Birthplace of North Carolina Four-H

You are passing through Ahoskie, the birthplace of Four-H in North Carolina. In nineteen oh nine, I. O.

Schaub, a researcher with North Carolina State University, organized the state's first Corn Club here. Fifteen boys signed up, committing to work a one-acre plot using the latest agricultural techniques promoted by the federal Department of Agriculture. The goal was to teach young people modern farming methods and break the South's over-reliance on cotton.

The idea soon spread to other counties across the state. Girls' clubs followed. These separate clubs later merged into what became the statewide Four-H program, today one of the largest youth development organizations in America.

It all started with fifteen kids and an acre of corn in Hertford County.