagination Station Science & History Museum.

See it on foot

History is easier to picture when you are standing in front of it. Our Downtown Walking Food & History Tour is a guided walk through downtown Wilson that pairs local small plates with stories about the city's past. Learn more or book at gigabitesofwilson.com.

Sources: City of Wilson, the North Carolina Gazetteer, East Carolina University digital collections, Preservation of Wilson, Our State magazine and Come See Wilson.