Morganton

Downtown Morganton has become quite a destination in the last decade due to the new local restaurants, breweries & wineries, artistry and concerts. The area is host to several well-attended events annually like the popular FAB Crawl (Food, Art & Brew) and Red, White and Blue Festival. The Farmers Market is a favorite as well and offers live music.

The City of Morganton is the county seat of Burke county covering @ 18 square miles with a population of about 16,800 people. It sits on the Catawba River between lakes Rhodhiss and James and is blessed with scenic rural landscapes, abundant outdoor adventure venues, and a state-of-the art theater. The City manages more than 400 acres of land for recreational use including two recreation centers, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a skeet range, an extensive greenway system, a soccer complex, and more than a dozen parks. Since 2010, the City has been installing dedicated bike lanes and shared bike lanes (sharrows) in Morganton. Staff have also encouraged NCDOT to widen outside lanes to increase alternative transportation opportunities. These alternative modes of transportation will continue to be explored and added whenever possible and the City has plans to expand bike lanes around town.

Western Piedmont Community College is home to several programs and facilities designed for preparing students for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) related careers. WPCC enjoys a close collaboration with local manufacturing and engineering facilities. For more information, check out their website.