Henderson County, North Carolina: History and Information

Henderson County, North Carolina

Henderson County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Hendersonville
Year Organized: 1838
Square Miles: 374

Court House:

1 Historic Courthouse Sq., Suite 1
Historic Courthouse
Hendersonville, NC 28792

Etymology - Origin of County Name

It was name in honor of Leonard Henderson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Demographics:

History

Henderson was formed in 1838 from Buncombe. It was name in honor of Leonard Henderson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. It is in the western section of the State and is bounded by the state of South Carolina and Transylvania, Haywood, Buncombe, McDowell, Rutherford and Polk counties. The present land area is 374.00 square miles and the population was 89,173. The first court was to be held at the home of Hugh Johnston, at which time the justices were to decide on a place for future courts until a courthouse was erected. Commissioners were named to acquire land, lay out a town, and erect a courthouse. This town was to be named Hendersonville. The commissioners selected a site which is now called Horse Shoe, but much dissatisfaction developed over the selection and two factions arose, one called the River party and the other the Road party. The River party favored the Horse Shoe site. In 1839 the Road party enjoined the sale of lots of the site selected at Horse Shoe and the controversy soon became so heated that the Legislature ordered an election to be held to determine the location by popular vote. The Road party was successful. In 1840 Hendersonville was laid out on land deeded by Michael King of Charleston, South Carolina, for that purpose. Hendersonville is the county seat.

Neighboring Counties:

State of South Carolina

Transylvania

Haywood

Buncombe

McDowell

Rutherford

Polk

Cities and Towns:

- Flat Rock

village

Incorporated Area

- Fletcher

town

Incorporated Area

- Hendersonville (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

- Laurel Park

town

Incorporated Area

- Mills River

town

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

North Carolina State...

North Carolina

North Carolina Counties

Henderson County, North Carolina

Henderson County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Demographics:

History

Neighboring Counties:

Cities and Towns:

County Resources:

County Resource Guide

Penn Foster High School