The story
History
The earliest European settlers of Gaston County were principally Scots Irish, Pennsylvania Dutch, and English. In the 1750s, Dutch settler James Kuykendall with Robert Leeper, and others constructed a Fort at the Point at the junction of the Catawba and South Fork Rivers. The fort was built because of ongoing hostilities with the Cherokee, but it was apparently never attacked. Tensions between the settlers and the Native American inhabitants (primarily of the Catawba tribe) were eased considerably when the boundary dispute between North Carolina and South Carolina was settled in 1772, after which most of the Catawba settled on a reservation near Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Most early farms in the area were small, cultivated primarily by white yeoman farmers of English ancestry. North Carolina's colonial policy restricted the size of land grants, and in Gaston County they tended to be about 400 acres (1.6 km2) each. One of the earliest grants in the area was given to Captain Samuel Cobrin, commander of a local militia company, on September 29, 1750.
Gaston County was founded in 1846, partitioned from Lincoln County. It is named for William Gaston, a U.S. Representative from North Carolina and member of the state supreme court.
Between 1845 and 1848, Gaston County experienced an industrial boom. During this three-year period, the first three cotton mills in the county were established. Some sources claim that the first one was established by Thomas R. Tate on Mountain Island, near the present site of Duke Energy's Mountain Island Dam and Hydroelectric Station. Other sources say that the first mill was established by the Linebergers and others on the South Fork River near McAdenville. Most sources agree that among the first three mills in operation in the county was the Stowesville Mill, founded by Jasper Stowe and associates in the South Point Community south of Belmont. Gaston County still leads all other counties in the country both in the number of spindles in operation and in the number of bales of cotton consumed.
The county seat moved from Dallas to Gastonia in 1911.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 227,943 people and 55,868 families residing in the county.
The median age was 40.7 years, 22.0% of residents were under the age of 18, and 17.1% were 65 years of age or older; there were 93.3 males for every 100 females and 90.4 males for every 100 females age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 68.8% White, 17.7% Black or African American, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 4.8% from some other race, and 6.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 8.8% of the population.
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81.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 18.9% lived in rural areas.
There were 90,799 households in the county, of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.6% were married-couple households, 18.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 98,136 housing units, of which 7.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 65.8% were owner-occupied and 34.2% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.8%.
2004 census estimate
At the 2004 census estimate, there were 194,459 people, 73,936 households, and 53,307 families residing in the county. The population density was 534 people per square mile (206 people/km2). There were 78,842 housing units at an average density of 221 units per square mile (85 units/km2).
The racial makeup of the county was 83% White, 13.9% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 1% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from other races, and 1% from two or more races. 3.00% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 92,094 males and 98,271 females in Gaston County. Of these 39,492 are under 15, 23,082 are aged 16–24, 59,096 are aged 25–44, 44,710 are aged between 45–64 and 23,985 are 65 and over. The median age is 36.89 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $39,482, and the median income for a family was $46,271. Males had a median income of $33,542 versus $23,876 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,225. About 8.30% of families and 10.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.50% of those under age 18 and 11.10% of those age 65 or over.
From Wikipedia’s article on Gaston County, North Carolina, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4