CALDWELL COUNTY

Caldwell was formed in 1841 from Burke and Wilkes. It was named in honor of Joseph Caldwell, the first president of the University of North Carolina. He strongly advocated a public school system and a railroad across the center of the State from Morehead City to Tennessee. It is in the west central section of the State and is bounded by Alexander, Catawba, Burke, Avery, Watauga and Wilkes counties. The present land area is 471.60 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 83,029. Of that population, 74,925 were white, 4,086 were black or African American, 257 were American Indian, 428 were Asian, 27 were Pacific Islander and 2,048 were of a different race. Another 1,258 were reported to be of two or more races and 3,796 were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The court was ordered to be held at the store of George Powell near the house of George Smith, Jr., until a courthouse was erected. Commissioners were named to select a site as near the center as possible, acquire land and a town, and erect a courthouse. Lenoir, named in honor of William Lenoir, is the county seat.

Do you have digital photographs of Caldwell County to add to this slideshow?

Parts of Caldwell County are in the Catawba River Basin and parts are in the Yadkin Pee-Dee River Basin. Parts of Caldwell County are in the mountain region and parts are in the Piedmont region. For statistical purposes, it is often considered part of the mountain region.

References:

"American Factfinder." 2011. U. S. Census Bureau. Online at http://factfinder2.census.gov/. Accessed 3/3/2011.

Corbitt, David L. 2000. The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943. Sixth printing. Raleigh: State Department of Archives and History.

Powell, William Stevens, and Michael R. Hill. 2010. The North Carolina gazetteer: a dictionary of Tar Heel places and their history. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Additional resources:

North Carolina Digital Collections. (Government & Heritage Library and NC State Archives)

NC LIVE resources

NC Natural Heritage Program database

WorldCat (Searches numerous library catalogs)