CATAWBA COUNTY

Catawba was formed in 1842 from Lincoln. It was named for an Indian tribe which lived in that section of the State. It is in the west central section of the State and is bounded by Iredell Lincoln, Burke, Caldwell and Alexander counties. The present land area is 399.97 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 154,358. Of that population, 126,151 were white, 13,041 were black or African American, 489 were American Indian, 5,352 were Asian, 53 were Pacific Islander and 6,395 were of a different race. Another 2,877 were reported to be of two or more races and 13,032 were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The act establishing the county named commissioners to acquire land within two miles of the center of the county, lay out a town by the name of Newton, and erect a courthouse. Controversy developed over the location. Consequently in 1845 an act was passed authorizing the erecting of the courthouse in Newton, which is now the county seat.

Do you have digital photographs of Catawba County to add to this slideshow?
To view this slideshow, Javascript must be enabled and Adobe Flash Player must be installed

Catawba County is in the Catawba River Basin. It is located in the Piedmont 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)