Books
Ausband, Jerry, Editor. Our Heritage: A History of Cleveland County. The Shelby Daily Star, September, 1976.
Branson, Levi, ed. Branson’s North Carolina Business Directory, 1890, Volume VII. Raleigh: Levi Branson, 1889. (Cleveland County begins on page 199.)
__. Branson’s North Carolina Business Directory, 1896, Volume VIII. Raleigh: Levi Branson, 1896.
Crittenden, Charles Christopher and Dan Lacy, Editors. The Historical Records of North Carolina: County Records, Vol. I. North Carolina Historical Commission, 1938.
Eades, Brian R. Architectural Perspectives of Cleveland County, North Carolina. Edited by J. Daniel Pezzoni. 2003.
Hambright, Barry E. and U.L. “Rusty” Patterson. Images of America: Cleveland County, People and Places. Arcadia Publishing, 2002.
Heritage Book Committee. The Heritage of Cleveland County, Vol. II. Cleveland County Historical Association, 2004.
Marler, James D., Dr. Wyan Washburn, Joe DePriest, Tyree Greene, Rosalynd Gilliatt, et al. The Heritage of Cleveland County, Vol. I. Cleveland County Historical Association, 1982.
North Carolina Board of Agriculture. North Carolina and its Resources, 1896. Raleigh.
Weathers, Lee Beam. The Living Past of Cleveland County: A History. Star Publishing Company, 1956. Shelby.
Wheeler, John H. 1806-1882. Historical Sketches of North Carolina From 1584-1851. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo and Co., 1851.
Booklets and Pamphlets
Frick, Clarence and L. E. Powers. A Brief Sketch of Shelby, A Thriving Town in the Piedmont Section of North Carolina. C. P. Roberts Printing, 1889.
Gold, Thomas J. Glimpses of Shelby, North Carolina. Star Publishing, 1905.
Riley, Madge Webb. A Brief Sketch of Cleveland County. 1905.
Washburn, Dr. Wyan, C. Rush Hamrick, Grace Hamrick, Henry Lee Weather, et al. Cleveland County Sesquicentennial. Cleveland County Historical Museum, 1991.
County and City Government Archives
| Boiling Springs Town Council. Minutes. Cleveland County Board of Commissioners. Agenda and Minutes. Shelby City Council. Minutes. Kings Mountain City Council. Minutes. |
Databases
Ancestry. Family history database and images. Subsidiaries:
- Find A Grave. Digital images and biographies.
- Fold3. Military service records and images.
- Newspapers.com
FamilySearch. Family history database and images.
Digital Archives
J. D. Lewis. Carolana. carolana.com.
Digital Commons at Gardner-Webb University.
- Baptist Historical Collections
- Cleveland County Historical Collection
- Fay Webb Gardner Collection
- Cleveland County Early Days, by columnist Mamie Jones
Digital Maps
- Cleveland County, 1886 by topographical engineer Paul B. Kyser; accessible at the Library of Congress. His map shows the location of churches, schools, and homes.
- Cleveland County Sanborn Maps are accessible at the UNC University Libraries Digital Collections Library (Sanborn maps are detailed, large-scale historical maps covering roughly 12,000 U.S. towns. The collection spans from 1867 to the 1970s. Originally drawn to help fire insurance companies assess risk, they are now used by historians for tracing the development of cities, documenting changes in the built environment, and identifying when buildings appeared or disappeared.)
- Journal of the House of Commons of North Carolina
- Journal of the Senate of the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina
Community Forum Websites
Cleveland County History 