MOORE COUNTY

Moore was formed in 1784 from Cumberland. It was named in honor of Captain Alfred Moore of Brunswick. a soldier of the Revolution and afterwards a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. It is in the south central section of the State and is bounded by Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Scotland, Richmond, Montgomery, Randolph, Chatham and Lee counties. The present land area is 697.74 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 88,247. Of that population, 70,913 were white, 11,839 were black or African American, 732 were American Indian, 754 were Asian, 64 were Pacific Islander and 2,426 were of a different race. Another 1,519 were reported to be of two or more races and 5,261 were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The act establishing the county provided for the erection of the public buildings. In 1795 an act was passed which stated that the location of the courthouse was inconvenient; it named commissioners to purchase land near the center of the county and erect a new courthouse. In 1796 an act was passed establishing Carthage on land where the courthouse was to stand. In 1803 an act was passed naming commissioners to lay out a town and build a courthouse as directed in the 1796 act. In 1806 Carthage was changed to Fagansville. In 1818, Fagansville was changed back to Carthage. Carthage is the county seat.

Parts of Moore County are in the Cape Fear River Basin and parts are in the Lumber River Basin. It is also technically divide between the Coastal Plain and Piedmont regions of the state, but is considered a part of the Piedmont for statistical purposes.

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 (No results as of 7/23/10)

NC Natural Heritage Program database

WorldCat (Searches numerous library catalogs)