The Hamlet Passenger Station, served by Amtrak, sits downtown at the junction of the lines. It has been cited as the prime spot in North Carolina for train watchers. The third line splits off from the second just east of Hamlet and continues towards Charleston, South Carolina. At Monroe, North Carolina, the line splits northwest to Charlotte and Bostic, and one continues west to Atlanta, Georgia, originally on to Birmingham, Alabama however, tracks were removed in 1987. Hamlet is at the junction of three major CSX rail lines, one running north towards Raleigh, North Carolina, as well as south towards Savannah, Georgia, and the second running east towards Wilmington, North Carolina, and west towards Bostic, North Carolina. Survivors and victims' families accused the fire service and city of Hamlet of racism, leading to two monuments to the tragedy being erected. As a result, the federal government took over enforcement of much of North Carolina's worker safety laws. The company received the highest fine in the history of North Carolina. Owner Emmett Roe received a 20-year prison sentence, of which he served only four years.
Investigators believe a safety inspection might have prevented the disaster. In 11 years of operation, the plant had never received a safety inspection. 25 workers were killed and 55 injured in the fire, trapped behind locked fire doors. On September 3, 1991, a fire broke out at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant in the city, resulting from a failure in a hydraulic line. Main article: Hamlet chicken processing plant fire Hamlet is home to Fairview Heights Elementary School (K-5), Monroe Avenue Elementary School (K-5), Hamlet Middle School (6-8), Richmond Early College High School (9-13) and Richmond Community College. About 18.4% of families and 22.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.9% of those under age 18 and 18.2% of those age 65 or over. The per capita income for the city was $14,764. Males had a median income of $28,958 versus $23,397 for females. The median income for a household in the city was $29,013, and the median income for a family was $36,234. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.5 males. For every 100 females, there were 88.4 males. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.0% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.98. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 2,453 households, out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% were married couples living together, 20.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% were non-families. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.26% of the population. The racial makeup of the city was 61.85% White, 34.51% African American, 1.61% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.48% from other races, and 1.20% from two or more races. There were 2,738 housing units at an average density of 542.5/sq mi (209.5/km 2).
The population density was 1,192.4 inhabitants per square mile (460.4/km 2). Demographics Historical populationĪs of the census of 2000, there were 6,018 people, 2,453 households, and 1,682 families residing in the city. Īccording to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.14 square miles (13.3 km 2), of which 5.05 sq mi (13.1 km 2) is land and 0.09 sq mi (0.23 km 2) (1.75%) is water.