Morganton, town (1990 pop. 15,085), seat of Burke co., W N.C., on the Catawba River in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mts.; founded 1784, inc. 1885. A lake resort town, it also has industries that manufacture textiles, clothing, chemicals, furniture, foam rubber, and auto and tool parts.
Morganton
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| Wikipedia: Morganton, North Carolina |
| Morganton, North Carolina | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
 |
|
| Coordinates: 35°44′33″N 81°41′32″W / 35.7425°N 81.69222°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | North Carolina |
| County | Burke |
| Founded | 1777 |
| Incorporated | 1784 |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Mel L. Cohen |
| Area | |
| - Total | 19.23 sq mi (47 km2) |
| - Land | 18.2 sq mi (47.0 km2) |
| - Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,161 ft (354 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Total | 17,310 |
| - Density | 953.0/sq mi (368.0/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) |
| ZIP codes | 28655, 28680 |
| Area code(s) | 828 |
| FIPS code | 37-44400[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 0990244[2] |
| Website | www.ci.morganton.nc.us |
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[3].
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.[4]
Contents |
Geography
Morganton is located at 35°44′33″N 81°41′32″W / 35.7425°N 81.69222°W (35.742585, -81.692360)[5].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19.23 square miles (47.0 km²).
Demographics
As of the census[1] 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/sq mi (155.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 75.67% White, 12.76% African American, 0.55% Native American, 1.99% Asian, 0.81% Pacific Islander, 6.64% from other races, and 1.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.16% of the population.
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.
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)
Education
Colleges and universities
Public schools
- Burke County Schools
- North Carolina School for the Deaf
Private schools
- Morganton Day School
Notable natives and/or residents
- Etta Baker, guitarist and singer of the Piedmont Blues.
- Johnny Bristol, musician and Motown producer.
- Alfreda Gerald, vocalist, recording artist.
- Samuel James Ervin Jr., United States Senator who led the Watergate hearings
- Leon Johnson, former NFL running back
- Bill Leslie, TV anchor WRAL News, New Age recording artist.
- Frankie Silver, the first woman hanged in North Carolina
- Paige Summers, Penthouse 1998 Pet of the Year
2004 Morganton little league all-star team
In the summer of 2004, the Morganton Little League All-Star team won the state and regional little league tournaments, and qualified for the Little League World Series. The All-Stars represented the Southeast and advanced to the United States semifinals of the event, but were defeated by the Southwest representatives from Richmond, Texas by a final score of 8-2.
Morganton was revealed during the 2008 Little League World Series as a finalist to be the new site of the Southeast Region complex, which was originally located in Gulfport, FL.
Synthron plant explosion
On January 31, 2006 an explosion occurred at Synthron Inc, a paint additive chemical manufacturers 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. As well, approximately 300 fish died due to the result of leaking chemicals into a creek behind the Synthron plant which leads into the Catawba River.
Joara archeological site
The oldest known European inland (non-coastal) settlement in the United States has been identified at Joara, 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. [6] [7] [8]
Recreation
 |
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007) |
15 miles outside of Morganton is Lake James, which is surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains. 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.
Transportation
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|
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007) |
Morganton lies on Interstate 40, and is located near the following cities
- Hickory — approximately 25 minutes
- Statesville — approximately 45 minutes
- Asheville — approximately 45 minutes
- Charlotte — approximately 1 hour
- Winston-Salem — approximately 90 minutes
Nearby airports include:
- Foothills Regional Airport also known as the Morganton-Lenior Airport (7mi North)
- Hickory Regional Airport (18mi East)
- Silver Creek Airport (Private, 3mi Southwest)
- Clyde Vally Airport (Private, 4mi South)
Life in literature
Morganton is the setting for the Jules Verne 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 "Erie (sp?)" 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.
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.
Citations
- ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Constance E. Richards, "Contact and Conflict", American Archaeologist, Spring 2008, accessed 26 Jun 2009
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "Spain Makes a Stand", Smithsonian Magazine, March 2006. Accessed 2007-08-02.
- ^ "Joara and Fort San Juan", Antiquity, March 2004.
- ^ Archaeological site, Warren Wilson College
References
- Gerald W. Sweitzer and Kathy Fields, The 50 Best Small Southern Towns, Atlanta: Peachtree Publishing Co., 2001 (ISBN 1-56145-253-X)
External links
- Morganton, North Carolina is at coordinates 35°44′33″N 81°41′32″W / 35.742585°N 81.69236°WCoordinates: 35°44′33″N 81°41′32″W / 35.742585°N 81.69236°W
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- Samuel James Ervin, Jr. (US politician)
- Samuel James Ervin (American statesman)
- Drexel Heritage Furnishings Inc.
- Feeling the Magic (1975 Album by Johnny Bristol)
- Coming Home (1988 Album by Awareness Art Ensemble)
- Johnny Bristol (Rhythm & Blues Artist, '60s-'80s)
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- WMNC
- Morganton, Tennessee
- Burke Mills, Inc.
- The News Herald (North Carolina)
- KMRN
- Petersburg, Burke County, North Carolina
