Gaston

Formed December 21, 1846 (76^th county)

Gaston County (227,942), Gastonia (80,412)

The Modern masonry and concrete courthouse was constructed in 1998.  The courthouse is on Martin Luther King Boulevard at Long Avenue.  North Carolina State Highway 7 is MLK.  Stewart Cooper Newell Architects provided the designs.  Veteran memorials and a fountain are on the grounds.  There was a 1909 courthouse in Gastonia and an 1871 one in Dallas.  Gaston County was organized on December 21, 1846 from Lincoln County as the 76^th county.  The county and county seat are named for Congressman William Gaston. 

The area of the county is 364 square miles.  It is 76 out of 100 in the state.  It ranks 9 out of 100 in population in the state.  It has a density of 626.2 persons per square mile making it 7 out of 100 in the state.  Gaston County has 66.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 85 goes east to west in the county from Mecklenburg County to Cleveland County.  United States Highway 29 parallels Interstate Highway 85 from Mecklenburg to Cleveland counties.  United States Highway 74 is joined with United States Highway 29 from Mecklenburg County, splits and heads west into Cleveland County.  United States Highway 321 travels north to south from Lincoln County to South Carolina.  The county might be described as a teacup missing its handle.  Gastonia is in the southern half of the county.  Gastonia is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 35.3% of the county population. 

Gaston County government consists of a manager, a register, a sheriff, an attorney, and a clerk (executive).  It has 7 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-seven Superior Court Judges serve Gaston, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey counties and Twenty-five District Court Judges and a court clerk serve Gaston County (judicial.) Gaston County is on the southern border with South Carolina.  Charlotte, North Carolina is directly east of the county.  The county center is in Gastonia 2.8 miles Northwest of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Lincoln and Mecklenburg counties and South Carolina and Cleveland County.  This county is in the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord Metropolitan Statistical Area.