Statesville is located in Iredell County, North Carolina, United States and was named an All-American City in 2009. The population was 23,320 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Iredell County.
In 1753, Scots-Irish Presbyterians and German Lutherans, who originally settled in Pennsylvania, began arriving in Statesville to plant crops in the fertile soil where game and water were also plentiful. The settlement, known as Fourth Creek Congregation, was named for the fresh water stream, which was the fourth creek west of the neighboring settlement of Salisbury. The center of the settlement was a log cabin where the Presbyterians worshiped and where the First Presbyterian Church is located today.
In 1755, the colonial governor Arthur Dobbs authorized the construction of the colony’s frontier fort, which was located approximately three miles due north of the Fourth Creek settlement. Built and garrisoned by North Carolina provincial soldiers, Fort Dobbs defended the British North America’s western frontier in the colony of North Carolina during the French and Indian War. Fort Dobbs combined the functions of a military barracks, fortification, refuge for settlers, provisioning depot and center for negotiations with native Americans.