Morganton, North Carolina
Encyclopedia
Morganton is a city in Burke County
, North Carolina
, United States. Reader's Digest
included Morganton in its list of top ten places to raise a family. The town was recently profiled in The 50 Best Small Southern Towns. The population was 17,310 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat
of Burke County
.
Morganton is one of the principal cities in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area
.
Near the city is the significant archaeological
and historic site of Joara
, a regional chiefdom
of Mississippian culture
and the location where the Spanish
built Fort San Juan in 1567. It was settled by the Mississippian culture by 1000 CE
. It was also the first European colonial settlement in the interior of the United States, built more than 40 years before the English
settled Jamestown, Virginia
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 19.23 square miles (49.8 km²).
of 2000, there were 17,310 people, 6,829 households, and 4,117 families residing in the city. The population density
was 953.0 people per square mile (368.0/km²). There were 7,313 housing units at an average density of 402.6 per square mile (155.5/km²). The racial composition of the city was: 75.67% White, 12.76% Black or African American
, 11.16% Hispanic or Latino American
, 1.99% Asian American
, 0.55% Native American
, 0.81% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
, 6.64% some other race
, and 1.58% two or more races
.
There were 6,829 households out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples
living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families. 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.92.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.1% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,678, and the median income for a family was $42,687. Males had a median income of $29,118 versus $24,723 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $20,906. About 9.7% of families and 13.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.0% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.
In the end, 14 people were injured in the blast, of whom one man later died. In addition, at least 300 fish died due to the leaking of chemicals into a creek behind the Synthron plant which leads into the Catawba River
.
, a former Mississippian culture
village near Morganton. Fort San Juan, built there by Spanish explorers in 1567 and occupied for 18 months, is being excavated.
, which is surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains
. There are also multiple ski areas located approximately an hour from Morganton.
novel The Master of the World. The book provides a description of the town when Verne visited it in the 19th century. In the Verne novel, Morganton is the place where people see the great machine that can travel four different ways (air, above water, below water, and land). They first spot the machine over a mountain referred to as "the Great Eyrie" in Morganton. The mountain is described as a flat-topped mountain, which most local residents believe stands for Table Rock
.
Morganton is also mentioned several times in John Ehle
's novel The Land Breakers, where it is identified as the nearest established settlement at the time and the one that the characters of the novel go to for supplies.
Morganton and surrounding areas including Charlotte, Marion, Asheville, and Black Mountain (where the book is based) are also mentioned in the fictional book, "One Second After
" by William R. Forstchen
where it talks about the state mental hospital.
Leon Fink
's history The Maya of Morganton: Work and Community in the Nuevo New South provides an account of the efforts of Guatemalan-born workers in Morganton to organize a union at the Case Farms poultry plant during the 1990s. As Fink argues, the plight of immigrant workers in Morganton is emblematic of how labor and factory work have changed in the "Nuevo" South, and the relationship between globalization and the creation of new immigrant communities in the US.
Burke County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 89,148 people, 34,528 households, and 24,342 families residing in the county. The population density was 176 people per square mile . There were 37,427 housing units at an average density of 74 per square mile...
, 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...
, United States. Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
included Morganton in its list of top ten places to raise a family. The town was recently profiled in The 50 Best Small Southern Towns. The population was 17,310 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Burke County
Burke County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 89,148 people, 34,528 households, and 24,342 families residing in the county. The population density was 176 people per square mile . There were 37,427 housing units at an average density of 74 per square mile...
.
Morganton is one of the principal cities in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC 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...
.
Near the city is the significant archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and historic site of Joara
Joara
Joara was a large Native American settlement, a regional chiefdom of the Mississippian culture, located in what is now Burke County, North Carolina. Joara is notable as a significant archaeological and historic site. It was a place of encounter in 1540 between the Mississippian people and the...
, a regional chiefdom
Chiefdom
A chiefdom is a political economy that organizes regional populations through a hierarchy of the chief.In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band...
of Mississippian culture
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
and the location where the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
built Fort San Juan in 1567. It was settled by the Mississippian culture by 1000 CE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
. It was also the first European colonial settlement in the interior of the United States, built more than 40 years before the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
settled Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
.
