Kittrell, North Carolina

Kittrell is a village in Vance County, North Carolina, United States.

History

Kittrell was chartered in 1885, with its first mayor David Outlaw, a merchant and bachelor. In 1860, one census district in Granville County the primary of the three parent counties (73% of the land area of Vance County was taken from Granville County) of Vance County, was called Kittrell's Depot. Kittrell's Depot was a railroad depot named for George Kittrell and his wife, Elizabeth Boswell Kittrell, who donated the land for a Raleigh and Gaston Railroad station. The first post office for the Kittrell area, with Elisha Overton as its first postmaster, was established in 1854, replacing one in neighboring Stanton in the Epping Forest area which lacked direct railroad access, this establishment occurring shortly after Kittrell's Depot became operational. An 1868 state law required county governments to divide counties into smaller units of townships. Kittrell Township, including the depot station that is the likely basis for the choice of name, was one of Granville County's creations. George Kittrell was a grandson of Captain Jonathan Kittrell, commander of a company of Granville County colonial militia during the 1760s and early 1770s, and was a large landholder in Granville County. His holdings included the land upon which the Kittrell Springs Hotel was located. His grandfather Captain Kittrell was also one of the justices (or magistrates) for this county, and was an early Granville pioneer, who immigrated as a young adult to that area, attracted by its cheap, abundant and readily available land, along with two younger brothers Samuel and Isaac, from northeastern North Carolina. Their elder brothers George and John remained in their home area on farms in what is now known as Bertie and Gates County. The population was 467 at the 2010 census. The smallest horse in the world lives here measuring 47 cm (18.75 in).