Catawba

Formed January 1, 1842 (73^rd county)

Catawba County (160,609), Newton (13,146), Hickory (43,491)

A Modern looking concrete and glass building was erected in 1980 at the corner of Main and 6^th streets as the courthouse.  Main Street is North Carolina State Highway 16 in the town.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  There have been 1844 and 1924 courthouses all in Newton, the only county seat.  Clemmer-Bush-Sills-Abernathy are the architects.  A Government Center was added in 1990 on United States 321 Business.  The county was founded on January 1, 1842 from Lincoln County as the 73^rd county.  Catawba County is named for the Native American tribe.  The county seat was named for Isaac Newton Wilson, son of a state legislator. 

Catawba 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 Catawba, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, 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 Catawba, Burke, and Caldwell counties and a court clerk serves Catawba County (judicial.)  The county is in the west.  Charlotte, North Carolina is southeast and Greensboro, North Carolina is northeast of the county.  The county center is 2.3 miles Northwest of Newton.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Alexander, Iredell, Lincoln, Burke, and Caldwell counties. 

The area of the county is 416 square miles.  It is 65 out of 100 in the state.  It ranks 18 out of 100 in population in the state.  It has a density of 386.1 persons per square mile making it 12 out of 100 in the state.  Catawba County has 47.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 40 goes east to west in the county from Iredell County to Burke County.  United States Highway 70 parallels Interstate Highway 40 from Iredell to Burke counties.  United States Highway 321 travels northwest to southeast from Caldwell County to Lincoln County.  The county is shaped like a mound of dirt.  Newton is located near the center of the county.  Hickory is in the northwest corner of the county and extends into Burke and Caldwell counties.  Newton is the county seat and Hickory is the largest city.  Newton is 8.2% of the county population while Hickory is 27.1% of the county population.  The county is pronounced KA-TA-BA.  This county is in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area.