Burke County, North Carolina
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe National Register of Historic Places includes 44 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1970. Most listings are in or near Morganton, Valdese, Linville Falls.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers
Library of CongressNewspaper directory data for North Carolina is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Burke titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP27 of 44 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
44 listed properties
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBBurke was formed in 1777 (1777-06-01) from Rowan.
BURKE created from ROWAN; western boundary limit was indefinite.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusBurke County population from 1790 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1790 | 1800 | 1820 | 1840 | 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8,118 | 9,929 | 13,411 | 15,799 | 9,237 | 12,809 | 17,699 | 23,297 | 38,615 | 45,518 | 52,701 | 72,504 | 89,148 | 87,570 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS29 cemeteries and 8 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 29 of 29 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Advent Cemetery |
| Bethel Cemetery |
| Bethel Church Cemetery |
| Bost Cemetery |
| Burke Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery |
| Burke Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Catawba Valley Baptist Church Cemetery |
| Dentons Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery |
| Erwin Cemetery |
| Forest Hill Cemetery |
| Gibbs Chapel Cemetery |
| Gilboa Methodist Church Cemetery |
| Grace Episcopal Church Cemetery |
| Hopewell Baptist Church Cemetery |
| Liberty Church Cemetery |
| McDowell Church Cemetery |
| McElrath Chapel Cemetery |
| Missionary Ridge Baptist Church Cemetery |
| Mount Olive Church Cemetery |
| Nowlings Chapel Free Will Baptist Church Cemetery |
| Oak Grove Baptist Church Cemetery |
| Obeth Cemetery |
| Olive Hill Cemetery |
| Parks Cemetery |
| Pleasant Ridge Cemetery |
| Rain Hill Church Cemetery |
| South Mountain Baptist Church Cemetery |
| Walker Top Cemetery |
| Westview Baptist Church Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 8 of 8
| Name |
|---|
| Chambers |
| Collins |
| Drowning Creek |
| Hardaway |
| Hatterbrond |
| Hickory Grove |
| Rollins |
| Tarkey Tail |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Burke County, North Carolina
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.