The
Town of Taylorsville was formed in 1847 along with Alexander County.
As
stated in the Heritage of Alexander County, published by the Alexander
County Genealogical Society:
A commission of William Dula of Caldwell Co., Dr. James Calloway of
Wilkes, Co., Milton Campbell of Iredell Co., and Robert Allen, Reuben
Watts and Robert L. Steel of Alexander County were named to select
a site as near the center of the county as possible for the seat of
justice. The town was named Taylorsville in honor of General Zachary
Taylor who at that time was in Mexico engaged in a war.
The
land for the town was donated by J.M. Bogle who gave 22 acres, William
Matheson who gave 13 acres and James James who gave 11 3/4 acres
for a total of 46 3/4 acres. Most of the land was woodland and the
road from Statesville to Morganton passed to the South of town.
A
commission of Alexander C. McIntosh, R.L. Steel, Sion Harrington,
J.H. Newland, and George Swain, treasurer, were appointed to layout
the town of Taylorsville and sell lots to raise money for the building
of a courthouse and jail.
An
auction of lots was held August 11, 1847 and 47 lots were sold. The
second sale was November 30, 1847 and 10 lots were sold. At a third
auction on March 8, 1848, five lots were sold. The total amounted
to $6,674.75.
The
Town of Taylorsville was incorporated in 1851.
The
first mayor was John Watts and was appointed by the commissioners.
The boundaries of the incorporated town would be square and each
side 160 poles or one-half mile.
For
more interesting information on the history of the Town of Taylorsville,
visit the Alexander County Library. The information on this page
is from the Heritage of Alexander County (pages 30-33). Photos 1909 & 1976
and the streets & lots drawing are also from the book, Heritage
of Alexander County.
