Mooresville, North Carolina

Mooresville is a city in Iredell County, North Carolina, USA. It is in the Metrolina metro area. The population was 32,000 per the city 2010 estimate. It is located approximately 20 miles north of Charlotte.

Mooresville is best known as the home of many NASCAR racing teams, as well as racing technology suppliers, which has earned the city the nickname "Race City USA." Also located in Mooresville is the corporate headquarters of Lowe's Companies and Universal Technical Institute's NASCAR Technical Institute.

The current Mayor of Mooresville is Chris Montgomery. He was elected in November 2009.

Geography
Mooresville is located at °N, °W (35.584337, -80.820139).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 14.7 square miles (38.1 km²), of which, 14.7 square miles (38.0 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.20%) is water.

History
Mooresville was started in 1856 when a railroad was to come through the area needing a point to place a few cotton weighing scales. The area happened to sit directly on the site of the prosperous plantation of John Franklin Moore, and his wife Rachel Summrow Moore. Not only did Moore donate land for the weighing station, but he also gave land for a Depot, and land for several people to start up a town upon. Up until 1873, the town was known as Moore's Siding, with town growth stumbling with the Civil War. In 1873, the Town was incorporated as Mooresville, with 25 families, and several others living within its boundaries. Growth eventually came,and soon the town began to prosper, and by 1900, Mooresville had 1000 residents living within its boundaries. The town slowly but steadily grew throughout the twentieth century, and like many small towns in North Carolina its economy centered around a few large textile and furniture factories. However, in the 1980s the nearby city of Charlotte began to see enormous population growth, and today Mooresville is increasingly a suburban "bedroom community" for Charlotte-area workers. The town has experienced rapid population growth in recent years, and considerable housing and shopping-center development as well.

The area was already home to Europeans prior to 1856. Two very large prosperous plantations, Mount Mourne Place and Belmont, were in the area, with Belmont dating to before the Revolutionary War. There were also several other smaller plantations in the area, and many farms in the area as well. Well before the Europeans came though, The Catawba Indians used the area as hunting grounds, and legend holds that in the area is an old Indian burial mound, which is yet to be discovered.

Mooresville was once home to a professional minor league baseball. The Mooresville Moors played in the Class D North Carolina State League from 1937-1942. The league ceased operations for two seasons due to World War II but was reorganized in 1945. That season's team was known as the Mooresville Braves, due to the fact it was part of the Boston Braves farm system. The following season, 1946, the club returned to its traditional Moors nickname and remained in the league until it disbanded after the 1952 season. In 1953 a new Class D league, known as the Tar Heel League, was formed and the Mooresville Moors were members for its one season of existence. At least two former members of the Moors went on to play in the Major Leagues, pitchers Dave Jolly and Hoyt Wilhelm, who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Race City USA
Mooresville is also known as Race City, USA. The town is home to more than 60 NASCAR teams and racing related businesses. Mooresville features two automotive museums: The Memory Lane Motorsports and Historical Automotive Museum and the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame also serves as the town’s official visitor’s center, where you can see Alan Kulwicki’s championship winning 1992 Ford, and Curtis Turner’s famous “Purple Hog, a 1956 Ford race car.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 18,823 people, 7,139 households, and 5,082 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,281.6 people per square mile (494.7/km²). There were 7,741 housing units at an average density of 527.1 per square mile (203.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 81.54% White, 14.23% African American, 0.36% Native American, 1.66% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.14% from other races, and 1.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.55% of the population 1.24%.

There were 7,139 households out of which 39.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the town the population was spread out with 28.7% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 34.3% from 25 to 44, 18.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $42,943, and the median income for a family was $51,011. Males had a median income of $39,524 versus $24,939 for females. The per capita income for the town was $20,549. About 5.6% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.5% of those under age 18 and 12.3% of those age 65 or over.

Schools
Mooresville is primarily served by the Mooresville Graded School District, but is also partly in the Iredell-Statesville School System. A proposal in the 2007 North Carolina State Budget could have possibly consolidated the two systems. It states that only one School System in a county would be funded. It was stalled in committee though and failed passage. Previous attempts to consolidate have been defeated.

By 2010 every student in the Fourth through Twelfth grades in the Mooresville Graded School District will have a Macbook laptop. Mooresville recently built a new Intermediate school and Elementary school, then moved the middle school to MIS, and is using the old middle school as the Freshman campus of the Mooresville High School

In 2010, Mooresville Graded School District dedicated and re-named the high school's football stadium after Coach Joe Popp. Coach Popp and the 1961 Mooresville Blue Devils won the NC State High School Football Championship and remain the only team from Mooresville to have that honor. Coach Popp is also a member of the Catawba College Sports Hall of Fame. Coach Popp Stadium is located behind the Freshman Campus of Mooresville High School.

Mooresville is also the location of a campus of Mitchell Community College, whose main campus is in Statesville, the county seat of Iredell County.

The Mooresville Graded School District

 * Park View Elementary (grades K-3)
 * South Elementary (grades K-3)
 * Rocky River Elementary (grades k-3)
 * East Mooresvlle Intermediate(Grades 4-6)
 * Mooresville Intermediate(Grades 4-6)
 * Mooresville Middle School (Grades 7-8)
 * Mooresville High School (Grades 9-12)
 * N.F. Woods Technology & Art Center (Part of MHS)

Iredell-Statesville School District

 * Mt. Mourne International Baccalaureate School
 * Woodland Heights Elementary School
 * Lake Norman Elementary School
 * Lakeshore Elementary School
 * Shepherd Elementary School
 * Brawely Middle School
 * Lakeshore Middle School
 * Lake Norman High School
 * South Iredell High School
 * Collaborative College for Technology and Leadership (Early College High School program)
 * Coddle Creek Elementary
 * Mount Mourne IB School

Private schools

 * Lake Norman Christian School
 * Mooresville Christian Academy
 * Cannon School (located in Concord, North Carolina)
 * Davidson Day School (located in Davidson, North Carolina)
 * Woodlawn School, located 1 mile north of Davidson College

Charter schools

 * Pine Lake Preparatory School

Sister Cities

 * [[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|20px|]] Hockenheim, Germany
 * [[Image:Flag of France.svg|20px|]] Commercy, France

Notable residents

 * Dale Earnhardt - NASCAR Hall of Famer
 * Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - NASCAR driver
 * Chris Mann - Iron Chef
 * Kasey Kahne - NASCAR driver
 * J. B. Mauney - bull rider for the PBR association
 * Julius Peppers - Defensive end for the Carolina Panthers and the Chicago Bears
 * Reed Sorenson - NASCAR driver
 * Greg Biffle - NASCAR driver
 * Joe Nemechek - NASCAR driver
 * Casey Kasem
 * Shane Proctor - bull rider for the Professional Bull Riders Association  (PBR)
 * Kerry Earnhardt - retired NASCAR driver
 * Kyle Busch - NASCAR driver
 * Will Power - IndyCar driver
 * Ryan Briscoe - IndyCar driver
 * Curtis Opekun