Lenoir, North Carolina

Lenoir ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Caldwell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 18,263 at the 2020 census. Lenoir is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. To the northeast are the Brushy Mountains, a spur of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Hibriten Mountain, located just east of the city limits, marks the western end of the Brushy Mountains range.

Lenoir is one of the principal cities in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Lenoir was established in 1841 and incorporated in 1851. The city was named for Revolutionary War general and early North Carolina statesman William Lenoir, who settled north of present-day Lenoir. His restored home, Fort Defiance, is a tourist attraction.

Early history

The original settlement of Lenoir was known as Tucker's Barn, after a Tucker family that settled on the north side of Lower Creek around 1765. The homestead eventually served as a voting precinct, a muster ground, a store, and a place for celebrations. When Caldwell County was formed in 1841, a commission was appointed to choose a location for the county seat. One member proposed the south side of Lower Creek (today, the Whitnel area) because of its view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. However, since most of the county's population was on the north side of Lower Creek, the Tucker's Barn site was chosen, where Lenoir is today.

American Civil War

During Gen. Stonemans final raid in 1865 during the American Civil War, he passed through Lenoir on March 28 and again on April 15. On March 29, 1865, a small skirmish took place near Lenoir.

Along with this; multiple Civil War companies were formed with soldiers from Lenoir and Caldwell County. These companies served in various different regiments within the Confederate States Army. There were also Southern Unionists who supported the Union within Caldwell County, with local Confederate deserters and resisters joining with them as the war went on.

Following the Civil War, Clinton A. Cilley, a Union Army Medal of Honor recipient, would settle in Lenoir. He worked as a lawyer, eventually becoming a civic leader, judge, and elected as Mayor of Lenoir.

National Register of Historic Places locations

In addition to Fort Defiance, the Caldwell County Courthouse, Lenoir Downtown Historic District, Lenoir Grammar School, Lenoir High School, Mary's Grove, and Edgar Allan Poe House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

Lenoir is southeast of the center of Caldwell County, and is bordered to the south by the towns of Hudson and Cajah's Mountain, and to the southwest by the town of Gamewell.

The city is at the intersection of U.S. Highways 64 and 321. US 64 leads east to Statesville and southwest to Morganton, while US 321 leads north to Boone and southeast to Hickory.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Lenoir has a total area of , all land. The city is in the valley of Lower Creek, between the Brushy Mountains to the east and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west. Lower Creek flows southwest to the Catawba River valley.

Climate

Lenoir has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa), with cool to mild winters and warm, humid summers. Due to the city's proximity to the Blue Ridge Mountains, temperatures tend to be slightly cooler than areas to the east.

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Demographics

thumb|upright=1.3|View of Lenoir from [[Hibriten Mountain]]

2020 census

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"

|+Racial composition as of the 2020 census

!scope="col"| Race

!scope="col"| Number

!scope="col"| Percentage

!scope="row"| White

| 13,493

| 73.5%

!scope="row"| Black or African American

| 2,141

| 11.7%

!scope="row"| American Indian and Alaska Native

| 91

| 0.5%

!scope="row"| Asian

| 183

| 1.0%

!scope="row"| Pacific Islander

| 7

| 0.0%

!scope="row"| Some other race

| 1,148

| 6.3%

!scope="row"| Two or more races

| 1,289

| 7.0%

!scope="row"| Hispanic or Latino (of any race)

| 2,058

| 11.2%

As of the 2020 census, Lenoir had a population of 18,352. The median age was 42.0 years. 21.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 90.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.2 males age 18 and over.

There were 7,600 households in Lenoir, of which 4,539 were families; 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 37.7% were married-couple households, 20.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 35.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There was controversy over the nature, amount, and potential benefits of economic development incentives that the City of Lenoir, Caldwell County, and the State of North Carolina gave Google in 2007 to induce the company to build the server farm. The less celebrated benefits of the investment have been construction employment and spending, a small-time server farm investment just outside downtown, Dacentec, as well as local charitable and educational endeavors by Google.

Wholesale nurseries, shipping large balled and burlap plants to landscapers in metropolitan areas, have been a strong source of employment in Lenoir over the last 75 years. Local nurseries employ around two percent of the local population.

