Catawba

Catawba County Firefighter's Museum
The Catawba County Firefighter's Museum traces the history and development of the fire service in Catawba County through exhibits of fire trucks, fire fighting equipment, tools, radio equipment, ladders, fire extinguishers, and other fire fighting and fire prevention artifacts. The museum also seeks to educate the public about fires, fire safety, and fire prevention, and to honor the men and women who have served in the fire service in Catawba County.

Catawba County Historical Association
Catawba County Museum of History
The Catawba County Museum of History offers testimony to the hardy settlers of the Catawba River Valley and their resourceful descendants who carved a world-renowned furniture and textile empire out of the backwoods. It is the story of the American Dream as perceived by the self-sufficient Scotch-Irish, German, English and African peoples who followed the Native American trails along the Catawba River. The story is artfully displayed in the unique setting of the former 1924 Catawba County Courthouse. The collection includes agricultural tools and implements forged from hand-dug iron ore; hand-crafted household cupboards, wagon benches, beds, tables, chests, cradles, plantation desks and miniature furniture samples shown by early salesmen. There are treasured military uniforms from the Revolution to the 20th Century and a major repository of Civil War artifacts. Textiles include hand-stitched quilts, clothes ranging from the pioneer's homespun to a debutante presentation gown created prior to the birth of England's Queen Victoria, to the jeweled frocks and hats of the Twenties flappers. Pottery samples include the primitive, simple ware of a kitchen cabin to lavishly decorative pieces and enchanting face and figure jugs. A 1930's racecar is displayed in the land where stock car racing was born. The museum also houses historical documents and photographs of Catawba County.

Catawba County Historical Association
Murray's Mill Historic District
Murray's Mill Historic Site is actually a historic complex, with four restored buildings that allow you to both see and experience life as it was generations ago. Predominant among the historic structures is the four-story grain mill, which was run by three generations of the Murray family. Although only one set of old, massive millstones are still operable, the entire mill has been restored. During your visit you will learn how grain was transported between buildings and the four levels of the mill. The large gears will turn and the original French Buhr millstones (which weigh over a ton) often grind local corn. Adjacent to the mill is the Murray & Minges General Store, which dates back to 1890, has provided merchandise for barter/sale for several generations of mill patrons. Today it is restored and opens for business, selling anything from old-time candy and yo-yo to pickles and pottery. Refreshments include delicious ice cream and ice-cold drinks. The old wheat granary, three stories high, now displays locally made folk art. John Murray's millwright home is fully restored and provides groups an opportunity to see how earlier generations lived, without the amenities offered by modern technology!

Catawba Valley Community College
Learning Resources Center
The Catawba Valley Community College Learning Resources Center seeks to collect materials to enhance the curriculum of the college. Emphasis has not been given to special collections or the history of the college, although a vertical subject file does exist and several displays of newspaper clippings from throughout the history of the college are exhibited and are available for patron use.

Hickory Landmarks Society
Maple Grove
Maple Grove (1875-1883) was the home of Adolphus Lafayette Shuford and his family, and is one of the oldest remaining houses in Hickory. It is a simple but handsome representation of the Italianate style. A.L. Shuford was a prominent early citizen of Hickory.

Hickory Landmarks Society
J. Summie Propst House
This house is the only extant example of the Second Empire style of architecture in Hickory. The outstanding architectural features of the house are the mansard roof, arched windows, and the tower decorated with the peacock or fan details in the corners. J. Summie Propst was a local contractor.

Hickory Museum of Art
The Hickory Museum of Art collects, preserves, exhibits, and interprets historic and contemporary American art of the highest quality. It serves the interests and goals of the community and the region as an educational and cultural resource. The Hickory Museum of Art is known for its impressive collection of paintings of National Academy of Design artists. The museum seeks to make its entire collection accessible and known to people of all ages, interests, and backgrounds through display, publication, and other educational means.

Arts and Science Center of Catawba Valley
Catawba Science Center
The Catawba Science Center is a science technology museum whose purpose is to further the public's understanding of science. The Center offers educational programs for children of all ages and hands-on and interactive exhibits. Exhibits inclde the Naturalist Center, Hall of life Science, Kidspace, Pre-school Gallery, Earthwatch Center, Physical Science Arcade, Science Courtyard, Raceways, and Carpenter hall where visiting and traveling exhibits are displayed.

Lenoir Rhyne College
Carl A. Rudisill Library
The Rudisill Library has a small Special Collection which includes rare books, some dating from the 1500's, old college catalogs, college yearbooks, some honors and Masters theses, the College Archives, college newspapers, newspaper clipping files, bound minutes of the Board of Trustees, the personal research library of Father Virgil Miller containing books on Latin America and Latin American history, and some local oral histories done by students.

Catawba County Historical Association
Bunker Hill Covered Bridge
The Bunker Hill Covered Bridge (1894) is one of two remaining covered bridges in North Carolina and the last example of the Haupt Truss in wood. Recently honored as a National Civil Engineering Landmark, the Bunker Hill Covered Bridge joins the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the Blue Ridge Parkway in representing North Carolina on this prestigious list. Catawba County commissioners in 1894 called on local landowners to build and maintain a bridge across Lyles Creek. In response, landowners hired the services of Andy L. Ramsour, keeper of the Horseford covered bridge over the Catawba River at Hickory. In 1895, Ramsour and several locals built the Bunker Hill Bridge according to a design Ramsour probably found in a popular book on bridge building. Originally built as an open span, it was covered five years later. The name Bunker Hill comes from local Bunker Hill Farm operated by the descendants of the Shufords and Lowrances, local families since the early 1800s. The bridge is also near the site of an early post office of the same name. Bunker Hill Bridge was part of Island Ford Road (a former Native American trail), which had remained important throughout the state's western development. During the colonial period, the road served as a route to transport British prisoners of war after the 1781 Battle of Cowpens. The bridge is made of oak with trunnels (wooden pins) instead of nails and spans 85 feet across Lyles Creek. The roof was originally covered with wooden shingles. It was replaced with tin, in 1921. A major restoration in 1994-95 has stabilized the structure.

Hickory Furniture Mart
Catawba Valley Furniture Museum
The Catawba Valley Furniture Museum offers a small but very informative display depicting the furniture manufacturing roots of Catawba County.

Patrick Beaver Memorial Library (Hickory Public Library)
Boyd Family Genealogy and Local History Room
The Patrick Beaver Memorial Library's Boyd Family History Room seeks to preserve and make available for research books, manuscripts and electronic media concerning the history and culture of Hickory and the Catawba County area and its people. General North Carolina history and genealogical reference material is also collected.

Catawba County Library
Rhodes Room
The Catawba County Library's Rhodes Genealogy and Local History Room seeks to serve patrons in their genealogy and local history needs through the collection of reference books, records abstracts, maps, family trees, genealogy notes, and subject files concerning the history of Catawba County, surrounding counties, the state of North Carolina, and related states.

Catawba County Historical Association
Harper House
The Harper House welcomes visitors as a house museum interpreting both Hickory history through the numerous families who lived in the house, and Victorian life in the South circa 1887, the date of the house's construction.

Hart's Square
Located in southwestern Catawba County, Hart's Square represents the thirty-year, continuing effort by Dr. Robert Hart of Hickory to preserve, restore, and reconstruct Carolina life during the 1840's. Dr. Hart has recreated a mid-nineteenth century village with sixty-one original log structures. Each year on the fourth Saturday in October, Dr. Hart opens his restoration project to the public. The log structures are accompanied by period dress, food, arts, crafts, trades, and music.