In 1792, Cabarrus County was founded and named after Stephen Cabarrus, former Speaker of the North Carolina House of Commons. Shortly thereafter, in 1799, Coran Reed found a 20-pound nugget of gold in Cabarrus County and by 1803, the Reed Gold Mine had been constructed, marking the beginning of the United States’ Gold Rush. After years of gold exploitation, the county finally shifted its focus to growing textile and agricultural industries.

NASCAR is a major economic driver in Cabarrus, which is home to several drivers and executives. Much of Will Farrell’s masterpiece “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” was filmed at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where plenty of drama unfolded Monday in front of countless state legislators and politicos.

With explosive growth along I-85, which divides the booming communities of Kannapolis and Concord, Cabarrus has been one of the fastest-growing counties in the state over the past decade, up 32% in population. It’s also one of the state’s more affluent counties, with a median household income $15K above the state average. As it has grown, its politics have shifted considerably: once as Republican as neighboring Union County, which consistently votes at least 60%-40% for Republicans, Cabarrus has moved closer to swing territory. Roy Cooper lost the county by just a 51%-47% margin in 2020. In 2022, Cabarrus elected its first Democrat to the legislature (Diamond Staton-Williams) in decades.