Geography
Morganton is located at 35°44′33"N 81°41′32"W (35.742585, -81.692360).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 19.23 square miles (49.8 km²).
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
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 17,310 people, 6,829 households, and 4,117 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 953.0 people per square mile (368.0/km²). There were 7,313 housing units at an average density of 402.6 per square mile (155.5/km²). The racial composition of the city was: 75.67% White, 12.76% 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...
, 11.16% 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...
, 1.99% 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,...
, 0.55% 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...
, 0.81% 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...
, 6.64% 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 1.58% 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 6,829 households out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% 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, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families. 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.92.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.1% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,678, and the median income for a family was $42,687. Males had a median income of $29,118 versus $24,723 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 $20,906. About 9.7% of families and 13.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.0% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.
Media
- Big Dawg 92.1 WMNC-FM--#1 for Hot New Country
- Classic Hits Country 1430 WMNC-AM
- BigDawg92Fm.com
- The Morganton News-Herald, the daily newspaper (circulation 12,000)
Colleges and universities
- Western Piedmont Community CollegeWestern Piedmont Community CollegeWestern Piedmont Community College is a small community college located in Morganton, North Carolina.- Beginning :* Western Piedmont Community College was chartered on April 2, 1964, as a member of the North Carolina Community College System....
- Appalachian State University Branch
Public schools
- Freedom High SchoolFreedom High School (North Carolina)- Design :Designed in the mid-1960s and finished in 1973, Freedom High School has a then popular open classroom floor plan.- Notable alumni :* Kerri Gardin, professional basketball player* Jordan Hemby, professional football player....
- East Burke High School
- Robert Logan Patton High School
- Draughn High School
- Table Rock Middle School
- Liberty Middle School
- Walter R. Johnson Middle School
- Glen Alpine Elementary School
- Mountain View Elementary School
- Chesterfield Elementary School
- W. A. Young Elementary School
- Burke Alternative School
- College Street Academy
- Morganton Christian Academy
- North Carolina School for the DeafNorth Carolina School for the DeafThe North Carolina School for the Deaf is a state-supported residential school for deaf children established in 1894, in Morganton, North Carolina, USA.- History :...
Notable people
- Etta BakerEtta BakerEtta Baker was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer from North Carolina, United States.-Biography:...
, guitarist and singer of the Piedmont BluesPiedmont bluesPiedmont blues refers primarily to a guitar style, the Piedmont fingerstyle, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melody using the treble strings generally picked with the fore-finger,...
. - Johnny BristolJohnny BristolJohnny Bristol , was an American musician, most famous as a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
, musician and Motown producer. - Joe ChevesJoe ChevesJoe Cheves was a professional golfer and co-founder of the American Golf Association. He was born on May 23, 1918 in Cheraw, South Carolina and died in Morganton, North Carolina on July 31, 2007...
, professional golfer and member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame - Alfreda GeraldAlfreda GeraldAlfreda Gerald, is an American vocalist born in Morganton, North Carolina. Upon graduating from college, Gerald sang professional opera with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra...
, vocalist, recording artist. - Samuel James Ervin Jr., United States Senator who led the Watergate hearings
- Leon JohnsonLeon Johnson (American football)Walter Leon Johnson is a former professional American football running back. He played seven seasons for the New York Jets, the Chicago Bears, and the San Diego Chargers in the National Football League. Johnson played quarterback at Morganton's Freedom High School. He was moved to tailback at the...
, former NFL running back - Bill Leslie, TV anchor WRAL NewsWRAL-TVWRAL-TV, virtual channel 5 , is a television station in Raleigh, North Carolina. WRAL-TV has been the flagship station of Capitol Broadcasting Company since its inception, and is currently the CBS affiliate for the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill/Fayetteville area, known collectively as the Triangle...
, New Age recording artist. - Billy Joe PattonBilly Joe PattonWilliam Joseph Patton was an American amateur golfer best known for almost winning the 1954 Masters Tournament.Patton was born in Morganton, North Carolina. He graduated from Wake Forest University in 1943....
, amateur golfer who almost won the 1954 Masters Tournament, member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame - Frankie Silver, the first woman hanged in North Carolina
- Paige SummersPaige SummersPaige Summers was an American adult model. She was a former Penthouse dog and Pet of the Year...
, PenthousePenthouse (magazine)Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...
