DAVIDSON COUNTY

Davidson was formed in 1822 from Rowan. It was named in honor of General William Lee Davidson, a gallant soldier of the Revolution, who was killed at Cowan's Ford. When General Greene retreated across North Carolina before Cornwallis in 1781, he stationed troops under Davidson at Cowan's Ford on the Catawba River to delay the British army. The British attacked the Americans, killing General Davidson, and forced a passage. The United States government has erected a monument in his honor on Guilford Battle Ground. The county is in the central section of the State and is bounded by Randolph, Montgomery, Rowan, Davie, Forsyth, and Guilford counties. The present land area is 552.15 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 162,878. Of that population, 137,359 were white, 14,421 were black or African American, 794 were American Indian, 1,994 were Asian, 27 were Pacific Islander and 5,871 were of a different race. Another 2,412 were reported to be of two or more races and 10,408 were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Lexington is the county seat.

Do you have digital photographs of Davidson County to add to this slideshow?

Davidson County is in the Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin and is a part of the Piedmont region of the state.

References:

"American Factfinder." 2011. U. S. Census Bureau. Online at http://factfinder2.census.gov/. Accessed 3/3/2011.

Corbitt, David L. 2000. The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943. Sixth printing. Raleigh: State Department of Archives and History.

Powell, William Stevens, and Michael R. Hill. 2010. The North Carolina gazetteer: a dictionary of Tar Heel places and their history. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Additional resources:

North Carolina Digital Collections (Government & Heritage Library and NC State Archives)

NC LIVE resources

NC Natural Heritage Program database

WorldCat (Searches numerous library catalogs)