Forest City, North Carolina
| Forest City, North Carolina | |||
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| — Town — | |||
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| Nickname(s): Burnt Chimney | |||
| Motto: Small town friendly | |||
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| Coordinates: 35°19′52″N 81°52′12″W / 35.33111°N 81.87°WCoordinates: 35°19′52″N 81°52′12″W / 35.33111°N 81.87°W | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| State | North Carolina | ||
| County | Rutherford | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 8.2 sq mi (21.3 km2) | ||
| • Land | 8.2 sq mi (21.3 km2) | ||
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) | ||
| Elevation | 1,047 ft (319 m) | ||
| Population (2000) | |||
| • Total | 7,549 | ||
| • Density | 918.6/sq mi (354.7/km2) | ||
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
| ZIP code | 28043 | ||
| Area code(s) | 828 | ||
| FIPS code | 37-24080[1] | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 1020302[2] | ||
| Website | www.townofforestcity.com | ||
Forest City, formerly known as "Burnt Chimney,"[3] is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 7,549 as of the 2000 census, making it the largest municipality in Rutherford County.
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[edit] Geography
Forest City is located at 35°19′52″N 81°52′12″W / 35.33111°N 81.87°W (35.331128, -81.870107)[4].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 8.2 square miles (21 km2), of which 8.2 square miles (21 km2) are land and 0.04-square-mile (0.10 km2) (0.24%) is water.
In 1999, Alexander Mills merged with and became a part of Forest City, but now Alexander Mills has closed down due to the poor economy in Rutherford County.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 7,549 people, 3,245 households, and 2,028 families residing in the town. The population density was 918.6 people per square mile (354.6/km²). There were 3,638 housing units at an average density of 442.7 per square mile (170.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 67.37% White, 28.83% African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.77% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 1.38% from other races, and 1.32% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.72% of the population.
There were 3,245 households out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.5% were married couples living together, 19.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.5% were non-families. 33.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the town the population was spread out with 24.9% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 83.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $14,243, and the median income for a family was $30,000. Males had a median income of $16,952 versus $12,601 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,248. About 15.6% of families and 19.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.5% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Attractions
Forest City has various museums, ranging from farm museums to an African American art museum. An attraction is the Bennett Classical Auto Museum. Another is the Rutherford County Farm Museum, a museum dedicated to historical farm artifacts. During the Christmas season the downtown Forest City area is filled with over 500,000 lights and horse-drawn carriage rides. Many people from other counties come to see this every year; it is also on many Christmas Light tours as well.
Forest City is also home to the Forest City Owls baseball club which is a member of the Coastal Plain League, a collegiate summer league. The Owls who play at McNair Field in Forest City, won the CPL championship in 2009 with a record of 51-9, again in 2010 and were ranked as the #1 collegiate summer team in America.
Free public WiFi Internet has been provided by City Computer in the DownTown business district in parking areas and inside restaurants since August 2006.
[edit] Fire Department
The mission of the Forest City Fire Department is provide aggressive, twenty-four hour a day protection to the lives and property of the citizens and visitors of Forest City from the devastation of fire, hazardous materials incidents, and mitigation of the effects of natural and man made disasters. The department has been saving lives in Forest City for a hundred years.
[edit] Education
The local school district is Rutherford County Schools, which is based in Forest City.
[edit] Economy
In 2010, Forest City was selected as the location for a new $450 million dollar data center for Facebook. [5] [6]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Town of Forest City - History and Facts
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ http://www.facebook.com/rutherfordDataCenter
- ^ http://rutherfordncedc.com/Facebooks-Data-Center-Project-Hires-Locally.html
[edit] External links
- Town of Forest City official website
- Museums of Forest City
- Forest City Merchants Association website
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