Henderson County, North Carolina

Henderson County Education, Geography, and History

Henderson County is a county located in the state of North Carolina. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 106,740. Its county seat is Hendersonville.

Henderson County is part of the Asheville, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Henderson County Name

It was name in honor of Leonard Henderson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Henderson County History

Henderson was formed in 1838 from Buncombe. It was name in honor of Leonard Henderson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. It is in the western section of the State and is bounded by the state of South Carolina and Transylvania, Haywood, Buncombe, McDowell, Rutherford and Polk counties. The present land area is 374.00 square miles and the population was 89,173. The first court was to be held at the home of Hugh Johnston, at which time the justices were to decide on a place for future courts until a courthouse was erected. Commissioners were named to acquire land, lay out a town, and erect a courthouse. This town was to be named Hendersonville. The commissioners selected a site which is now called Horse Shoe, but much dissatisfaction developed over the selection and two factions arose, one called the River party and the other the Road party. The River party favored the Horse Shoe site. In 1839 the Road party enjoined the sale of lots of the site selected at Horse Shoe and the controversy soon became so heated that the Legislature ordered an election to be held to determine the location by popular vote. The Road party was successful. In 1840 Hendersonville was laid out on land deeded by Michael King of Charleston, South Carolina, for that purpose. Hendersonville is the county seat.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 375 square miles (970 km²), of which 373 square miles (970 km²) is land and 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²) (0.6%) is water. The county's largest body of water is Lake Summit, a reservoir impounded by the Duke Power Company for hydroelectric generation.

Henderson County is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but is situated in an intermontane basin formed by the French Broad River and its tributaries. The county seat is situated in a bowl surrounded by mountains. The lowest point in the county is to be found along the Rocky Broad River at approximately 1,200 feet, and the high point is located on Young Pisgah Mountain at approximately 5,200 feet. The county's major streams are the French Broad River, Mills River, Green River, Little River, Mud Creek, Clear Creek, Cane Creek and Hungry River.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Buncombe County - north
• Rutherford County - northeast
• Polk County - east
• Greenville County, South Carolina - south
• Transylvania County - west
• Haywood County - northwest

Education

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