Moore

Formed April 1, 1784 (48^th county)

Moore County (99,725), Carthage (2,768), Pinehurst (17,574)

The Modern concrete 1979 Justice Center augments the 1923 Neo Classical masonry courthouse.  The courthouse is located on Dowd Street at Monroe Street.  North Carolina State Highway 27 is Monroe Street in the town.  Christopher Gadsden Sayre designed the courthouse.  There was also an 1890 courthouse in Carthage, the only county seat.  The building features faux columns with veteran memorials and a canon on the grounds.  The county was established on April 1, 1784 from Cumberland County as the 48^th county.  Moore County is named for Revolutionary War hero Alfred Moore.  The county seat is named for the ancient African city. 

Moore County government consists of a manager, a register, a sheriff, an attorney, and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-four Superior Court Judges serve Moore, Alamance, Anson, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Johnston, Lee, Montgomery, Randolph, Richmond, Scotland, Stanly, Union, and Wake counties, Three District Court Judges serve Moore and Hoke counties and a court clerk serves Moore County (judicial.) The county is in south central North Carolina.  Raleigh, North Carolina is northeast and Greensboro, North Carolina is northwest of the county.  The county center is 6.8 miles South-Southwest of Carthage nearer Eastwood.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Chatham, Lee, Harnett, Cumberland, Hoke, Scotland, Richmond, Montgomery, and Randolph counties. 

The area of the county is 706 square miles.  It is 21 out of 100 in the state.  It ranks 28 out of 100 in population in the state.  It has a density of 141.3 persons per square mile making it 37 out of 100 in the state.  Moore County has 55.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 1 crosses the county from north to south from Lee County to Richmond County.  United States Highways 15/501 go north to south from Lee County to Hoke County.  The county resembles a funnel with an extra leg sticking southeast.  Carthage is located in the northern third of the county.  Pinehurst is near the center of the county.  Carthage is the county seat and Pinehurst is the largest city.  Carthage is 2.8% of the county population while Pinehurst is 17.6% of the county population.  This county is in the Southern Pines-Pinehurst Micropolitan Statistical Area.