Cities, Towns & Townships

North Carolina counties began creating townships in 1868 when the state adopted the Township and County Commissioner Plan. The plan was based on provisions in Pennsylvania’s constitution:

• The plan divided each county into townships, and each township was given its own board.
• The township boards were made up of two justices of the peace and a clerk, who were elected to two-year terms.
• The boards were responsible for roads, property tax assessments, and township finances.
• Townships also elected constables and local school committees.

Cleveland County was divided into 11 townships. They were:

Township # and former Name	Current Cities, Towns & Unincorporated Communities	Extinct Communities with Post Offices1
1, River		Byarsville, Erwinsville, Waverly
2, Boiling Springs	Boiling Springs	Nicholsonville, Sharon
3, Rippy’s	Earl, Patterson Springs	Durbro, Swangs, Stice Shoals
4, Kings Mountain	Grover, Kings Mountain	Crocker, Whitaker (formerly Grover); White Plains, (formerly KM)
5, Warlick	Waco, Woodbridge	Buffalo Paper Mills, Fancy, Perry, Stubbs
6, Shelby	Shelby, Hillsdale, Light Oak
7, Sandy Run	Lattimore, Kingstown, Mooresboro	Autro, DePew
8, Polkville	Polkville	Bead, Camp Call, New House, Ola, Pearl
9, Double Shoals	Belwood (southern half), Double Shoals, Fallston, Lawndale	Beam’s Mills, Black Rock (formerly Belwood), Cleveland Mills, Love Joy
10, Knob Creek	Belwood (northern half) Toluca	Knob Creek, Shade, Paso, Zite
11, Casar	Casar, Delight	Hodge, Holly Bush, Lark, Point
1 View on map.

In 1875, a constitutional convention was held to repeal Reconstruction policies. In 1877, the General Assembly removed taxation power from townships and abolished the position of township clerk. However, townships were still used as informal subdivisions for infrastructure maintenance and the census. 

Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, townships lost their remaining authority. By the 1920s, their role in road building was removed, and they were no longer functioning as independent government units. Today, townships still exist in North Carolina counties but are used primarily for administrative, non-governing purposes such as land records, tax collection, and as districts for electing county commissioners and sub-county referendum elections. 

Cities and Towns

Since the formation of Cleveland County in 1841, some towns have formed and lasted until now, while others have changed names over time. Still others formed and became extinct. The Heritage of Cleveland County, Vol. 1 (pg. 25) provides a summary of Cleveland County towns with post offices. Below is a map of the county as it was between 1841 and 1850.

In 1971, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted a significant, sweeping legislative effort to clean up municipal records by revoking the charters of numerous inactive, dormant, or defunct municipalities across the state. The state’s rationale was to eliminate “ghost towns” or municipalities that existed in name only, often to prevent improper use of municipal powers or to enforce that incorporated towns provided actual municipal services.

While the main action in 1971 was the repeal of inactive charters (Session Law 1971-740), this period also involved the formal reactivation, revision, or restructuring of specific town charters to meet modern standards or to reactivate services. Hence the reason for some of Cleveland County’s towns with a 1970s charter date.

cities	year settled	year incorporated	1st mayor
Kings Mountain	1830s	1874	William Andrew Mauney
Shelby☆	1841	1843, 1849	William P. Love or Frederick Hoke
towns
Belwood	1875	1978	Robert Decatur Warlick
Boiling Springs	1843	1911	Drury Joseph Hamrick
Casar	early 1800s	1890	Hamp Brackett
Earl	1840	1891, 1971	J. S. Thomasson
Fallston	1880s	1893, 1971	Thomas Falls
Grover	early 1800s	1887	J. Frank Wood
Kingstown	1960s	1989	Clarence Withrow
Lattimore	early 1880s	1895	A. M. Lattimore
Lawndale	1888	1903	John F. Schenck
Mooresboro	1878	1885, 1943, 1977	B. H. Bridges
Patterson Springs	1830	1973	Edwin A. Patterson
Polkville	1791	1971	Richard Whisnant
Waco	early 1840s	1880	A. J. Beam
☆ county seat

Cleveland County currently has two cities, 13 towns, six unincorporated communities, and one census-designated area. The Catawba Nation reservation just south of Kings Mountain is also within the geographic boundaries of Cleveland County. See other stats on Wikipedia.