Hickory, North Carolina
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| Hickory, North Carolina |
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | United States |
| State | North Carolina |
| County | Catawba County, North Carolina |
| Mayor | G. Rudy Wright, Jr. |
| Area | |
| - City | 28.1 mi² - 72.7 km² |
| - Land | 28.1 mi² - 72.7 km² |
| - Water | 0.0 mi² - 0.0 km² |
| Elevation | 362 m |
| Population | |
| - City (2000) | 37,222 |
| - Density | 512.0/km² |
| - Metro | 341,851 |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Website: http://www.hickorygov.com | |
Hickory is a city in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States. Hickory is the economic, social, and cultural center of the Catawba Valley. As of the 2000 census, the city had a Metropolitan Combined Statistical Area population of 341,851, making it the 4th largest metropolitan area in North Carolina. The CSA, which includes Catawba County, North Carolina, Caldwell County, North Carolina, Burke County, North Carolina, and Alexander County, North Carolina is often referred to as the "Unifour", although this name is largely unknown outside the region. Hickory is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 1998 Money Magazine's "most livable place to live" (ranked 16th among medium-sized southern cities) and being twice-named an "All American City,"
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[edit] History
In the 1790s, a tavern was built in the northwest section of Catawba county. This area became known as Hickory Tavern. This name remained intact for almost 100 years. The city of Hickory was incorporated in 1870.
Hickory was known in the years after World War II for the "Miracle of Hickory". In 1944 the area around Hickory (the Catawba Valley) became the center of one of the worst outbreaks of polio ever recorded. Residents who were then children recall summers of not being allowed to play outside or visit friends for fear of contracting the disease. Since local facilities were inadequate to treat the victims, the citizens of Hickory and the March of Dimes decided to build a hospital to care for the children of the region. From the time the decision was made until equipment, doctors, and patients were in a new facility, took less than 54 hours. Several more buildings were quickly added. A Red Cross official on the scene praised the project "as the most outstanding example of cooperative effort he has ever seen." (Hickory Daily Record, June 30, 1944) Although few good references are available online, an interesting side to this story is found here.
[edit] Geography
Hickory is located at (35.737682, -81.328372)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 72.7 km² (28.1 mi²). 72.7 km² (28.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.04% is water.
Hickory is also home to a couple of massive sinkholes.
One such sinkhole appeared on August 17th, 2002, during one the area's worst rainstorms of the decade, in the parking lot of Buffalo's, a southwestern restaurant, just off of Highway 70. The hole suddenly opened after an old water main running underneath the city collapsed, causing the earth above it to fall into the pipe. The hole took nearly a year to fill in properly, and caused several floods on the highway during rain. Local legend has it that a man who had just purchased a new Chevrolet Corvette was eating in the restaurant when the sinkhole appeared. The car fell into the hole, and was, after several days of shifing rock and pressure, crushed. The man came back to the place where his car had fallen in, just to see if the crews were able to save any of it, and just at that time the license plate of his car was shot out of the hole by the pressure. He picked it up, and went on to buy a new Corvette. [citation needed]
[edit] Economy
The Hickory area is home to many leading manufacturers of furniture and fiber optic cable. Forty percent of the world's fiber optic cable is made in the Hickory area.[1] The region is the home of Vanguard, Bernhardt, Broyhill, Boyles, Century Chair, Century Furniture, Classic Leather, Drexel Heritage, Henredon, Hickory Chair and Mitchell Gold furniture companies. Hickory is also headquarters to optical fiber cable maker Corning Cable Systems, telecommunications cable manufacturer CommScope, and wholesale grocery store distributor Merchants Distributors, Inc. (MDI). Leather Miracles, a successful leather and furniture manufacture, also serves as a profitable business that allows the Hickory economy to flourish.
[edit] Education
[edit] Colleges and Universities
- Catawba Valley Community College
- Lenoir-Rhyne College
- HMHEC - Higher education center hosting regional universities' programs
[edit] Public Schools
- Catawba County Schools
- Hickory City Schools
- Newton-Conover City Schools
[edit] People and culture
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 37,222 people, 15,372 households, and 9,361 families residing in the city. The population density was 512.0/km² (1,326.1/mi²). There were 16,571 housing units at an average density of 227.9/km² (590.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 77.23% White, 14.09% African American, 0.19% Native American, 3.90% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 3.08% from other races, and 1.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.69% of the population.
There were 15,372 households out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.1% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,236, and the median income for a family was $47,522. Males had a median income of $31,486 versus $23,666 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,263. About 8.4% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Media
- The local newspaper is the Hickory Daily Record.
- WHKY, 1290 AM, is the local radio station.
- The local telvision station is WHKY-TV, channel 14.
[edit] Sports
Hickory is home to the minor league baseball Hickory Crawdads. It is also home to the Hickory Motor Speedway, which hosts Dodge Weekly Series events. Until 2004, Hickory was home to the minor league basketball Hickory Nutz, who finished 17-0 in the 2003, the Carolinas League's final season.
[edit] Notable residents
Hickory is the hometown of the infamous SuperShadow (real name Mickey Suttle), who has been making wild claims to the Star Wars community since Episode I: The Phantom Menace came out in 1999. However, many of his claims have turned out to be false. A WHOIS search on the notorious disinformationist verifies Hickory, NC, as SuperShadow's hometown.
Among Hickory's other famous current or former citizens are 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion and 3-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarrett and his father, 2-time NASCAR champion Ned Jarrett, fellow drivers Andy Houston, Tommy Houston, and Andy Petree, former NFL player Mike Collins, nationaly ranked runner Ryan Hill, and actor Matthew Settle.
[edit] Sister cities
The Western Piedmont region, including Hickory, is sister city to Altenburg, Germany.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Hickory's Regional Role As Leader from hickorygov.com
- ^ Western Piedmont Sister Cities Association
[edit] External links
- Official website of Hickory, NC
- Catawba County Chamber of Commerce
- Catawba County Historical Association
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
