Union

Formed January 1, 1842 (75^th county)

Union County (238,233), Monroe (34,600), Indian Trail (40,069)

The 1876 red brick Late Victorian courthouse in Monroe was remodeled in 1922 and 1986 and is under renovation in 2021.  There has also been a 1926 addition.  It is located on a square surrounded by Main, Jefferson, Hayne, and Franklin streets.  Franklin Street is North Carolina State Highway 84 in the town.  Thomas J. Holt is the original architect.  It features a tower.  A Judicial Center was added in 2004 and an Administrative Center was built in 1972.  The county was founded on January 1, 1842 from parts of Mecklenburg and Anson counties as the 75^th county with Tabbott’s Crossroads and Monroe as county seats.  The name of the county represents a compromise between two ideas.  Monroe is named for United States President James Monroe.  Union County was the birthplace for 1 North Carolina Governor, Thomas W. Bickett. 

The area of the county is 640 square miles.  It is 26 out of 100 in the state.  It ranks 8 out of 100 in population in the state.  It has a density of 372.2 persons per square mile making it 13 out of 100 in the state.  Union County has 68.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 74 crosses the county from east to northwest from Anson County to Mecklenburg County.  United States Highway 601 enters from the north, Cabarrus County, and exits to the south, South Carolina.  The county resembles a bird’s head.  Monroe is located slightly east of center in the county.  Indian Trail is in the northwest quarter of the county.  Monroe is the county seat and Indian Trail is the largest city.  Monroe is 14.5% of the county population while Indian Trail is 16.8% of the county population. 

Union 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 Union, Alamance, Anson, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Johnston, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Richmond, Scotland, Stanly, and Wake counties and Six District Court Judges and a court clerk serve Union County (judicial.)  Union County is on the southern border with South Carolina.  Charlotte, North Carolina is directly northwest and Raleigh, North Carolina is northeast of the county.  The center of the county is in Monroe 1.8 miles Northwest of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Cabarrus, Stanly, and Anson counties and South Carolina and Mecklenburg County.  This county is in the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord Metropolitan Statistical Area.