Hickory, North Carolina
Encyclopedia
Hickory is a city in Catawba County, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

. Hickory has the 162nd largest urban area in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the Metropolitan Statistical Area
The Unifour
The Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area or The Unifor, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of four counties in the Catawba Valley region of western North Carolina...

 had a population of 341,851, making it the 4th largest metropolitan area in North Carolina. The city's population was 37,222 at the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

. The city's 2010 estimated population is 40,010.

History

In the 1850s, under a huge Hickory Tree, Henry Robinson built a tavern of logs. The city of "Hickory Tavern" was established in 1863 and the name was eventually changed to "Hickory" in 1873.

The first train operated in the city of "Hickory Tavern" in 1859. The first lot was sold to Henry Link for $45.00 in 1858. His house is now known as "The 1859 Cafe." The community of Hickory was the first for many things in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 including the council-manager form of government it adopted in 1913. Hickory was also one of the first towns to install electric lights in 1888 and a complete sewage system in 1904.

In 1868, Dr. Jeremiah Ingold, pastor of the German Reformed Grace Charge, established Hickory's first school, the Free Academy.

In 1891, Lenoir-Rhyne University (then Highland Academy) was founded by four Lutheran pastors with 12 initial students.

Hickory is also home to one of the oldest furniture manufacturers in the United States that is still located and operated on the original site. Hickory White, formerly known as Hickory Manufacturing Company, was built in 1902 and has been in continuous operation ever since. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the factory made ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...

 boxes for the U.S. Military instead of furniture.

Hickory was known in the years after World War II for the "Miracle of Hickory." In 1944 the area around Hickory (the Catawba Valley) became the center of one of the worst outbreaks of polio ever recorded. Residents who were then children recall summers of not being allowed to play outside or visit friends for fear of contracting the disease. Since local facilities were inadequate to treat the victims, the citizens of Hickory and the March of Dimes
March of Dimes
The March of Dimes Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies.-Organization:...

 decided to build a hospital to care for the children of the region. From the time the decision was made until equipment, doctors, and patients were in a new facility, took less than 54 hours. Several more buildings were quickly added. A Red Cross official on the scene praised the project "as the most outstanding example of cooperative effort he has ever seen." (Hickory Daily Record, June 30, 1944)

Transportation

Hickory Regional Airport
Hickory Regional Airport
Hickory Regional Airport is a public airport located three miles west of the central business district of Hickory, a city in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States. It is owned by the City of Hickory.- Facilities and aircraft :...

 was served by commercial airlines until 2005. Today it remains a general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

 airport and is home to the Hickory Aviation Museum
Hickory Aviation Museum
Hickory Aviation Museum is an aerospace museum at the Hickory Regional Airport in Hickory, North Carolina. It features a museum located in the former airport terminal with artifacts, a hangar with aircraft and outdoor exhibits of aircraft on the former airport ramp.-Exhibits:Most aircraft in the...

. Bus shuttle service to Charlotte/Douglas International Airport
Charlotte/Douglas International Airport
Charlotte Douglas International Airport is a joint civil-military public international airport located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Established in 1935 as Charlotte Municipal Airport, in 1954 the airport was renamed Douglas Municipal Airport after former Charlotte mayor Ben Elbert Douglas, Sr...

 is available. The Piedmont Wagon serves Hickory, as well as Newton
Newton, North Carolina
Newton is a city located in Catawba County, North Carolina. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 12,560. It is the county seat of Catawba County.Newton is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area....

, and Conover
Conover, North Carolina
Conover is a city in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,180 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. This public transit offers fixed routes, rail service, and paratransit
Paratransit
Paratransit is an alternative mode of flexible passenger transportation that does not follow fixed routes or schedules. Typically mini-buses are used to provide paratransit service, but also share taxis and jitneys are important providers....

 services.

Sports

Hickory is home to the Hickory Crawdads
Hickory Crawdads
The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball team in Hickory, North Carolina, USA. They are a Class A team in the South Atlantic League, and have been a farm team of the Texas Rangers since 2009. Previously, they were a Class A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Crawdads play home games...

, an affiliate of baseball's Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...

, in the Class-A South Atlantic League
South Atlantic League
The South Atlantic League is a minor league baseball league based chiefly in the Southeastern United States, with the exception of three teams in the Mid-Atlantic States...


Geography

Hickory is located at 35°44′16"N 81°19′42"W (35.737682, -81.328372).

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 28.1 square miles (72.7 km²), of which, 28.1 square miles (72.7 km²) of it is land and 0.04% is water.

Economy

The Hickory area historically competed in new industries and technologies by applying old strengths and favorable geography to new opportunities. In this way wagon-making know-how, proximity to expansive forests, and excellent transportation via two intersecting railroads provided fertile ground for the emergence of the furniture industry. Likewise experience with textile manufacturing and easy access to power drove new industries in both fiber-optic cable and pressure sensitive tape.

