Kinston
North Carolina, United States
Kinston, city, seat (1791) of Lenoir county, east-central North Carolina, U.S. It lies at the head of navigation on the Neuse River, about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Goldsboro. Settled as a plantersā trading post in 1740 by William Heritage, it was incorporated as Kingston in 1762, named for King George III of England; in 1784, after the American Revolution, the g was dropped from its name. Richard Caswell, the first governor of North...