Hickory, North Carolina

Hickory is a city located in Catawba County, North Carolina. As of the 2000 census, the city had a Metropolitan Statistical Area of 341,851, making it the 4th largest metropolitan area in North Carolina. The Hickory area is the furniture and fiber optics capital of the world, serving as the home of Alcatel NA, Corning Cable Systems and Commscope, as well as Bernhardt, Broyhill, Boyles, Classic Leather, Drexel Heritage, Henredon, Hickory Chair and Mitchell Gold to name but a few.

History

In the 1790s, a tavern was built in the northwest section of Catawba county. This area became known as Hickory Tavern. This name remained intact for almost 100 years. The city of Hickory was established in 1870.

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Over 38,000 people reside in this city today. Hickory is the economic, social, and cultural center of the Catawba Valley. As the recipient of numerous awards, including the 1998 Money Magazine's "most livable place to live" (ranked 16th among medium-sized southern cities) and twice-named an "All American City," Hickory continues to attract tourists, families, and industries to this part of the state.

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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 epicenter 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 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 offical on the scene praised the project "as the most outstanding example of cooperative effort he has ever seen." (Hickory Daily Record, June 30, 1944. Although few good references are available online, an interesting side to this story is found here.

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