Back in the mid-1800s, settlers arrived in an area of what was then called Ames Turnout to build a church. Eventually, a school was established. A community grew and Ames Turnout became a town. That town was named after a Baptist minister Washington Manley Wingate. Or maybe it was Wingate, we'll get to that shortly.
Here's how Mayor Bill Braswell describes his town, population 3,500:
