Choose wisely. Connect locally.Add your business Wilson is a city in eastern North Carolina, once called the World's Greatest Tobacco Market. Today it is best known for the giant, wind-powered whirligigs of folk artist Vollis Simpson, displayed in a downtown park, and for its classic eastern North Carolina barbecue.
This guide covers the best places to visit in Wilson, from the whirligig park and historic downtown to its museums and gardens, with tips on food, where to stay and when to come.
Wilson grew in the late 1800s as a tobacco auction center, with huge warehouses where farmers sold their bright-leaf tobacco. The city's historic districts preserve grand homes built by tobacco merchants.
Its downtown revival is built around the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park, where about 30 of the late artist's massive kinetic sculptures spin in the wind. Wilson also has a lively arts scene and some of the best barbecue in the state.
Wilson's downtown has been revived around its famous folk art.
Vollis Simpson, a farmer and machinist, built enormous whirligigs from salvaged metal on his land in nearby Lucama. After his death, about 30 were restored and moved to this downtown park, where they spin and glitter in the wind, especially beautiful when lit at night.
Downtown has restored buildings, murals, galleries and restaurants, many in former tobacco warehouses.
Housed in the old 1920s federal courthouse, this hands-on museum has science exhibits and a planetarium for children.
The Imagination Station is in a 1920s courthouse. Photo: DanTD, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Arts Council's Edna Boykin Cultural Center, a restored 1919 theater, hosts plays and concerts, and its gallery shows local art.
The Edna Boykin Cultural Center is a restored 1919 theater. Photo: Beyond My Ken, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Wilson's historic neighborhoods and gardens reflect its tobacco wealth.
This tree-lined street has some of the city's grandest homes, built by tobacco merchants in Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and other styles.
West Nash Street has grand tobacco-era homes. Photo: Nyttend, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
This free garden has themed displays, a children's garden and native plants.
This small college near downtown has a pleasant historic campus.
This park has a lake, walking trails and the Wilson Rose Garden.
Beyond the whirligigs, Wilson has a handful of smaller sights that show its character as a tobacco town and a center of eastern North Carolina life.
This small round house was built in the 1940s by Oliver Nestus Freeman, a local stonemason, using concrete and stone. Today it is a museum of African American history in Wilson, with exhibits on the people and families who shaped the city.
Fleming Stadium, which opened in 1939, is one of the oldest ballparks in the state. In summer it is home to the Wilson Tobs, a college summer team in the Coastal Plain League, and a night game is a cheap, relaxed outing.
A few of the huge brick warehouses where tobacco auctions once filled the fall season still stand near downtown, some now reused for shops and events. Walking past them gives a sense of how big the trade once was.
About 25 minutes away in Kenly, this museum shows how farm families lived and worked in the tobacco era, with a restored farmhouse, barns and tools.
About 20 minutes north, Rocky Mount has the Imperial Centre for the Arts and Sciences, set in restored tobacco buildings.
The state capital, about an hour west, has free state museums of history, art and natural sciences.
Wilson's calendar is busiest in spring and fall, when the weather is best for being outdoors.
Each November the city celebrates its famous sculptures with a downtown street festival featuring arts and crafts vendors, live music, food trucks, a children's area and barbecue. It is the liveliest weekend of the year downtown, so arrive early for parking.
This outdoor photography festival turns downtown into a gallery, with large prints by photographers from around the world hung in shop windows and along the streets. It is free, and the photos can be seen on a self-guided walk at any time of day.
On summer evenings, Tobs games at Fleming Stadium and concerts downtown are the easiest way to join local life.
Wilson is famous for eastern North Carolina barbecue: whole hog cooked slowly and chopped with a sharp vinegar and pepper sauce, served with coleslaw, boiled potatoes and cornbread. Several long-running barbecue restaurants draw visitors from across the state.
Downtown has a growing number of cafés and restaurants, and Southern fried chicken and hushpuppies are everywhere.
Popular dishes to try in Wilson
Near Interstate 95 has most of the chain hotels.
Downtown Wilson puts you close to the whirligig park and restaurants.
Raleigh, about an hour west, has many more hotel options.
Spring is mild and blooming.
Summer is hot and humid.
Fall is pleasant, and the Whirligig Festival takes place in November.
Winter is mild, with holiday lights downtown.
By air: Raleigh-Durham International Airport is about an hour west.
By train: Amtrak's Carolinian, Palmetto and Silver Star trains stop at the Wilson station.
By car: Interstate 95 and US 264 pass the city.
Getting around: A car is the easiest way to get around.
Start at the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park, then explore downtown and the Imagination Station. Have a barbecue lunch, walk the West Nash Street historic district, and return to the whirligig park at dusk to see the sculptures lit up.
Looking for barbecue, a café downtown or a local shop?
WISERMAP PLACEWilson: photos, reviews & things to doSee traveler photos and reviews, or share your own →
Cary, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina
Boone and Blowing Rock, North Carolina
Gastonia, North Carolina
Jacksonville, North Carolina
Concord, North Carolina