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- source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- source: Family History Library Catalog
- the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
Henderson County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 116,281. Its county seat is Hendersonville.
Henderson County is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
- the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
The county was formed in 1838 from the southern part of Buncombe County. It was named for Leonard Henderson, Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 1829 to 1833. There is no evidence Henderson ever passed through the area.
In 1855 parts of Henderson County and Rutherford County were combined to form Polk County, and in 1861 parts of Henderson County and Jackson County were combined to form Transylvania County.
Henderson County, which in 1861 encompassed present-day Transylvania County as well, contributed 1,296 soldiers to the Confederate States Army out of its approximately 10,000 population, as well as 130 Union troops. (Figures from Terrell T. Garren's "Mountain Myth: Unionism in Western North Carolina, published 2006).
Henderson County government was centered around Hendersonville in the 1905 county courthouse on Main Street, until this structure was replaced by the new Courthouse (c. 1995) on Grove Street in Hendersonville.
The first rail line reached Hendersonville in 1879, ushering in a new era of access to the outside world. However, parts of the county had long been known as retreats, including the "Little Charleston" of Flat Rock in which South Carolina's Low Country planter families had maintained second homes since the early 19th century.
A major land boom ensued in the 1920s, culminating in the crash of 1929, which severely deflated prices and left structures such as the Fleetwood Hotel atop Jumpoff Mountain incomplete. Population growth in the county has been rapid since the 1960s as a result of an influx from other states, with many new housing developments changing the face of previously rural areas of the county.
Other notable historic sites in Henderson County include: the Woodfield Inn (1852), Connemara—final home of Carl Sandburg (originally known as Rock Hill, the home of CSA Secretary of the Treasury Christopher Memminger) -- and the St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church. Today, Flat Rock is the site of the main campus of Blue Ridge Community College.
Timeline
| Date | Event | Source
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| 1835 | Land records recorded | Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
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| 1838 | County formed | Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
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| 1838 | Court records recorded | Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
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| 1838 | Marriage records recorded | Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
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| 1838 | Probate records recorded | Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
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| 1840 | First census | Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
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| 1870 | No significant boundary changes after this year | Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
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| 1914 | Birth records recorded | Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
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Population History
- source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
| Census Year | Population
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| 1840 | 5,129
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| 1850 | 6,853
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| 1860 | 10,448
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| 1870 | 7,706
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| 1880 | 10,281
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| 1890 | 12,589
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| 1900 | 14,104
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| 1910 | 16,262
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| 1920 | 18,248
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| 1930 | 23,404
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| 1940 | 26,049
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| 1950 | 30,921
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| 1960 | 36,163
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| 1970 | 42,804
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| 1980 | 58,580
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| 1990 | 69,285
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Research Tips
External links
www.hendersoncountync.org
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