Alexander County is a county established in the U.S. state of North Carolina in 1847. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,198. Its county seat is Taylorsville. Alexander County is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Caldwell County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. As at the 2010 census, the population was 83,029. Its county seat is Lenoir. Caldwell County is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Statesville is a city in Iredell County, North Carolina, United States. Statesville was established in 1789 by an act of the North Carolina Legislature. The population was recorded as 95 in the 1800 Census. The population was 24,532 at the time of the 2010 census, and was estimated at 27,528 in 2019. It is the county seat of Iredell County and is part of the Charlotte metropolitan area.

Burke County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 90,912. Its county seat is Morganton.Burke County is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. The first European settlement in the interior of present-day North Carolina (and what would become the United States) was made by the Spanish Juan Pardo expedition in 1567, when they built Fort San Juan at Joara, a large chiefdom of the Mississippian culture. His forces built another five forts to the west along the mountains, in Cherokee and Coosa territory. In 1568 the Native Americans killed all but one of the Spanish soldiers stationed at these six forts and burned the structures down. The Joara site was abandoned and lost for centuries. The other fort sites have not been located. No other Europeans settled here for about 200 years. After excavations in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, archeologists in 2013 announced having found remains of Fort San Juan at Joara. The evidence changed the record of European colonization attempts, as the Spanish had a sustained, though brief, settlement in North America 40 years before that of the English at Jamestown, Virginia.