Caldwell

Formed January 1, 1841 (70^th county)

Caldwell County (80,664), Lenoir (18,363)                

The tan brick Classical Revival and Art Deco courthouse was built in 1910 and remodeled in 1929 and enlarged in 1990.  The county was formed on January 1, 1841 from Burke and Wilkes counties as the 70^th county.  The building sits at West Avenue and Main Street.  United States Highway 321 Alternate is Main Street.  Wheeler & Runge provided the designs.  The grounds have veteran memorials.  Lenoir has always been the county seat.  Caldwell County is named for the President of the University of North Carolina, Joseph Caldwell.  The county seat is named for Revolutionary War General William Lenoir.  He is also the namesake for Lenoir County. 

Caldwell 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 Caldwell, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey counties, Six District Court Judges serve Caldwell, Burke, and Catawba counties and a court clerk serves Caldwell County (judicial.)  The county is in western North Carolina.  Asheville, North Carolina is southwest and Greensboro, North Carolina is east of the county.  The county center is 1.7 miles Northwest of Lenoir.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Watauga, Wilkes, Alexander, Catawba, Burke, and Avery counties. 

The area of the county is 475 square miles.  It is 52 out of 100 in the state.  It ranks 34 out of 100 in population in the state.  It has a density of 169.8 persons per square mile making it 32 out of 100 in the state.  Caldwell County has 48.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 64 travels east to southwest in the county from Alexander County to Burke County.  United States Highway 321 comes from Watauga County, northwest, and goes to Catawba County, southeast.  The county looks like a popped popcorn kernel.  Lenoir is located in the southeast quarter of the county.  Lenoir is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 22.8% of the county population.  This county is in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Rhodhiss