Parks and recreation

thumb|Hibriten Mountain

thumb|Top of Hibriten Mountain

5.3 mile Greenway system
Mack Cook Stadium
Mulberry Recreation Center
T. Henry Wilson Athletic Park
T.H. Broyhill Walking Park
Lenoir Rotary Soccer Complex
J.E. Broyhill Park
Martin Luther King Center
Zack's Fork Mountain Bike Trail

Teams

Lenoir Youth Soccer Association / Lenoir Force (LYSA Force), a travel soccer team in Lenoir
Caldwell County Youth Football League
Post 29 Youth Baseball
Carolina Express Basketball

Recreation

The Lenoir Aquatic and Fitness Center is open to the public and features an Olympic size swimming pool, indoor junior size swimming pool, water slides, racquetball courts, exercise equipment, a steam and weight room, locker rooms, covered shelters, and a walking and mountain bike training system.
The 18-hole Lenoir Golf Club in Lenoir features 6,385 yards of golf, with a course rating of 71.3 and a slope rating of 125, on Bermuda grass. The course opened with nine holes in 1928, was redesigned by Donald Ross in 1945, and was expanded to 18 holes in 1961.

Hiking

Nearby Hibriten Mountain has a hiking trail, climbing on a gated-gravel road.

Education

High schools

Caldwell Applied Sciences Academy
Caldwell Early College High School
Hibriten High School
South Caldwell High School
West Caldwell High School

Middle schools

Gamewell Middle School
William Lenoir

K–8 schools

Happy Valley School
Kings Creek School
Oak Hill Charter School

Elementary schools

Davenport A+ School
Gamewell Elementary School
Lower Creek Elementary School
Valmead Elementary School
West Lenoir Elementary School
Whitnel Elementary School

Alternative schools

Horizons Elementary
Gateway School

College

Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute

Media

WKVS, Kicks 103.3 FM, local country music radio station
WJRI, Star 94.7 FM, 100.5 FM & 1340 AM, local adult hits radio station
WKGX, 104.5 FM, 99.5 FM & AM 1080, local classic hits radio station
W218BW, FM 91.5, translator for WETS, East Tennessee State University radio station
News-Topic, local newspaper in Lenoir and Caldwell counties
The Presbyterian Layman, a publication of the Presbyterian Lay Committee independent of the denomination, is published in Lenoir.

Infrastructure

Highways

20px US 321
20px US 64
20px NC 18
20px NC 90
20px NC 268

Notable people

Johnny Allen, MLB pitcher, World Series Champion with the New York Yankees in 1932 and All-Star selection in 1938
Claude Baker, composer
Grant Barnette, ultramarathon runner
Leonard Bolick, bishop of the ELCA North Carolina Synod
Jim Broyhill, former United States congressman for North Carolina from 1962 to 1986, U.S. senator from July 1986 to November 1986
Ervin M. Bruner, former Wisconsin state assemblyman
Madison Bumgarner, MLB pitcher, four-time All-Star selection, three-time World Series champion and 2014 World Series MVP with the San Francisco Giants
Clinton A. Cilley, military officer, lawyer, judge, and politician
Linda Combs, former U.S. government official
Charlie Cozart, MLB pitcher for the Boston Braves
Lindsay Deal, MLB outfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers
Nick Easton, former NFL offensive lineman
Bob Gibbons, high school basketball sports scout
Destin Hall, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives, representing the 87th district
Jan Karon, New York Times-bestselling author of the Mitford Series and the Father Tim novels
William Lenoir, Revolutionary War general and namesake of Lenoir
Harry Martin, former North Carolina Supreme Court justice
Bob McCreary, former NFL player and entrepreneur
Kary Banks Mullis, biochemist and Nobel laureate; inventor of the polymerase chain reaction
James Pritchett, actor who played the central character of Dr. Matt Powers on The Doctors soap opera for its entire 1963 to 1982 run
Joseph Robinson, former principle oboist with the New York Philharmonic
Larry Smith, former NASCAR driver
Carl Story, influential bluegrass musician
Magruder Tuttle, rear admiral in the U.S. Navy
Rube Walker, MLB catcher, two-time World Series Champion with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers
Verlon Walker, former MLB coach
Stephanie Powell Watts, author
Louis Round Wilson, university librarian and first director of the library school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1901–1932
John G. Witherspoon, captain in the United States Coast Guard
George Younce, southern gospel vocalist, known for singing bass with The Cathedrals