Iredell County, North Carolina


Iredell County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. According to US Census projections in 2018, the population was 178,435. Its county seat is Statesville, and its largest town is Mooresville. The county was formed in 1788, annexed from Rowan County. It is named for James Iredell, one of the first justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Iredell County is included in the Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia, NC–SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined in 2013 by the Office of Management and Budget with data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Historical timeline

Prior to colonization, three Siouan-speaking tribes associated with a culture group called the Eastern Siouans probably inhabited the area that is now Iredell County. Broken into several smaller tribes, they were the Catawba, the Waccamaw Siouan, the Cheraw, the Winyaw, the Wateree and the Sugaree. The following list shows significant events and firsts in the history of the area that is now called Iredell County, North Carolina.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
Iredell County is located within the Piedmont Region of central North Carolina. The northwestern section of the county contains the Brushy Mountains, a deeply eroded spur of the Blue Ridge Mountains far to the west. The highest point in Iredell County, Fox Mountain, is in the Brushies; it rises to 1,760 feet. Although the "Brushies", as they are often called locally, are not high in the normal sense, they do rise prominently above the surrounding countryside. The remainder of Iredell County consists of gently rolling countryside occasionally broken by low hills and small river valleys. The county's largest river, the Catawba, forms much of its western border. Lake Norman, North Carolina's largest manmade lake, is the most prominent geographic feature of southern Iredell County; it is often called North Carolina's "inland sea".
Iredell County is an important transportation center for the state, as Interstate 77 and Interstate 40 cross in northeast Statesville. This has given birth to the county's slogan "Crossroads for the Future." Residents have easy access going south on I-77 to Charlotte; north on I-77 to Elkin, North Carolina and Roanoke, Virginia; east on I-40 to Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Raleigh; and west along I-40 to Hickory, North Carolina and Asheville.
The northern third of Iredell county is highly rural and contains no large towns. Due to the thinly populated nature of this portion of the state, it is one of the select places in North Carolina where the speed limit on Interstate Highways exceeds 65 mph, as Interstate 77 north of Statesville has a speed limit of 70 mph.
Iredell County is one of the longest counties in the state and stretches for nearly fifty miles north to south from Yadkin County in the north to Mecklenburg in the south.

Adjacent counties

City

As of 2019, the unincorporated communities in the county include:
By the requirements of the North Carolina Constitution of 1868, the county was divided into townships. Previous to that time, the subdivisions were Captain's Districts. While the Captain's Districts referred primarily to the militia, it served also for the election precinct, the tax listing and tax collecting district. The following townships were created in 1868:
In the 1700s and 1800s, before there were many towns in what became Iredell County, property was identified by stream, rivers, or adjacent landowners. The following is a list of the streams, rivers, and creeks in Iredell County.
The table below lists towns and post offices that no longer exist or that were once in Iredell County but are now in another county:
Historical Populated Places
A Abernathy PO, Adams PO, Allison's PO, Amity Hill PO, Amity PO, Armfield PO, B Banton PO, Bell's Crossroads, Belt's Bridge PO, Bethany Church PO, Bogies PO, Boyden Post Office, Bradford Crossroads, Bryantsville Post Office, Buffalo, Buffalo Shoal PO, C Callahan, Campbell's Grove, Carstown, Catawba Station, Chestnut Grove PO, Celestica Hinkle, Charles, Charles PO, Cherry Plains PO, Claud PO, Clio Post Office, Clover Bottom PO, Coddle Creek, Congers PO, Cool Springs PO, Crater's Mills PO, D Daltonia PO, Deep Well, Doolie PO, Dunlap, E Eagle City PO, Eagle Mills PO, East Monbo, Ebenezer, Elmwood, Enola PO, Eufola, Eupeptic Springs, Evalin PO, F Fallstown Post Office, Fancy Hill, Flake, Fort Dobbs, Fourth Creek Settlement, Friends Mill/Friends PO, Fulbright, G Garland, Goshen PO, Granite Hill PO, Granitehill PO, Grassy Creek, Grassy Fork PO, Gratz PO, Guss PO, H Henderson's Cross Roads, Hilo PO, Houstonville PO, J Jenning's Mills PO, K Kyle Crossroads, L Liberty Hill PO, Linker, Longford PO, Loray, Lorn, M Malans PO, Map PO, Maple Bottom PO, Mayhew PO, Mazeppa PO, McCurdy PO, Miller PO, Mount Pleasant, Muddy Fork PO, Murdock PO, N Net PO, New Hope Forge PO, New Hope PO, New Institute PO, New Sterling PO, Newhope PO, Nicholson's Mills, Norfolk PO, Norwood, O Oak Forest PO, Oak Grove, Olin PO, Oswalt, P Perth PO, Poison Springs, Poplar Bridge, Poplar Grove PO, Post Oak PO, Pressly PO, R Reno PO, River Hill PO, Robinsons PO, Rock Cut PO, Rocky Creek PO, Rod PO, S Scott's Cross Roads, Settle PO, Sharon, Sharpesburg, Sharpesburg Township, Sheperd/Shepherds PO, Shiloh, Shinnville, Sigma, Simonton's Mills PO, Smith's Cross Roads, Snow Creek, Snow Creek Iron Works, Spring Grove PO, Spring PO, Staphel/Stophel PO, Sullivan PO, Sweet Home PO, T Tabor Church PO, Talmadge PO, Thoma's Ferry, Trip PO, Turner's Store PO, Turnersburgh, V V Point, Vance PO, W Watts PO, Waugh PO, Weisner PO, Wildwood Park, Williamsburg PO, Williamsburgh PO
Former Iredell County Towns that are now part of other counties
Catawba Station, Elk Shoal, Evalin, Grade, James Cross Roads PO, Hiddenite, Mount Pisgah, Spring Grove, Stony Point, Taylorsville, Tulin, Zion

