McAdenville is a small town in

Gaston County, North Carolina Gaston County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 227,943. The county seat is Gastonia. Dallas served as the original county seat from 1846 until 1911. Gaston County is included in the C ...

, United States. It is a suburb of

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

and located east of Gastonia. The population was 890 at the 2020 census.

History

McAdenville was incorporated in 1881. It was named after Rufus Yancey McAden, president of McAden Mills, the town's textile mill. McAden had served in the

North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

from 1862 to 1867, and was

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

in 1866. He came to Charlotte in 1867 to become president of the two-year-old First National Bank. Pharr Yarns, a yarn manufacturing company, was founded in McAdenville in 1939. It grew to become a major employer and sponsored various projects in the town during its existence. It was sold in 2019. A

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

tradition in the town for many years has been the decorating of the entire town in Christmas lights. The event is called Christmas Town USA. The Christmas Town USA contains 375 lit trees and over 200 wreaths attached to city light poles. The lights attract visitors from all over the country and is one of the biggest light shows in the US. Begun in 1956 with the assistance of Pharr Yarns, many trees and buildings in the town are covered in Christmas lights and some form of decoration. More than 600,000 vehicles visit each year. The

McAdenville Historic District McAdenville Historic District is a national historic district located at McAdenville, Gaston County, North Carolina. It encompasses 93 contributing buildings, 2 contributing sites, and 7 contributing structures in the mill village associated ...

was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2009.

Geography

McAdenville is located on the

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. ...

at (35.263893, -81.079282). McAdenville Lake is formed by a dam on the South Fork in central McAdenville. According to the

United States 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 town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 4.33%, is water. The town lies in the Cramerton Watershed. The

was listed on the

in 2009.

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 890 people, 330 households, and 274 families residing in the town.

2000 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 619 people, 247 households, and 182 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 450.1 people per square mile (173.2/km²). There were 282 housing units at an average density of 205.1 per square mile (78.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.80%

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 ...

, 1.94%

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 ...

, 0.97% Native American, 0.97%

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 ...

, and 0.32% from two or more races. There were 247 households, out of which 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.3% were non-families. 22.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.7% 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 2.96. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.1% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 29.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $36,513, and the median income for a family was $40,750. Males had a median income of $30,781 versus $21,481 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $18,130. About 6.4% of families and 6.1% 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 5.9% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government

McAdenville is governed by a mayor and a five-member town council. Fire protection is provided by the Cramerton Fire Department. McAdenville is in South Point Township. The town is patrolled by the town of Cramerton Police Department and Gaston County Police Department.Cramerton-McAdenville Contract Police Services
, Cramerton Police Department Website. Retrieved on 2008-07-21.

Transportation

The primary east-west highway passing through McAdenville is

Interstate 85 Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange with I-95 in Petersburg, Virginia, n ...

, with access to the town from Exit 23. Other important highways include

U.S. Route 29 U.S. Route 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida to the western suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland in the Southern United States, connecting the Florida Panhandle to the Baltimore-Washington me ...

U.S. Route 74 U.S. Route 74 (US 74) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Primarily in North Carolina, it serves as an important highway from the mountains to the ...

(Wilkinson Blvd.) and

North Carolina Highway 7 North Carolina Highway 7 (NC 7) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Entirely within Gaston County, it connects the towns of Lowell, McAdenville, and Belmont with the city of Gastonia. Route description Gast ...

(Main St./Hickory Grove Rd./Riverside Dr./McAdenville Rd.).

Education

Public education in McAdenville is administered by the

Gaston County Schools Gaston County Schools is a public school district located in Gaston County, North Carolina. With 30,046 students enrolled in 56 schools as of the 2021–22 academic year, it is the tenth largest public school district in North Carolina. Scho ...

public school system. The only school in McAdenville is McAdenville Elementary School. Some elementary age children from the northern part of McAdenville attend Lowell Elementary School in Lowell. Most McAdenville students in grades 6-8 attend Holbrook Middle School in Lowell, except for those in a small section of town who attend Belmont Middle School in Belmont. High school-age students attend

Stuart W. Cramer High School Stuart W. Cramer High School is a public high school in the Gaston County Schools district located in Cramerton, North Carolina (though its mailing address says Belmont). Its attendance range covers the central portion of eastern Gaston County an ...

in Cramerton.

Notable person

* George Watts (1914–1990),

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

In 1883,

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

was hired to build a hydroelectric generator, No. 31, known as a dynamo, to power the lighting in the mill and mill houses.

References

External links

* www.townofmcadenville.org
Gaston Regional Chamber
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcadenville, North Carolina Towns in Gaston County, North Carolina Towns in North Carolina Populated places established in 1881 1881 establishments in North Carolina