Local Gem -- Johnston County Heritage Center

The Johnston County Heritage Center is housed in the landmark 1913 building that gave birth to First Citizens Bank & Trust Company. Given to the County of Johnston by the bank’s founding family (the Holdings), the structure was completely renovated and opened to the public in 2000 as a combination local-history and genealogy library and museum. The Heritage Center is open 9-5 Monday-Saturday. Staff and volunteers on duty in our reading room will be glad to assist you with your hands-on research.

The Heritage Center also receives visitors 24/7 through its major portal on the County of Johnston’s Web site. Searchable databases on our Web site include Johnston County Census records, newspaper obituaries, an online catalog that includes our reference materials, and an inventory of our extensive collections of artifacts, photographs, documents, and files on a multitude of subjects. A variety of books about Johnston County history and genealogy may also be purchased through our Web site.

The Heritage Center is located at: 241 E. Market Street, Smithfield, NC -- less than 30 miles from downtown Raleigh.

For more information, phone the Heritage Center at (919) 934-2836, write to P.O. Box 2709, Smithfield, NC 27577, or e-mail [email protected].