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 159,437 people, and 59,593 households in the county. The population density was 277.8 people per square mile. there were 69,325 housing units at an average density of 90 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 83.3% White, 12.3% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 2.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.68% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. 7.0% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
According to the 2000 census data, there were 47,360 households out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.8% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.8% were non-families. 22.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the county, the population was spread out with 25.5% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males.
, the median income for a household in the county was $50,058. Males had a median income of $34,590 versus $24,031 for females. The per capita income for the county was $26,348. About 6.2% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.1% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over.

Current politics, law and government

Iredell County is governed by the Board of Commissioners, consisting of five commissioners elected at-large, which requires each to attract a majority of the votes.
The Iredell County Commissioners are James Mallory, Marvin Norman, Tommy Bowles, Jeff McNeely and Gene Houpe, all Republicans.
Iredell County is a member of the Centralina Council of Governments.
The Sheriff of Iredell County is Darren E. Campbell, elected in December 2014. He succeeded Phillip Redmond, who was first elected in 1994.
The Register of Deeds of Iredell County is Ronald "Duck" Wyatt, appointed in 2016. The Register of Deeds serves as custodian and manager of a large number of land records and vital records.
Iredell County is part of prosecutorial District 22A with Alexander County. The Iredell County Courthouse is located in the county seat of Statesville, North Carolina. The District Attorney is Sarah Kirkman.
The Senior Resident Superior Court Judge is Joe Crosswhite. The Chief District Court Judge is Dale Graham. James Lee Mixson III has served as Iredell County's Clerk of Superior Court since 2012. Clerks of Superior Court in North Carolina also serve as Probate Judges in addition to their administrative duties.
Since 1952, Iredell county voting records show a strong Republican majority. Before 1952, however, Iredell was part of the Democratic "Solid South" and voted for no Republican presidential candidate after Reconstruction except Herbert Hoover in 1928. In 1964, the year that national civil rights legislation was passed, it was one of 13 North Carolina counties to vote for Barry Goldwater. In the past 17 elections, the only Democrat to carry Iredell County was Jimmy Carter in 1976, who was a native son of Georgia and the South.

Economy

Farming is still a major source of income for many Iredell County residents. Dairy farming has been particularly popular in Iredell County since the early 1800s, in both the northern and southern sections of the county. However, the rapid population growth and development in southern Iredell County is putting increasing pressure on farmlands, and many farms in this section are giving way to shopping centers, housing developments, and large corporate office parks.
Iredell County is a major hub of NASCAR racing, with many race shops located in the county. Universal Technical Institute operates NASCAR Technical Institute under licensing agreements. The school offers racing-related instruction to prepare the student for their job search in the racing industry. Many NASCAR drivers live around Mooresville and Lake Norman. Although northern Iredell County has retained much of its rural character, the southern half of the county is experiencing rapid suburbanization and population growth, largely due to the immense popularity of the Lake Norman area for residents of nearby Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city.
Lowe's has its corporate headquarters in Mooresville.

Education

The county is served by two traditional public school districts: Iredell-Statesville Schools and Mooresville Graded School District. The county is also served by several public charter schools

Iredell Statesville School District

The following schools were in the Iredell—Statesville School District as of 2018:
The following schools were in the Mooresville Graded School District, as of 2018:
The following public charter schools existed in 2018:
The following current and historical institutions of higher education were located in Iredell County:

Major highways

Iredell County is served by two railroads, Alexander Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway.

Notable people