Salisbury

Sister cities

• Salisbury

History

In 1753 an appointed Anglo-European trustee for Rowan County was directed to enter of land for a County Seat, and public buildings were erected. The deed is dated February 11, 1755, when John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville conveyed for the "Salisbury Township". The settlement was built at the intersection of longtime Native American trading routes. It became an economic hub along what was improved as the Great Wagon Road in North Carolina. It became the principal city of the Salisbury judicial and militia districts in the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War. During the United States Civil War, Salisbury was home to the first and only Confederate Prison in North Carolina, used to house captured Union prisoners-of-war (POWs), dissident Southerners, and Confederate defectors. On July 9, 1861, six weeks after North Carolina declared secession from the Union, the Confederate government asked Governor Henry T. Clark if the state could provide a place to hold prisoners of war (POWs). The 20-year-old Maxwell Chambers textile mill in Salisbury, then vacant, was retrofitted for that purpose. The prison was only designed to hold up to 2,500 prisoners, but by 1864, more than 10,000 prisoners had arrived due to the fall of Atlanta and the ongoing siege of Richmond, Virginia. By February 1865, prisoners were transferred out of the Salisbury prison, and in April 1865, Union Major General George Stoneman destroyed the prison and other Confederate installations collectively known as the Salisbury Arsenal. The next month, Federal troops occupied the town, and in early September 1865 the Union commander turned over civil control of Salisbury to local town officials. The Salisbury National Cemetery was established on a portion of the former prison site, starting because…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, as of 2010, the city has a total area of , all land. Salisbury is located in the Central Piedmont of North Carolina in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city is 21 miles north of Concord, 38 miles south of Winston-Salem, and 25 miles northeast of Charlotte.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,213
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  2,921
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  2,434
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,320
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,282
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,247
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,226
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  2,221

Largest nearby schools

• Carson High
  High · China Grove · 1,170 students · 19.5:1 ratio
• West Rowan High
  High · Mount Ulla · 1,113 students · 19.2:1 ratio
• East Rowan High
  High · Salisbury · 1,032 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• Salisbury High
  High · Salisbury · 959 students · 18.1:1 ratio
• South Rowan High
  High · China Grove · 952 students · 18.7:1 ratio
• Erwin Middle
  Middle · Salisbury · 759 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• West Rowan Middle
  Middle · Salisbury · 648 students · 17.5:1 ratio
• China Grove Elementary
  Elementary · China Grove · 618 students · 18.7:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2019-03-26
  8 km E of Archdale, North Carolina
• M 2.68 — 2018-06-10
  2 km NE of Hays, North Carolina
• M 2.58 — 2015-11-15
  10 km S of Denton, North Carolina
• M 2.5 — 2006-11-03
  6 km S of Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• M 2.6 — 2006-10-17
  7 km S of Winston-Salem, North Carolina