Currently the area is home to many leading manufacturers of furniture, fiber optic cable, and pressure sensitive tape
Pressure sensitive tape
Pressure-sensitive tape, known also in various countries as PSA tape, adhesive tape, self-stick tape, sticky tape, or just tape, is an adhesive tape that will stick with application pressure, without the need for solvent, heat, or water for activation...

. It is estimated 60% of the nation's furniture used to be produced within a 200 miles (321.9 km) radius of Hickory. Forty percent of the world's fiber optic cable is made in the Hickory area.

The Hickory area is additionally marketed as a datacenter corridor and is home to large datacenters operated by Apple and Google. Apple's billion-dollar datacenter campus just south of Hickory is one of the world's largest.

Hickory is the retail hub of the foothills and Unifour region, and is home to the largest shopping mall in the region Valley Hills Mall
Valley Hills Mall
Valley Hills Mall is a two-story regional shopping mall located in Hickory, North Carolina. It is owned by General Growth Properties and anchored by Belk, Dillard's, JC Penney, and Sears.- History :...

.

Awards and recognition

Hickory has been named an "All-America City" three times. The All-America City Award
All-America City Award
The All-America City Award is given by the National Civic League annually to ten cities in the United States.The oldest community recognition program in the nation, the award recognizes communities whose citizens work together to identify and tackle community-wide challenges and achieve uncommon...

 is given annually to only ten cities in the United States. It is a very prestigious award that represents a community's ability to work together and achieve critical local issues. Hickory won this award in 2007, as well as 1967 and 1987.

The Hickory Metro area has also been named the 10th best place to live and raise a family in the United States by Readers Digest.

The MSA (Hickory, Lenoir, Morganton) has been named 3rd best MSA in the country for business cost by Forbes Magazine.

Colleges and universities

  • Catawba Valley Community College
    Catawba Valley Community College
    Catawba Valley Community College is a public community college in Hickory, North Carolina. The college, established April 3, 1958, is part of the North Carolina Community College System...

  • Lenoir-Rhyne University 
  • Appalachian Center at Hickory (formerly HMHEC
    HMHEC
    Appalachian Center at Hickory was a collaborative partnership of colleges and universities in western North Carolina...

    )

Public schools

  • Catawba County Schools
    Catawba County Schools
    Catawba County Schools, also known as The Catawba County Schools Administrative Unit, is a school district in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States."Teach, Learn, and Lead for the Future"-High schools:*Bandys High School*Bunker Hill High School...

  • Hickory Public Schools
  • Newton-Conover City Schools

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 37,222 people, 15,372 households, and 9,361 families residing in the city. There were 16,571 housing units at an average density of 640.4 per square mile (227.9/km²). The racial composition of the city was: 77.23% White, 14.09% Black or African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

, 7.69% Hispanic or Latino American
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...

, 3.90% Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

, 0.19% Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

, 0.06% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
Pacific Islander American
Pacific Islander Americans, also known as Oceanian Americans, are residents of the United States with original ancestry from Oceania. They represent the smallest racial group counted in the United States census of 2000. They numbered 874,000 people or 0.3 percent of the United States population...

, 3.08% some other race
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.46% two or more races
Multiracial American
Multiracial Americans, US residents who identify themselves as of "two or more races", were numbered at around 9 million, or 2.9% of the population, in the census of 2010. However there is considerable evidence that the real number is far higher. Prior to the mid-20th century many people hid their...

.

There were 15,372 households out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.1% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $37,236, and the median income for a family was $47,522. Males had a median income of $31,486 versus $23,666 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $23,263. About 8.4% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.

364,759 people live within 25 miles (40.2 km) of Hickory; 1.8 million people within 50 miles (80.5 km) of Hickory.

Lake Hickory

Lake Hickory was created in 1927 with the completion of the Oxford Dam. The dam parallels the NC Highway 16 bridge over the Catawba River
Catawba River
The Catawba River is a tributary of the Wateree River in the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. The river is approximately 220 miles long...

 between I-40 and Taylorsville. It is 122 feet (37.2 m) high, with an overall length of 1200 feet (365.8 m). The spillway section of the dam is 550 feet (167.6 m) long.

Lake Hickory was named after the nearby city of the same name. The lake covers almost 4223 acres (17.1 km²) with 105 miles (169 km) of shoreline. Full pond elevation is 935 feet (285 m). Lake Hickory is a reliable source of water for the nearby cities of Hickory and Longview, North Carolina.

Duke Energy
Duke Energy
Duke Energy , headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is an energy company with assets in the United States, Canada and Latin America.-Overview:...

 provides five public access areas on the lake in cooperation with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

Media

  • The Hickory Daily Record
    Hickory Daily Record
    Hickory Daily Record is a newspaper based in Hickory, North Carolina. It is owned by Media General....

     is published 7 days a week.
  • Focus Newspaper is a weekly publication that is distributed freely and focuses on entertainment in the area.
  • WHKY, 1290 AM, is a radio station that features a news-talk format.
  • WAIZ
    WAIZ
    WAIZ is a radio station broadcasting an oldies format to the Hickory, North Carolina, USA area. The station is currently owned by Newton-Conover Communications, Inc....