1998 Pet of the Year - Kerri Gardin, WNBA Player (Connecticut Sun)
- Aaron RamseyAaron RamseyAaron James Ramsey is a Welsh professional footballer who plays for the premier league club Arsenal and is the captain of the Wales national football team...
, mandolin and singer for bluegrass band Mountain HeartMountain HeartMountain Heart is an American folk/rock/country band. The current lineup is:-Awards and recognition:The group's entertainment, instrumental, and vocal prowess are widely acclaimed in bluegrass and other acoustic music circles...
Synthron plant explosion
On January 31, 2006 an explosion occurred at Synthron Inc, a paint additive chemical manufacturer's plant in Morganton. Workers at Synthron reported hearing a loud hiss minutes before the explosion. Most were able to escape the building before the blast, but even some who were outside were thrown as far as 20 feet. The explosion was heard and felt as far away as 50 miles. A leaky chemical reactor was blamed for the explosion.In the end, 14 people were injured in the blast, of whom one man later died. In addition, at least 300 fish died due to the leaking of chemicals into a creek behind the Synthron plant which leads into 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...
.
Joara archeological site
The oldest known European inland (non-coastal) settlement in the United States has been identified at JoaraJoara
Joara was a large Native American settlement, a regional chiefdom of the Mississippian culture, located in what is now Burke County, North Carolina. Joara is notable as a significant archaeological and historic site. It was a place of encounter in 1540 between the Mississippian people and the...
, a former Mississippian culture
Mississippian culture
The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
village near Morganton. Fort San Juan, built there by Spanish explorers in 1567 and occupied for 18 months, is being excavated.
Recreation
15 miles outside of Morganton is Lake JamesLake James
Lake James is a large reservoir in the mountains of Western North Carolina which straddles the border between Burke and McDowell Counties. It is named for tobacco tycoon and benefactor of Duke University, James Buchanan Duke. The lake lies behind a series of 4 earthen dams, and was created by...
, which is surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
. There are also multiple ski areas located approximately an hour from Morganton.
Golf courses
- Quaker Meadows Golf Course
- Mimosa Hills Golf and Country Club
- Silver Creek Plantation.
Life in literature
Morganton is the setting for the Jules VerneJules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
novel The Master of the World. The book provides a description of the town when Verne visited it in the 19th century. In the Verne novel, Morganton is the place where people see the great machine that can travel four different ways (air, above water, below water, and land). They first spot the machine over a mountain referred to as "the Great Eyrie" in Morganton. The mountain is described as a flat-topped mountain, which most local residents believe stands for Table Rock
Table Rock (North Carolina)
Table Rock is a mountain in the east rim of Linville Gorge, part of Pisgah National Forest . It features a unique rock formation, and is a prominent peak in the area....
.
Morganton is also mentioned several times in John Ehle
John Ehle
John Marsden Ehle, Jr. is an American writer known best for his fiction set in the Appalachian Mountains of the American South.-Biography and literary career:...
's novel The Land Breakers, where it is identified as the nearest established settlement at the time and the one that the characters of the novel go to for supplies.
Morganton and surrounding areas including Charlotte, Marion, Asheville, and Black Mountain (where the book is based) are also mentioned in the fictional book, "One Second After
One Second After
One Second After is a 2009 novel by American writer William R. Forstchen. The novel deals with an unexpected electromagnetic pulse attack on the United States as it affects the people living in and around the town of Black Mountain, North Carolina....
" by William R. Forstchen
William R. Forstchen
William R. Forstchen is an American author who began publishing in 1983 with the novel Ice Prophet. He is a Professor of History and Faculty Fellow at Montreat College, in Montreat, North Carolina...
where it talks about the state mental hospital.
Leon Fink
Leon Fink (historian)
Leon Fink is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago. A historian, his research and writing focuses on labor unions in the United States, immigration and the nature of work...
's history The Maya of Morganton: Work and Community in the Nuevo New South provides an account of the efforts of Guatemalan-born workers in Morganton to organize a union at the Case Farms poultry plant during the 1990s. As Fink argues, the plight of immigrant workers in Morganton is emblematic of how labor and factory work have changed in the "Nuevo" South, and the relationship between globalization and the creation of new immigrant communities in the US.