Catawba County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the U.S. state of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 160,610. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

, and its largest city is

Hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexi ...

. The county is part of the Hickory–

Lenoir Lenoir may refer to: Locations: * Lenoir, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir City, Tennessee In Universities: * Lenoir-Rhyne University * Lenoir Dining Hall, a dining hall at the University of N ...

– Morganton, NC

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

History

Catawba County formed in 1842 from Lincoln County, was named after the Catawba River. The word "catawba" is rooted in the

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

sound ''kat'a pa'', loosely translated as "to divide or separate, to break." However, scholars are fairly certain that this word was imposed from outside. The Native Americans who once inhabited the region known as the Catawba people, were considered one of the most powerful Southeastern Siouan-speaking tribes in the Carolina Piedmont. They now live along the border of North Carolina, near the city of Rock Hill, South Carolina. Scots-Irish and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

colonial immigrants first settled in the Catawba River valley in the mid-18th century. An official history of the Scots-Irish and German settlement was documented in 1954, by Charles J. Preslar Jr, and more recently by a series of three books by Gary Freeze, called The Catawbans.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (3.6%) is water.

State and local protected areas/sites

Houck's Chapel Houck's Chapel is a historic Methodist church located at Hickory, Catawba County, North Carolina. It was built in 1888, and is a small, rectangular frame church building. It is two bays wide and four deep and rests on a stone pier foundation. A ...

Mountain Creek Park A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

* Murray's Mill Historic Site *

Old Hickory Tavern Birthplace of Hickory Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...

Old Piedmont Wagon Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...

Major water bodies

* Balls Creek * Betts Creek * Catawba River * Clark Creek *

Henry Fork (South Fork Catawba River tributary) Henry Fork is a long 4th order tributary to South Fork Catawba River in Burke and Catawba Counties, North Carolina. Variant names According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as: *Henrixy River *He ...

Jacob Fork (South Fork Catawba River tributary) Jacob Fork is a long, fourth-order tributary of the South Fork Catawba River in Burke and Catawba Counties, North Carolina. According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as Jacobs Creek. Jacob Fork ...

* Lake Hickory *

Lake Norman Lake Norman is the largest man-made body of fresh water in North Carolina. It was created between 1959 and 1964 as part of the construction of the Cowans Ford Dam by Duke Energy. Geography Lake Norman is fed by the Catawba River, and drains i ...

* Lookout Shoals Lake * Lyle Creek * McLin Creek * Muddy Creek * Pinch Gut Creek * Pott Creek * Snow Creek *

South Fork Catawba River The South Fork Catawba River (better known as the South Fork River) begins south of Hickory, North Carolina just northwest of the intersection of US Highway 321 and North Carolina Highway 10, at the confluence of the Henry Fork and Jacob Fork. ...

Adjacent counties

* Alexander County – north * Iredell County – east * Lincoln County – south * Caldwell County – northwest * Burke County – west

Major highways

* * * * * * * ( Lowesville–Denver business route) * ( Newton–Conover business Route) * (

Truck Route A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

) * * *

Major infrastructure

Hickory Regional Airport Hickory Regional Airport is three miles (5 km) west of Hickory, in Catawba County, North Carolina. It is owned by the City of Hickory. Facilities Hickory Regional Airport covers and has two asphalt runways: 6/24 is 6,400 x 150 ft. ...

(partially in Burke County)

Mass transit

* Greenway Public Transportation bus service serves the cities of

Conover Conover may refer to: People * Conover (surname) Places in the United States * Conover, Iowa, a ghost town * Conover, North Carolina, a city * Conover, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Conover, Wisconsin, a town * Conover (community), Wiscon ...

, and

Rail

With approximately twenty freight trains a day,

Catawba County Catawba County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 160,610. Its county seat is Newton, North Carolina, Newton, and its largest city is Hick ...

is a freight railroad transportation center. This is largely due to the areas strong manufacturing based economy, and its placement along the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

line. The

Caldwell County Railroad The Caldwell County Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad operating over between Hickory and Lenoir, North Carolina. The CWCY is operated by Southeast Shortlines, Inc., which also operates the Thermal Belt Railway. History The Caldwell Co ...

also serves the county and interchanges with Norfolk Southern in Hickory.

has been designated as the Catawba County passenger rail stop for the Western North Carolina Railroad planned to run from

Salisbury, NC Salisbury is a city in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. Loc ...

, to Asheville.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 160,610 people, 62,417 households, and 41,861 families residing in the county.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 154,358 people, 55,533 households, and 39,095 families residing in the county. The population density was 354 people per square mile (137/km²). There were 59,919 housing units at an average density of 150 per square mile (58/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 87.1%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 8.5%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.3% Native American, 3.1%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, and 1.14% from two or more races, 9.4% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. There were 55,533 households, out of which 31.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.10% were married couples living together, 10.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.60% were non-families. 24.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.98. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.30% under the age of 18, 8.80% from 18 to 24, 31.10% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $43,536, and the median income for a family was $47,474. Males had a median income of $30,822 versus $23,352 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,358. About 6.50% of families and 9.10% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 12.50% of those under age 18 and 9.70% of those age 65 or over.

