Source: Scott Nunn, WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS, 12/9/19

It’s fitting, and symbolic, that U.S. 117 and Interstate 40 run almost exactly parallel to each other in Duplin County for a good stretch. In many ways, the agriculture-dominated county and its small towns and communities are simultaneously traveling different routes and directions: one route deeply rooted in agriculture (notably swine and poultry) and another trying to map out a new economy.

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