Johnston County Revisited

Created in 1746, Johnston County is located along the fall line between North Carolina's Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions. Smithfield, on the Neuse River, has been the county seat since 1771. In 1856, Johnston County became part of the Fertile Crescent along the east—west North Carolina Railroad, which spawned the thriving towns of Princeton, Pine Level, Selma, and Clayton. In the 1880s, a north—south rail line, eventually known as the Atlantic Coastline, brought Kenly, Micro, Four Oaks, ...