Mount Holly, North Carolina

== History == Land grants were first issued in the Mount Holly area by King George II of Great Britain around 1750.

In 1754, a land grant was issued to James Kuykendall of Holland in the locale known as Dutchman's Creek.

Later in 1838, a post office in the area was named Woodlawn.

The first railroad in Gaston County, the Carolina Central Railway, began serving Mount Holly in 1860.

In 1875, the name of the town was changed to Mount Holly, after the Mount Holly Cotton Mill that was started that year.

The mill's success and the prosperity of the area as a whole led local residents to petition the North Carolina General Assembly for incorporation of Mount Holly in 1879.

American Yarn had its start in 1891 when Charles Egbert Hutchison founded the Nims Manufacturing Company on Dutchman's Creek.

The Woodlawn Mill, located on Woodlawn Avenue, was built in 1906 and was the first mill in Gaston County to be served with electricity.

In 1911, construction began on the area's second railroad, the Piedmont and Northern Railway.

On May 20, 1912, it made its first run from Charlotte to Gastonia.

The firm was created with a 1952 merger of American Yarn and Processing Company (located in Mount Holly) and the Efird Manufacturing Company (located in Albemarle, North Carolina).

Freightliner and its subsidiary businesses have been a significant employer in Mount Holly since 1979.

In 1990, the Freightliner Trucks manufacturing plant was annexed into the city.

=== 2000 census === As of the census of 2000, there were 9,618 people, 4,028 households, and 2,658 families residing in the city.

Since 2007 National Gypsum has operated a wallboard plant in Mount Holly.

== Demographics == === 2020 census === As of the 2020 United States census, there were 17,703 people, 6,134 households, and 3,846 families residing in the city.