Hickory, North Carolina

Hickory owes its name to the Hickory Tavern, a log structure built in the 1790s underneath a hickory tree. A monument built by the Hockory Tavern chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, resembling an old fireplace with an informational plaque marks the spot today. Per the monument, the tavern stood on a 640 acre tract of land surveyed by Col Christopher W. Beekman on 8 June 1779 and was granted to William McMullen on 28 Oct 1783. The Tavern sat on the north side of a road to Salisbury by way of Sherrill's Ford that had been petitioned by the inhabitants of Rowan County and approved on 10 May 1769 by a meeting of the Rowan County Court. Henry Link bought the first lot in the area for $45 in 1858. The house he built was later adapted as The 1859 Cafe, a restaurant which closed in 2011. The first train operated near Hickory Tavern in 1859. In 1868, Dr. Jeremiah Ingold, pastor of Corinth Reformed Church (then known as German Reformed Grace Church), established the Free Academy, the first school in the area. Hickory Tavern was incorporated as a town in 1870. Three years later, its name was officially changed to Hickory. In 1889, it became the City of Hickory. Hickory grew rapidly in the 1880s. Electric lights were installed in 1888. A year later, the Elliott Opera House opened. Decorated in French renaissance style with mythological motifs, the opera house auditorium had seating for 750; the parquet balcony fit another 350. The opera house hosted touring out of town shows, the Hickory Amateurs (the city's first acting troupe), and The Hickory Symphony Band. A fire destroyed the entire building in 1902, and it was never rebuilt. A municipal auditorium was constructed across the street in 1921, and now houses the Hickory Community Theatre. In 1891, four Lutheran pastors founded Highland Academy with 12 students. It has developed through the decades as Lenoir–Rhyne University. Hickory built a sewage system in 1904. The city adopted the council-manager form of government in 1913, thus becoming the first municipality in the state to hire a city manager. Hickory is home to one of the oldest furniture manufacturers in the United States that is still located and operated on the original site. Hickory White, formerly known as Hickory Manufacturing Company, was built in 1902 and has been in continuous operation ever since. During World War II, the factory made ammunition boxes for the U.S. military instead of furniture. Hickory was known in the years after World War II for the "Miracle of Hickory". In 1944 the area around Hickory (the Catawba Valley) became the center of one of the worst outbreaks of polio ever recorded. Residents who were then children recall summers of not being allowed to play outside or visit friends for fear of contracting the infectious disease. Since local facilities were inadequate to treat the victims, the citizens of Hickory and the March of Dimes decided to build a hospital to care for the children of the region. From the time the decision was made until equipment, doctors, and patients were in a new facility, took less than 54 hours. Several more buildings were quickly added. A Red Cross official on the scene praised the project "as the most outstanding example of cooperative effort he has ever seen." In 2010, the city also came to national attention when the remains of a girl, Zahra Baker, were found. Following the police investigation, Zahra's stepmother, Elisa Baker, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The Zahra Baker All Children's playground, located in Kiwanis Park, is named in the girl's honor. National Register of Historic Places The Claremont High School Historic District, Elliott–Carnegie Library, First Presbyterian Church, Dr. Glenn R. Frye House, Clement Geitner House, Lee & Helen George House, Harris Arcade, Hickory Municipal Building, Hickory Southwest Downtown Historic District, Highland School, Hollar Hosiery Mills-Knit Sox Knitting Mills, Houck's Chapel, Kenworth Historic District, John A. Lentz House, Lyerly Full Fashioned Mill, John Alfred Moretz House, Oakwood Historic District, Piedmont Wagon Company, Propst House, Ridgeview Public Library, Shuford House, and Whisnant Hosiery Mills are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ==Geography==