Copyright Notice: This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. Copyright © 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

Concrete monument near Cathey's Fort, McDowell County. Image from the North Carolina Digital Collections.
Concrete monument near Cathey's Fort, McDowell County. Image from the North Carolina Digital Collections.
Cathey's Fort was built in McDowell County by William Cathey in 1776. Cathey had purchased land near Turkey Cove at the foot of the mountains and there, where Cove Creek joined the North Fork of the Catawba River, he made his home. The fort was raised to protect Cathey's family and his neighbors from the Cherokee Indians. Until Davidson's Fort was built soon afterward in what is now Old Fort, Cathey's Fort was the farthest western military outpost in North Carolina during the Revolutionary War. Both forts played a part in the western campaigns of the war, including events leading up to the Battle of King's Mountain on 7 Oct. 1780.

References:

Pat Alderman, The Overmountain Men (1986).

Lyman C. Draper, King's Mountain and Its Heroes: History of the Battle of King's Mountain, October 7th 1780 and the Events Which Led to It (repr., 1967).

Additional Resources:

"Cathey's Fort." North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program. https://www.ncdcr.gov/about/history/division-historical-resources/nc-highway-historical-marker-program/Markers.aspx?ct=ddl&sp=search&k=Markers&sv=N-26  (accessed August 31, 2012).

North Carolina Office of Archives and History. "Cathey's Fort: Consideration of potential development as a state historic site." 2004. https://cdm16062.contentdm.oclc.org/u?/p249901coll22,647277 (accessed October 19, 2012).

"McDowell County: The Cathey-Wofford-Greenlee House." Instructional Technology Section, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. http://www.ncwiseowl.org/carolinaclips/counties/mcdowell/mcdowell/cathys.html  (accessed August 31, 2012).

Brook, David L. S. "Division Of Historical Resources: Research Branch." Biennial report of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. 2002-2004. p.7-12. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/biennial-report-of-the-north-carolina-office-of-archives-and-history-2002-2004-50th/2934141 (accessed August 31, 2012).

Image Credits:

North Carolina Office of Archives and History. "Cathey's Fort: Consideration of potential development as a state historic site." 2004. p.5. https://cdm16062.contentdm.oclc.org/u?/p249901coll22,647277 (accessed October 19, 2012).

Citation

Suther, Steve. "Cathey's Fort." NCpedia. Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press. Accessed on April 24th, 2025. https://www.ncpedia.org/catheys-fort.