Hickory is a city in western North Carolina primarily located in Catawba County. The 25th most populous city in the state, it is located approximately northwest of Charlotte.

Hickory's population in the 2022 United States Census Bureau estimate was 44,084. Hickory is the main city of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 368,347 in the 2022 census, and is included in the larger Charlotte-Concord, NC Combined Statistical Area with a population of 3,387,115 in 2022.

History Hickory owes its name to the Hickory Tavern, a log structure built in the 1790s underneath a hickory tree. A monument built by the Hickory Tavern chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, resembling an old fireplace with an informational plaque marks the spot today. Per the monument, the tavern stood on a 640-acre tract of land surveyed by Col Christopher W. Beekman on 8 June 1779 and was granted to William McMullen on 28 Oct 1783. The Tavern sat on the north side of a road to Salisbury by way of Sherrill's Ford that had been petitioned by the inhabitants of Rowan County and approved on 10 May 1769 by a meeting of the Rowan County Court.

Henry Link bought the first lot in the area for $45 in 1858. The house he built was later adapted as The 1859 Cafe, a restaurant which closed in 2011.

The first train operated near Hickory Tavern in 1859. In 1868, Dr. Jeremiah Ingold, pastor of Corinth Reformed Church (then known as German Reformed Grace Church), established the Free Academy, the first school in the area. Hickory Tavern was incorporated as a town in 1870. Three years later, its name was officially changed to Hickory. In 1889, it became the City of Hickory.Hickory 150th Celebration. hickorync.gov. Retrieved July 3, 2020.

Hickory grew rapidly in the 1880s. Electric lights were installed in 1888. A year later, the Elliott Opera House opened. Decorated in French renaissance style with mythological motifs, the opera house auditorium had seating for 750; the parquet balcony fit another 350. The opera house hosted touring out of town shows, the Hickory Amateurs (the city's first acting troupe), and The Hickory Symphony Band. A fire destroyed the entire building in 1902, and it was never rebuilt. A municipal auditorium was constructed across the street in 1921, and now houses the Hickory Community Theatre.

In 1891, four Lutheran pastors founded Highland Academy with 12 students. It has developed through the decades as Lenoir–Rhyne University.

Hickory built a sewage system in 1904. The city adopted the council-manager form of government in 1913, thus becoming the first municipality in the state to hire a city manager.

Hickory is home to one of the oldest furniture manufacturers in the United States that is still located and operated on the original site. Hickory White, formerly known as Hickory Manufacturing Company, was built in 1902 and has been in continuous operation ever since. During World War II, the factory made ammunition boxes for the U.S. military instead of furniture.

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 infectious 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

In 2010, the city also came to national attention when the remains of a girl, Zahra Baker, were found. Following the police investigation, Zahra's stepmother, Elisa Baker, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The Zahra Baker All Children's playground, located in Kiwanis Park, is named in the girl's honor.

Geography Hickory is located in western Catawba County and extends westward into Burke County and Caldwell County. Interstate 40 passes through the southern part of the city, leading east to Winston-Salem and west to Asheville. U.S. Route 70 (Conover Boulevard) is an older east–west route through the city. U.S. Route 321 passes through the western part of the city, leading northwest to Boone and south to Gastonia.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.31%, is water.

Lake Hickory Lake Hickory was created on the Catawba River in 1927 with the completion of the Oxford Dam northeast of Hickory. The dam parallels the NC Highway 16 bridge over the Catawba River between Interstate 40 and Taylorsville. It is high, with an overall length of . The spillway section of the dam is long.

Lake Hickory was named after the City of Hickory and runs along its northern edge. The lake covers almost with of shoreline. Full pond elevation is . Lake Hickory is a reliable source of water for the Cities of Hickory and Conover and the Town of Long View, while also functioning as a recreation hub for boating, fishing, and other water based activities.

Duke Energy provides five public access areas on the lake in cooperation with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

Metropolitan area Hickory is the largest city within the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton metropolitan area. The Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Catawba County, Burke County, Caldwell County, and Alexander County, with a combined population – as of the 2020 Census – of 365,276.

In addition to Hickory, the MSA includes the cities of Lenoir, Morganton, Conover, and Newton, along with a number of smaller incorporated towns and cities.

Several unincorporated rural and suburban communities located nearby include Bethlehem, Mountain View, and St. Stephens.

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Hickory has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Hickory was on July 28–29, 1952, while the coldest temperature recorded was on January 21, 1985.

Demographics

2020 census +Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percentage White 28,904 66.5% Black or African American 5,995 13.8% American Indian and Alaska Native 304 0.7% Asian 1,692 3.9% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 38 0.1% Some other race 3,098 7.1% Two or more races 3,459 8.0% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 5,573 12.8%

As of the 2020 census, Hickory had a population of 43,490 and 18,273 households, and there were 9,834 families residing in the city. 26.6% of households had children under the age of 18 living in them.

The median age was 41.0 years. 21.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.0% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 90.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 86.5 males age 18 and over.

99.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.6% lived in rural areas.

Of all households, 38.7% were married-couple households, 20.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 33.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 20,064 housing units, of which 8.9% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.5%.

2010 census As of the census of 2010, there were 40,093 people, 18,719 households, and 9,952 families residing in the city. There were 18,719 housing units at an average density of . The racial composition of the city was: 74.9% White, 14.3% Black or African American, 11.4% Hispanic or Latino American, 3.2% Asian American, 0.19% Native American, 0.06% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 3.08% some other race, and 1.46% two or more races.

There were 18,719 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 age distribution of the population shows 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.

364,759 people live within of Hickory; 1.8 million people live within of Hickory.

Economy

Early industries such as wagon-making, as well as proximity to expansive forests and excellent transportation via two intersecting railroads, provided fertile ground for the emergence of the furniture industry. Likewise experience with textile manufacturing and easy access to power drove new industries in both fiber-optic cable and pressure-sensitive tape. Forty percent of the world's fiber optic cable is made in the Hickory area.Hickory's Regional Role As Leader from hickorygov.com

Adhesive tape manufacturer Shurtape Technologies is based in Hickory, with network infrastructure provider CommScope having a facility in nearby Claremont.CommScope Holding Company Profile. Fortune. Retrieved May 17, 2021.Gilbert, C. Richard. (November 13, 2023). CommScope Moves Corporate Headquarters. 860wacb.com. Retrieved August 14, 2024.

The furniture industry in Hickory is not as strong as in previous decades, but is still a primary component in the area economy. HSM (company) (formerly Hickory Springs, founded 1944) is a leading manufacturer of mattress coils. It is estimated 60% of the nation's furniture used to be produced within a radius of Hickory.

The Hickory area is marketed as a data-center corridor and is home to large data centers operated by Apple and Google. Apple's billion-dollar data center campus just south of Hickory is one of the world's largest.

Hickory is home to the corporate headquarters of third-party logistics provider Transportation Insight, a member of North Carolina's top revenue tier of privately held businesses. In 2015, the company relocated its headquarters to the historic Lyerly Full Fashioned Mill in downtown Hickory.

Major Industries Manufacturing Education Healthcare Retail Trade Professional, scientific, and management Public Administration Transportation Construction

Major employers Catawba Valley Medical Center Frye Regional Medical Center/Duke LifePoint MDI Hickory Springs Manufacturing Corning Inc. CommScope Convergys Century Furniture City of Hickory Catawba Valley Community College Performance Food Group Hickory Public Schools Sherrill Furniture Company Fiserv Transportation Insight Catawba County Catawba County Schools ITM Cataler North America

Arts and culture Hickory Museum of Art