Germanton, North Carolina

Germanton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Forsyth and Stokes counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, primarily in Stokes County. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 827.It is located south of the Stokes County seat of Danbury, on North Carolina State Highways 8 and 65 at an altitude of 662ft. Downtown Winston-Salem is to the south. Germanton was the county seat of Stokes County prior to Forsyth County being created from southern Stokes. Before the creation of Forsyth County, Germanton was centrally located within the Stokes County limits.HistoryGermanton was established in 1790 and is the oldest community in Stokes County. The town's original 23acre were part of a 700acre tract that was granted to Jacob Lash by the Earl of Granville in 1762. The 23 acres were deeded from brothers Michael and Henry Frey. The town was named after an influx of Germanic immigrants, who had served as veterans of the American Revolution, were given incentives to settle the area. These settlers included both Germans who fought against the crown, and Hessians who had been loyal to the crown. American Revolutionary War Major Joseph Winston, later a U.S. congressman, was a famous Germanton resident with a plantation nearby.