Gaston County: Gastonia

Seal of Gaston County

Location of Gaston County

County Seat Population (2018): 77,024

TWENTIETH COUNTY

Downtown Gastonia

Welcome to Gastonia, the second biggest satellite city of Charlotte, behind Concord. Being the tenth biggest county in population, and being very close to Charlotte, this county is very special, as it has the only Checkers I've ever seen in all of Western North Carolina. Aside from that, the county is still very unique.

When the county was originally made in 1846, the original county seat was Dallas, and Gastonia had a population of less than 200. After 2 failed attempts to move it to Gastonia, one of them finally succeeded in 1909, mostly because railroad ran through the city. Due to the railroad, the city became a thriving economic center, calling itself the "Combined yarn capital of the world". Later, in 1917, the first skyscraper in the town was built, with another being built in 1923. However, these were the only ones ever built.

As the city grows, much of it's small town past gets replaced with a big city future. The city lost a lot of it's original architecture with the new expansion. Despite this, the city is receiving decent population growth, with the percent between the 2000 and 2010 censuses being 8.2%, making it the 13th biggest city in the state,

The railroad going through the city, originally supporting the economy of the County

There are 15 incorporated communities in Gaston County, ranging in population from the city and county seat of Gastonia, to the small village of Dellview.  About 65% of the population lives in an urban environment.

The courthouse in Gastonia was probably the fanciest I've seen so far. It was made of glass and had fountains. Already pretty fancy, Isn't it?

The fountains near the courthouse

The county seal

Not to mention that I got the veterans memorial too.

Gaston County Veterans Memorial

Gaston County Courthouse