Cabarrus County, North Carolina

Cabarrus /kʌˈbærʌs/ County is a county located in the south-central part of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 178,011. The county seat is Concord, which was incorporated in 1803.

Cabarrus County is included in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Among its significant historic sites is the Reed Gold Mine, a National Historic Landmark.

History

The county was formed on December 29, 1792 from Mecklenburg County. It was named after Stephen Cabarrus of Chowan County, speaker of the North Carolina House of Commons.

The county was settled mainly by Germans on the Eastern side and the Scotch-Irish in the Western area of the county. There was a need to choose a location for the county seat to develop facilities for county government but the Germans and Scotch-Irish each wanted the county seat to be in an area close to their populations and were unable to come to an agreement. Stephen Cabarrus wrote to the citizens pleading with them to come together in peace to choose a location for their county seat. A central area of the county was chosen in 1796 and aptly named Concord, a derivative of two French words "with" and "peace." Representative Paul Barringer introduced a bill into state legislature to incorporate Concord and this bill passed on December 17, 1806. The town of Concord was begun on land owned by Samuel Huie and wife Jane Morrison Huie.