Government, public safety, and politics

Catawba County is a member of the regional Western Piedmont Council of Governments. The county has been represented primarily by Republicans since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

: no Democratic Presidential candidate has won Catawba County since

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

in 1944.

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

is the last Democrat to manage even 40 percent of the county's vote.

County officers

Board of Commissioners

Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisors

Superior Court Judges

District Court Judges

Catawba County Sheriff

The Catawba County Sheriff's Office consists of 198 Deputies and Employees. It provides court protection, jail administration, patrol and detective services for all unincorporated county areas, serves civil process and criminal papers, provides School Resource Officers at County High and Middle Schools and CV Community College, and narcotics crime investigation. Newton, Hickory, Conover, and Maiden have municipal police departments. The North Carolina Bureau of Investigation, the SBI, provides investigative assistance to local law enforcement agencies when requested by the sheriff, local police departments, the district attorney, or judges.

Other offices

North Carolina General Assembly

North Carolina Senate

North Carolina House of Representatives

Federal offices

Senate

House of Representatives

Economy

Catawba County is part of the "North Carolina Data Center Corridor" in western North Carolina. The town of Maiden is home to the

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

iCloud data center and is the largest privately owned solar farm in the United States (operated by

). As of 2017, the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation controls a 55-acre business park in

designed for data centers and office use. CommScope, Inc., and Corning Corp., manufacturers of fiber optic cabling, became the region's largest employers in the late 1990s. The city of Hickory is home to

Lenoir–Rhyne University Lenoir–Rhyne University is a private Lutheran university in Hickory, North Carolina. Founded in 1891, the university is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Academics The university i ...

, the Hickory Motor Speedway, and the minor league baseball team the Hickory Crawdads. The town of Conover is home to the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn.

Education

* Most of the county is served by

Catawba County Schools Catawba County Schools is the largest school district in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States. Its 28 schools serve 17,370 students as of the 2010–11 school year. Student demographics For the 2010–11 school year, Catawba County School ...

. *

and

are served by

Newton-Conover City Schools Newton-Conover City Schools is a school district located in Catawba County, North Carolina that serves the cities of Newton and Conover. As of 2021 the district schools has a total of around 2,888 students on roll, and 188 teachers. Schools Th ...

. * Most of

is served by the Hickory City School System.

Higher education

* Catawba Valley Community College *

Appalachian Center at Hickory Appalachian Center at Hickory (formerly Hickory Metro Higher Education Center) is a distance-education center operated by Appalachian State University. It is part of the Appalachian State University Greater Hickory Partnership, which also includes ...

* NC Center for Engineering Technologies

Libraries

* The Catawba County Library System serves the residents of Catawba County. The library system operates 7 libraries throughout the county. * The Hickory Public Library System serves the residents of

. The library system operates 2 libraries: The Patrick Beaver Memorial Library and the Ridgeview Library.

Points of Interest

Museums and historical sites

* Catawba County Firefighters Museum * Catawba County Museum of History * Hickory Aviation Museum *

Hickory Museum of Art Hickory Museum of Art (HMA) is an art museum in Hickory, North Carolina which holds exhibitions, events, and public educational programs based on a permanent collection of 19th to 21st century American art. The museum also features a long-term e ...

Catawba Science Center Catawba may refer to: *Catawba people, a Native American tribe in the Carolinas *Catawba language, a language in the Catawban languages family *Catawban languages Botany *Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other N ...

* Murrays Mill *

Bunker Hill Covered Bridge The Bunker Hill Covered Bridge is one of two covered bridges left in North Carolina, (the other being the Pisgah Covered Bridge in Randolph County), and is possibly the last wooden bridge in the United States with Haupt truss construction. It was ...

Piedmont Wagon Company Piedmont Wagon Company was a horse-drawn wagon works company in Hickory, Catawba County, North Carolina. Founded by George G. Bonniwell and A. L. (Andy) Ramseur in 1878, it became "one of the most conspicuous examples of New South prosperity in No ...

Sports and entertainment

* Hickory Crawdads * Hickory Motor Speedway

Music and performing arts

* Newton-Conover Auditorium * The Green-Room Theatre * Western Piedmont Symphony * Hickory Community Theatre

Other attractions

Valley Hills Mall Valley Hills Mall is a two-story regional shopping mall located in Hickory, North Carolina. It is currently managed by JLL. It is anchored by Belk, Dillard's, and J. C. Penney. History The mall opened in 1978 as the second mall in Hickory, th ...

* Lake Hickory * Lake Lookout

Communities

Cities

Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth ** Claremont Football Club, West Australian Footba ...

(largest city) *

(county seat)

Towns

* Brookford * Catawba * Long View * Maiden

Census-designated places

* Lake Norman of Catawba * Mountain View * St. Stephens

Unincorporated communities

* Banoak * Sherrills Ford *

Terrell Terrell, Terell, Terrel, or Terrelle may refer to: Places United States *Terrell, Georgia, unincorporated community *Terrell, North Carolina, unincorporated community in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States *Terrell, Texas, city in Kau ...

Townships

* Bandy's * Caldwell * Catawba * Clines * Hickory * Jacobs Fork * Mountain Creek * Newton

References

External links

* *
Catawba County Chamber of Commerce
{{Coord, 35.66, -81.21, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-NC_source:UScensus1990 Charlotte metropolitan area