Morganton, North Carolina

Morganton is a city in Burke County, North Carolina, United States. “Reader's Digest” included Morganton in its list of top ten places to raise a family, and the town was recently profiled in "The 50 Best Small Southern Towns." The population was 17,310 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Burke County^GR6.

Twenty minutes outside of Morganton is the manmade Lake James, which is surrounded by the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains. The lake offers an abundance of summertime recreation that includes: fishing, boating, canoeing, and camping. Not publilcly acknowledged but still a popular conspiracy theory is that Lake James has been contaminated by runoff from the Synthron Explosion in the early 2000's. There are also multiple ski areas located approximately an hour from Morganton; these ski areas include, but are not limited to, Ski Beech, Sugar Mountain, and Hawks Nest. The most attractive quality of Morganton may be its small town atmosphere, with a central location to the major shopping centers of Hickory (30 minutes), Asheville (45 minutes), Charlotte (1 hour) and Winston-Salem (90 minutes).

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Famous residents
4 2004 Morganton little league all-star team
5 Synthron plant explosion
6 Archeological site
7 External links
8 Reference

[edit] Geography

Morganton is located at 35°44′33″N, 81°41′32″W (35.742585, -81.692360)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 47.0 km² (19.23 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 17,310 people, 6,829 households, and 4,117 families residing in the city. The population density was 368.0/km² (953.0/mi²). There were 7,313 housing units at an average density of 155.5/km² (402.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 75.67% White, 12.76% African American, 0.55% Native American, 1.99% Asian, 0.81% Pacific Islander, 6.64% from other races, and 1.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.16% of the population.

There were 6,829 households out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families. 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.1% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,678, and the median income for a family was $42,687. Males had a median income of $29,118 versus $24,723 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,906. About 9.7% of families and 13.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.0% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Famous residents

The Piedmont blues guitarist and singer Etta Baker lived in Morganton until her death in 2006.
United States Senator Samuel James Ervin Jr. was born in Morganton and lived there much of his adult life.
Retired golf pro Joe Cheves, who holds the world record for shooting the most strokes below your age, lives in Morganton.
Ron Blackburn (b. 1935 d. 1998) of the Pittsburgh Pirates (1958-59)
Former NFL running back Leon Johnson was born and raised in Morganton. Leon played in the NFL for the New York Jets, the Chicago Bears, and the San Diego Chargers. He also attended the University of North Carolina where he played football.
Writer E.F. Rochester spent the summers of 1932 and 1933 in Morganton, which inspired the settings for several of his novels.
Johnny Bristol, a musician and Motown producer, was born in Morganton.

[edit] 2004 Morganton little league all-star team

In the summer of 2004, the Morganton Little League All-Star team won the state and regional little league tournaments, and qualified for the Little League World Series. The All-Stars represented the Southeast and advanced to the United States semifinals of the event, but were defeated by the Southwest representatives from Richmond, Texas by a final score of 8-2.

[edit] Synthron plant explosion

On January 31, 2006 an explosion occurred at Synthron Inc, a paint additive chemical manufacturers plant in Morganton. Workers at Synthron reported hearing a loud hiss minutes before the explosion. Most were able to escape the building before the blast, but even some who were outside were thrown as far as 20 feet. The explosion was heard and felt as far away as 50 miles. A leaky chemical reactor was blamed for the explosion.

Synthron is based in France and operated by the Protex Group.

Around 300 fish died due to the result of leaking chemicals into a creek behind the Synthron plant which leads into the Catawba River In the end, 14 people were injured in the blast, of whom one man later died.

[edit] Archeological site

The oldest known European inland (non-coastal) settlement in the United States has been identified near Morganton. The foundation of this fort, built by Spanish explorers in the 1540s, is now being excavated, according to an article in Smithsonian Magazine.