Cleveland

Formed January 1, 1841 (71^st county)

Cleveland County (99,521), Shelby (21,913)                

The 1974 Modern tan brick and concrete courthouse sits at Justice Place and Warren Street.  United States Highway 74 Business is one block west of the location. The building was renovated in 1992.  Vaughan-Talley & Associates provided the designs with columns.  An Administrative Building was added in 1993.  There have been 1874 and 1907 versions of the courthouse in Shelby, the only county seat.  The county was formed on January 1, 1841 from Lincoln and Rutherford counties as the 71^st county.  It is named for Revolutionary War Colonel Benjamin Cleveland.  Shelby is named for Revolutionary War Colonel Isaac Shelby.  Cleveland County was the birthplace for 2 North Carolina Governors, Oliver M. Gardner and Clyde R. Hoey. 

Cleveland County government consists of a manager, a register, a sheriff, an attorney, and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-seven Superior Court Judges serve Cleveland, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Gaston, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, and Watauga, and Yancey counties, Twelve District Court Judges serve Cleveland and Lincoln counties and a court clerk serves Cleveland County (judicial.)  The county is on the southern border with South Carolina.  Charlotte, North Carolina is east and Asheville, North Carolina is northwest of the county.  The county center is 7.7 miles Northwest of Shelby nearer Kingstown.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Burke, Lincoln, and Gaston counties and South Carolina and Rutherford County. 

The area of the county is 468 square miles.  It is 54 out of 100 in the state.  It ranks 29 out of 100 in population in the state.  It has a density of 212.7 persons per square mile making it 25 out of 100 in the state.  Cleveland County has 42.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 85 cuts the southeast corner of the county from Gastonia County, east, to South Carolina, south.  United States Highway 29 parallels Interstate Highway 85 from Gastonia County to South Carolina.  United States Highway 74 passes east to west from Gastonia County to Rutherford County.  The county looks like a fat chair.  Shelby is located in the southern quarter of the county.  Shelby is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 22.0% of the county population.  This county is in the Shelby Micropolitan Statistical Area.