Caldwell County, North Carolina Genealogy

United States   North Carolina    Caldwell County

History
Caldwell County was formed in 1841 from Burke and Wilkes counties. It was named in honor of Joseph Caldwell, the first president of the University of North Carolina. He strongly advocated a public school system and a railroad across the center of the State from Morehead City to Tennessee.

Caldwell County is in the west central section of the State and is bordered by Alexander, Catawba, Burke, Avery, Watauga and Wilkes counties. The present land area is 471.60 square miles and the 2000 population was 77,386.

The court was ordered to be held at the store of George Powell near the house of George Smith, Jr., until a courthouse was erected. Commissioners were named to select a site as near the center as possible, acquire land and a town, and erect a courthouse. Lenoir, named in honor of William Lenoir, is the county seat.

Parent County
1841--Caldwell County was created 11 January 1841 from Burke and Wilkes Counties. County seat: Lenoir

Neighboring Counties

 * Alexander
 * Avery
 * Burke
 * Catawba
 * Watauga
 * Wilkes

Marriages

 * Caldwell County marriage licenses, 1878-1882 - index available from NC State Library - Word format | PDF format

Yearbooks

 * Davenport College: a few yearbooks between 1905-1932

Web Sites

 * Caldwell County NCGenWeb- free genealogy resources; a site within the USGenWeb Project