Cleveland County: Shelby

Seal of Cleveland County

Location of Cleveland County

County Seat Population (2016): 20,260

Ah, the last county in the western region. This county is known for many things, from historical battles, politics, and it's powerful textile economy. Welcome to Cleveland County.

Downtown Shelby

Shelby is a small town, but is famous for many things. Near the end of the Charlotte Metropolitan Area, the town's only traffic is people trying to get to Charlotte. All of the streets are named after Revolutionary War heroes, such as DeKalb, Marion and Sumter. The town itself was also named after a Revolutionary War hero, Issac Shelby.

The history of the county and Shelby itself is quite unique. In the nearby town of Kings Mountain, one of the most important battles of the Revolutionary War was held, the Battle of Kings Mountain. Here, the American army won and halted British advance into North Carolina.

In the 1880s, the "Shelby Dynasty" political movement started to rise, and by the 1930s, started to become mainstream. This didn't only effect Shelby, but also the state of North Carolina as a whole. This political movement claimed that the eastern and western part of the state will alternate governors from each side of the state. The dynasty would last over 20 years, but eventually started fading away in the late 40s.

The town's economy used to rely solely upon textiles and cotton, but after 1978 eventually started to diversify, as those 2 businesses where becoming less profitable. Today, Shelby relies on grain farming, merchandising, and plenty of other businesses.

The county was named after another Revolutionary War hero, Colonel Benjamin Cleveland, of Wilkes County. After driving around a bit, we spotted the courthouse and it's gold-colored dome. I was not able to get a veterans memorial, because there was none.

Cleveland County Courthouse