Taylorsville, North Carolina

Taylorsville is a town in Alexander County, North Carolina, United States.

Taylorsville is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The town of Taylorsville was formed in 1847 along with Alexander County. A commission of William Dula of Caldwell County, Dr. James Calloway of Wilkes County, Milton Campbell of Iredell County, and Robert Allen, Reuben Watts and Robert L. Steel of Alexander County were named to select a site as near the center of the county as possible for the seat of justice. The town was named Taylorsville in honor of General Zachary Taylor who at that time was in Mexico engaged in the Mexican–American War.

The land for the town was donated by J.M. Bogle who gave , William Matheson who gave and James James who gave 11 acres for a total of 46 acres. Most of the land was woodland, and the road from Statesville to Morganton passed to the south of town.

A commission of Alexander C. McIntosh, R.L. Steel, Sion Harrington, J.H. Newland, and George Swaim, treasurer, were appointed to lay out the town of Taylorsville and sell lots to raise money for the building of a courthouse and jail. An auction of lots was held August 11, 1847, and 47 lots were sold. The second sale was November 30, 1847, and 10 lots were sold. At a third auction on March 8, 1848, five lots were sold. The total amounted to $6,674.75 ().

The town of Taylorsville was incorporated in 1879. The first mayor was John Watts and was appointed by the commissioners. The boundaries of the incorporated town were square, with each side 160 poles or one-half mile long.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which , or 0.17%, is water.

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Taylorsville had a population of 2,320. The median age was 42.6 years. 21.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 24.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 77.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 70.5 males age 18 and over.

0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 1,005 households in Taylorsville, of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 31.4% were married-couple households, 20.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 43.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 573 families residing in the town.

!scope="col"| Race

!scope="col"| Number

!scope="col"| Percentage

!scope="row"| White (non-Hispanic)

| 1,776

| 76.55%

!scope="row"| Black or African American (non-Hispanic)

| 238

| 10.26%

!scope="row"| Native American

| 4

| 0.17%

!scope="row"| Asian

| 17

| 0.73%

!scope="row"| Other/Mixed

| 110

| 4.74%

!scope="row"| Hispanic or Latino

| 175

| 7.54%

2000 census

thumb|right|Taylorsville Town Hall

As of the census However, 9% of students at Challenger Early College High School (a public high school in Hickory, North Carolina operated by Catawba County Schools) reside in Alexander County.

Notable people

Charles E. Allen, former Undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the US Department of Homeland Security
Henlee Hulix Barnette, American social activist and professor of Christian ethics
Zach Brzykcy, MLB pitcher
Harry Deal and the Galaxies, longtime "beach music" band
Harry Gant, former NASCAR Cup Series driver, member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame
Wesley Harris, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives
Romulus Z. Linney, U.S. congressman from 1895 to 1901
Jim Poole, MLB first baseman
Jerry Rushing, bootlegger and inspiration for The Dukes of Hazzard
Guppy Troup, former professional ten-pin bowler, member of the PBA Hall of Fame
Kyle Troup, professional ten-pin bowler
Onur Tukel, filmmaker
William Vanderbloemen, entrepreneur, pastor, speaker, and author
Rex White, former NASCAR Grand National Division (now Cup Series) champion, member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame