Morganton, North Carolina

Morganton is the seat of Burke County, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge, in the Catawba River valley. Named for Revolutionary War general Daniel Morgan, it was established as a county seat in seventeen eighty-four and became an important crossroads between the mountain settlements and the Piedmont. The town sits near the overmountain men's mustering ground before their march to the Battle of Kings Mountain in seventeen eighty, and the area has significant Cherokee history as part of the ancestral territory of the Catawba and over-mountain Cherokee bands.

Morganton later became home to the North Carolina School for the Deaf, founded in eighteen ninety-four, and to a significant textile industry. Today it is known for its walkable downtown and for being a gateway to the South Mountains and Lake James.