Gaston 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 38 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1973. Most listings are in or near Gastonia, Belmont, Dallas.
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 Gaston titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP19 of 38 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
38 listed properties
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBGaston was formed in 1846 (1846-12-21) from Lincoln.
GASTON created from LINCOLN.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusGaston County population from 1850 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1850 | 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8,073 | 9,307 | 14,254 | 27,903 | 51,242 | 87,531 | 110,836 | 127,074 | 162,568 | 190,365 | 227,943 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
National Park Service sites nearby
NPSPark units within about 40 km of the county centroid (from NPS Public POIs; no API key).
| Site | Type | Dist. |
|---|---|---|
| Kings Mountain National Military Park | Park unit | 24.4 km |
Source: NPS National Datasets / Public POIs. The NPS Developer API requires a free key and was not used.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS39 cemeteries and 7 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 39 of 39 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Aviary Gardens |
| Belmont Abbey Cemetery |
| Berea Church Cemetery |
| Castanea Church Cemetery |
| Center Church Cemetery |
| Cherryville City Memorial Cemetery |
| Christs Lutheran Church Cemetery |
| Craig Family Cemetery |
| Ebenezer Church Cemetery |
| Edgewood Cemetery |
| Firestone Cemetery |
| Firestone Memorial Cemetery |
| Gaston Memorial Cemetery |
| Gethsemane Church Cemetery |
| Greenwood Cemetery |
| Hickory Grove Cemetery |
| Hillcrest Cemetery |
| Hollywood Cemetery |
| Mauney Cemetery |
| Morningside Cemetery |
| Mount Holly Cemetery |
| Mount Pleasant Cemetery |
| Mount Pleasant Church Cemetery |
| Mount Zion Church Cemetery |
| New Hope Church Cemetery |
| North Oakland Street Cemetery |
| O'Conner Grove AME Zion Church Cemetery |
| Oakwood Cemetery |
| Olney Church Cemetery |
| Pineview Cemetery |
| Pisgah Cemetery |
| Rose Hill Cemetery |
| Sandy Plains Church Cemetery |
| Shiloh Cemetery |
| Smith Cemetery |
| Snow Hill Cemetery |
| Springfield Memorial Church Cemetery |
| Union Church Cemetery |
| Westview Gardens Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 7 of 7
| Name |
|---|
| Begonia |
| Caldwell |
| Catawba |
| Cathey |
| Crowders |
| Hoylesville |
| Woodland |
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 Gaston County, North Carolina
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.