Gaston County
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GASTON COUNTY
Gaston was formed in 1846 from Lincoln. It was named in honor of William Gaston, a member of Congress and a Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. It is in the southwestern section of the State and is bounded by the state of South Carolina and Cleveland, Lincoln and Mecklenburg counties. The present land area is 356.21 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 206,086. Of that population, 161,166 were white, 31,431 were black or African American, 850 were American Indian, 2,478 were Asian, 63 were Pacific Islander and 6,315 were of a different race. Another 3,783 were reported to be of two or more races and 12,201 were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The court was ordered to be held at the home of Jesse Holland until a courthouse could be erected. Commissioners were named to select a site for the county seat as near the center of the county as possible provided it was within two miles of Long Creek Baptist Meeting House. They were to acquire land, lay out a town by the name of Dallas, and erect a courthouse. Dallas continued to be the county seat until 1909 when Gastonia was, by popular vote, selected as the county seat.
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Gaston county is in the Catawba 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)
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I am commissioned to write a
I am commissioned to write a book about a famous African-American family in Gaston County NC They were the Hollands Family.I am very interested in Prince Holland,1823-1900. His trade/profession was a blacksmith and iron works during the building of Gaston County's railroad and the first courthouse. Who were his slaveowners before 1870? Could it have been Isaac or Jesse Holland from Gaston County.Can you reply in a timely manner? Thank you; Sammie S. Duff
Thank you for taking the time
Thank you for taking the time to submit your inquiry.
I have sent an email to you and to Genealogical Services at the State Library of North Carolina. Someone from Genealogical Services will contact you directly to discuss your questions. Their contact information may be found at http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/reference/reference.html.
Good luck in your research!
Michelle Czaikowski, Government & Heritage Library
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