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Caldwell County launches America 250 initiative, seeks community contributions for county history display
Summary
The county's public information office outlined plans for an America 250 celebration in 2026, including a grant-funded historical display, a multi-decade timeline to be published online, and community events; staff say no county tax dollars were used for the display grant.
Paige Counts, Caldwell County's public information officer, told the Board of Commissioners on Sept. 22 that the county is organizing America 250 activities for 2026, the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
Counts said the county received a grant from the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to produce a physical display that will run the length of the upstairs and downstairs hallways at the county building and will also support online materials. The county has created a roughly 30-page timeline covering significant people and events in Caldwell County history, organized in 20-year increments and grouped into five themes: worship, education, recreation and culture, industry, and significant events.
Staff are collecting illustrations, photos and videos for the display and timeline, and Counts said the timeline will be posted to the America 250 web page. The county has conducted several interviews with longtime residents (Counts noted one resident is 100 or will be 103 in November) and plans local programming, including a possible trivia game show for the county's TV channel, historical interviews for the county YouTube channel, and potential community events throughout the year.
Counts said a "2 50" display will be installed on High Brighton Mountain during the 2026 celebration period through Thanksgiving; she credited a local volunteer identified as Gardner for maintaining the existing star and cross lights on the mountain and said the 2 50 installation is funded through donations, not county tax dollars.
Counts asked towns, businesses, churches, civic groups and neighborhoods to consider adding America 250 elements to their events or contributing illustrations and artifacts to the county's display. She said the public-information office is coordinating an America 250 committee and that the county's America 250 page on its website will list participating museums, video content and a calendar of events.
Commissioners thanked Counts for the work and had no substantive questions during the meeting.
