Chatham County, North Carolina
Chatham County | |
|---|---|
 Chatham County Courthouse in Pittsboro | |
 Location within the U.S. state of North Carolina | |
 North Carolina's location within the U.S. | |
| Coordinates: 35°42′N 79°16′W / 35.7°N 79.26°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  North Carolina |
| Founded | 1771 |
| Named for | William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham |
| Seat | Pittsboro |
| Largest town | Siler City |
| Area | |
| • Total | 710 sq mi (1,800 km2) |
| • Land | 682 sq mi (1,770 km2) |
| • Water | 28 sq mi (70 km2) 3.9%% |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 63,505 |
| • Density | 93/sq mi (36/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Congressional district | 6th |
| Website | www |
Chatham County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In 2000, 49,329 people lived there. Now the population is more than 60,000. Its county seat is Pittsboro.
History[change | change source]
The county was made in 1771 from Orange County.
In 1907 parts of Chatham County and Moore County were combined to form Lee County.
Government[change | change source]
Chatham County is part of the regional Triangle J Council of Governments.
Schools[change | change source]
Chatham County has its own public school system for grades kindergarten to 12. Central Carolina Community College also has two campuses in the county.
Coal Mines[change | change source]
Chatham County has the only coal mines in North Carolina. Coal mining used to be very important to the county, but in the 1920s a bad accident in one of the mines killed many workers. By the 1940s all the mines had closed. Some people have tried to open the mines back up, but the mines are too dangerous. Right now none of the mines are open.
New Houses[change | change source]
Many builders are building new houses in Chatham County right now. Some people in the county do not like this because they do not want Chatham County to have a lot of people. A lot of people want to live in Chatham County because they do not have to pay as much tax as people in other North Carolina counties do. But other people think it is good that a lot of people want to live in the county because then the county will make more money from taxes.
Connected Counties[change | change source]
- Orange County, North Carolina - north
- Durham County, North Carolina - northeast
- Wake County, North Carolina - east
- Harnett County, North Carolina - southeast
- Lee County, North Carolina - south
- Moore County, North Carolina - southwest
- Randolph County, North Carolina - west
- Alamance County, North Carolina - northwest
Cities and Towns[change | change source]
These cities and towns are in Chatham County:
Roads[change | change source]
These are the most important roads in Chatham County:
Other websites[change | change source]
- Chatham County Government
- Chatham County Travel Website
- Chatham Journal Newspaper
- Chatham Online Bulletin Board Archived 2008-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
