Wake Forest is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. The population was 12,588 at the 2000 census. The town was the original home of Wake Forest University. The former Wake Forest campus is the current home to the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

History:
Development of the town of Wake Forest began in 1820 when Dr. Calvin Jones, originally from New England, bought 615 acres (2.5 km²). The sparsely populated area became known as Wake Forest, or the Forest of Wake. Jones sold his farm for $2,000 to the North Carolina Baptist Convention, which opened the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute, later Wake Forest College, on the site. The Raleigh & Gaston Railroad, completed in 1840, gave a boost to the school and surrounding village with its nearby depot in Forestville. College leaders convinced the railroad to move the depot even closer to the college in 1874, leading to more economic development. This growth allowed the community to become incorporated by the state in 1880 as the "Town of Wake Forest College." In 1909, the word "College" was removed from the official name. 1956 saw the removal of the college itself, to the much larger city of Winston-Salem. [1] Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary began offering classes in 1950 on the original campus of Wake Forest University, and occupied the rest of the campus when the university completed its move.

Demographics:
As of the 2000 censusGR2, there were 12,588 people, 4,617 households, and 3,407 families residing in the Wake Forest. The population density was 623.1/km² (1,614.4/mi²). There were 5,091 housing units at an average density of 252.0/km² (652.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 79.63% White, 15.78% African American, 0.21% Native American, 2.03% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.78% from other races, and 1.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.08% of the population.

There were 4,617 households out of which 41.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.3% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.2% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the town the population was spread out with 29.7% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 39.3% from 25 to 44, 15.8% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $52,307, and the median income for a family was $60,408. Males had a median income of $45,630 versus $30,205 for females. The per capita income for the town was $22,746. About 6.3% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 15.7% of those age 65 or over.

In 2007, the town was listed by Forbes Magazine as the 20th fastest growing suburb in America, with a 73.2 percent increase in population between 2000 and 2006. [2]

Geography:
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 20.5 km² (7.9 mi²). 20.2 km² (7.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (1.27%) is water.