    , "63 Big Ways", 630 AM, is a radio station that features 50's and 60's oldies and recreates the format of Charlotte Top 40 legend "61 Big Ways"
  • Local television station is WHKY-TV
    WHKY-TV
    WHKY-TV is an independent television station in Hickory, North Carolina that serves the northwestern corner of the Charlotte media market locally referred to as "The Unifour." Owned and operated by Long Communications, LLC , WHKY-TV broadcasts on UHF digital channel 40 .WHKY-TV commenced...

    , channel 14.
  • The Claremont Courier free newspaper distributed every month throughout Catawba County

Notable people

The following notable people are or have been residents of the Hickory area:
  • James Best
    James Best
    James Best is an American actor best known for his role as bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the CBS television series The Dukes of Hazzard. He has also worked as an acting coach, artist, and musician.-Early years:...

     - actor
  • Eric Church
    Eric Church
    Kenneth Eric Church is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Capitol Records in 2006, Church released his debut album Sinners Like Me that year...

     - country music
    Country music
    Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

     singer
  • Dale Jarrett
    Dale Jarrett
    Dale Arnold Jarrett is a former American race car driver and current sports commentator known for winning the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship...

     - NASCAR
    NASCAR
    The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

     Driver
  • Daniel Johnson
    Daniel Johnson (naval officer)
    Daniel H. Johnson is a former assistant district attorney in Wake County, North Carolina and a veteran of the United States Navy who received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for saving the life of a crewmate on the USS Blue Ridge in 1999...

    , recipient of the Navy/Marine Corps Medal and former candidate for Congress
  • E. Patrick Johnson
    E. Patrick Johnson
    E. Patrick Johnson is an African American performance artist, ethnographer, and scholar.-Contributions:Johnson has made important contributions in the fields of performance studies, critical race theory, and queer theory...

    , performance artist, ethnographer, and scholar in critical race theory
    Critical race theory
    Critical Race Theory is an academic discipline focused upon the intersection of race, law and power.Although no set of canonical doctrines or methodologies defines CRT, the movement is loosely unified by two common areas of inquiry...

     and queer theory
    Queer theory
    Queer theory is a field of critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of LGBT studies and feminist studies. Queer theory includes both queer readings of texts and the theorisation of 'queerness' itself...

  • Pauletta Pearson Washington
    Pauletta Pearson Washington
    Pauletta Pearson Washington is an American actress.In 1970, she was the first black contestant in the Miss North Carolina Pageant, a preliminary to Miss America. She was the 2nd runner-up.-Personal life:...

    - wife of actor Denzel Washington
    Denzel Washington
    Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...

  • Jon Reep
    Jon Reep
    Jon Reep is an American stand-up comedian and actor, known as the "That thing got a Hemi?" guy in Dodge commercials, and more recently as the winner of the fifth season of Last Comic Standing on NBC.-Early life:...

     - comedian
  • Matthew Settle
    Matthew Settle
    Jeffrey Matthew Settle is an American actor best known for playing Captain Ronald Speirs on the HBO show Band of Brothers and Rufus Humphrey on Gossip Girl.-Career:...

     - actor
  • Ryan Succop
    Ryan Succop
    Ryan Barrow Succop is an American football placekicker for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He is the 2009 Mr. Irrelevant after being selected by the Chiefs with the final pick of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at South Carolina.-Early years:Succop attended...

     - football
    American football
    American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

     player for the Kansas City Chiefs
    Kansas City Chiefs
    The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...

  • Tom Constanten
    Tom Constanten
    Tom Constanten is an American keyboardist, best known for playing with the Grateful Dead from 1968 to 1970.-Biography:...

     - musician, composer, former member of The Grateful Dead and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
  • Rick Barnes
    Rick Barnes
    Richard Dale Barnes is the current head coach of the University of Texas Longhorns men's basketball team. He has coached Texas for the last twelve seasons, taking the team to the NCAA Tournament each year, including a Final Four appearance led by T. J. Ford in 2003...

     - Coach for Texas Longhorns Basketball
  • Chris Hughes - Co-founder of Facebook
  • Tori Amos
    Tori Amos
    Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...

     - musician songwriter, lived in the area until she was two.
  • Chris Washburn
    Chris Washburn
    Christopher Scott Washburn is an American former professional basketball player.- College career :...

     - is an American former professional basketball
    Basketball
    Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

     player.
  • Paul Burris
    Paul Burris (baseball)
    Paul Robert Burris was a Major League Baseball catcher. Burris originally signed as a free agent in 1942 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1947, he was selected in the Minor League Draft by the Boston Braves. Burris would play at the Major League level with the team in 1948, 1950, and in 1952...

     - Pitcher for Boston/Milwaukee Braves.

Sister cities

The Western Piedmont region, including Hickory, is sister city to Altenburg
Altenburg
Altenburg is a town in the German federal state of Thuringia, 45 km south of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district.-Geography:...

, Germany.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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