Midland is a town in southern Cabarrus County in the U.S. state of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Located in the Charlotte region of North Carolina, Midland is a 30-minute commute to uptown Charlotte. The name of the town is derived from its location approximately halfway between Charlotte and Oakboro on the railroad line. The population was 4,684 as of the 2020 census, up from 3,073 in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. The U.S. Postal Service has maintained a post office in Midland for many years (ZIP code 28107), and rural mail routes extend from Midland into portions of four counties.

History

Midland began as a railroad town about 1913 with the arrival of rail service via the North Carolina Railroad (NCRR). Prior to this, a community named Garmon existed in the area (a few miles to the east) around the Garmon Mill begun by Michael Garmon in the late-1700s, and Garmon appears on an 1864 map of North Carolina. Another community located to the west, Cabarrus Station, also predated Midland as a railroad stop, and is now within the town's municipal limits. Midland was incorporated in 2000. Formerly, the economy of Midland was agricultural with some textile-related manufacturing jobs. With the growth of Charlotte to the west, farming has played a decreasing role in the economic life of the town. Increasingly, Midland has become a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for those commuting to work in nearby Charlotte and Concord. The Reed Gold Mine, site of the first discovery of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in the United States, is located east of the town. The mine is now a historic site under state management and is open to the public. The area was an important gold mining center in the 19th century; however, gold mining activity in the region predates the founding of Midland. The Bethel Church Arbor, John Bunyan Green Farm, and Robert Harvey Morrison Farm and Pioneer Mills Gold Mine are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Geography

The town is in southern Cabarrus County, about by road east of Charlotte. The town sits at approximately above sea level. The land is gently rolling with no especially high points. US Highway 601 and NC 24/ 27 are the major highways. US 601 leads north to Concord, the Cabarrus

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, and south to Monroe, while Highways 24 and 27 lead east to Albemarle and west into Charlotte. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town of Midland has an area of , all land. Muddy Creek flows through the town just south of its center, leading southeast to the Rocky River, which passes just east of the town. Via the Rocky River, Midland is within the watershed of the Pee Dee River.

Climate

The climate in Midland is temperate, with chilly winters and hot summers. Thunderstorms are frequent in warmer weather. Severe weather occurs occasionally, and a few tornadoes have been recorded in Midland and its vicinity. Snow accumulations occur on occasion in the winter, and anywhere from zero to three significant accumulations of snow might reasonably be expected in an average winter. Accumulating snows generally melt away between snow events, and there is no consistent snowpack in winter. Pleasantly warm daytime temperatures may be experienced into November. Rainfall averages per year.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 4,684 people, 1,182 households, and 912 families residing in the town.

Economy

Corning operates a large-scale fiber-optic cable manufacturing plant in Midland that underwent a $50M expansion in 2012. Intertape Polymer Group announced in 2016 that they would build a $49M advanced manufacturing plant for the e-commerce sector north of the Corning plant.

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Cabarrus County, North Carolina Mining communities in North Carolina Populated places established in 1913 1913 establishments in North Carolina Towns in North Carolina