Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
North Carolina · Piedmont · #808
Rowan County, North Carolina
Between Charlotte and Greensboro on the old Great Wagon Road that carried colonial settlers from Pennsylvania into the Carolina backcountry, Rowan County's Salisbury holds one of the most significant Civil War prison sites in the country, one of the oldest newspapers in North Carolina, and a historic downtown whose preservation investment has made it a Piedmont model for small-city revitalization.
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Rowan County Emergency Services – 2727 Old Concord Rd, Suite E, Salisbury, NC 28146 | (704) 216-8900
Services: Coordinates preparedness, response, and recovery using National Incident Management System (NIMS) protocols; maintains readyrowan.org resources
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-85 and US-29/70 serve Salisbury, the county seat, in the central Piedmont region of North Carolina
Transit: Salisbury Transit System (SALTS) provides local bus service.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Rowan County Building Inspections – 402 North Main Street, Salisbury, NC 28144
Services: Building, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical permits and plan review under GS Chapter 160D, covering unincorporated Rowan County and the municipalities of Cleveland, China Grove, East Spencer, Faith, Granite Quarry, Kannapolis (ETJ), Landis, Rockwell, Salisbury, and Spencer
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Rowan County Veterans Services Office – Salisbury, NC
Key Assets: Rowan County’s seat, Salisbury, is genuinely and proudly the birthplace of CHEERWINE, the beloved burgundy-colored, cherry-flavored soft drink now widely recognized as the oldest continuously family-owned soft drink company still in operation in the United States; the drink’s origin traces to 1913, when Salisbury businessman Lewis D. “L.D.” Peeler, along with other local investors, opened a bottling franchise for a product called Mint Cola in the basement of Peeler’s own general store in Salisbury; when that Kentucky-based parent company went bankrupt in 1917, Peeler seized the opportunity to create something entirely his own – driven in part by a genuine practical need, since sugar rationing during World War I made a lower-sugar formula desirable; while traveling, Peeler encountered a distinctive wild cherry flavor from a salesman in St. Louis, and after experimenting with blending it into a new soda base, Cheerwine was born; Peeler named his creation “cheer” for the pleasure it brought and “wine” for its deep burgundy-red color, giving rise to the company’s original slogan, “For Health & Pleasure”; the drink quickly caught on locally, and by 1924 Cheerwine had outsold the original Mint Cola product so decisively that the bottling company itself was renamed the Piedmont Cheerwine Bottling Company; the brand has enjoyed some genuinely notable moments in the national spotlight over the decades – in 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower traveled to Salisbury to help celebrate Rowan County’s 200th anniversary and became the first sitting U.S. president to publicly enjoy the local beverage, reportedly proclaiming “Ike Likes!”; the company has remained under the leadership of Peeler’s own descendants for more than a century, currently guided by brothers Mark and Cliff Ritchie, and the very building where Cheerwine was first invented, at 322 East Council Street in downtown Salisbury, still stands today, its walls now adorned with murals depicting the beverage’s storied heritage; Cheerwine celebrated its “Cheertennial” 100th anniversary in 2017 with a major downtown Salisbury festival, and the tradition continues today with an annual Cheerwine Festival held each May, alongside a dedicated exhibit on the drink’s history at the Rowan Museum
Notes: Cheerwine’s genuine, extensively documented status as the oldest continuously family-owned soft drink company in America – born in Salisbury in 1917 and still headquartered there today – is one of the most distinctive local heritage brands found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Rowan County GIS – accessible via rowancountync.gov
Parcel Search: Rowan County Tax Office
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Rowan County Emergency Services
Services: An open-admission municipal shelter recognized by Best Friends Animal Society for meeting the “No Kill” benchmark in 2024; strays held for a 72-business-hour period before becoming available for adoption; adopters must be 18+ with legal ID, cash or card accepted (no checks); animals cannot be held based on phone/email requests – final adoption completed in person
Related: Rowan Wild Nature Center – 6800 Bringle Ferry Road, Salisbury, NC 28146, (704) 216-7819, a separate wildlife education facility. Humane Society of Rowan County – 112 W Innes St, Salisbury, NC, a separate nonprofit partner.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) – deq.nc.gov
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Rowan County’s seat, Salisbury, is genuinely the birthplace of Cheerwine, the oldest continuously family-owned soft drink company in the United States, invented in 1917 and still headquartered there today. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Rowan County
Rowan County’s Salisbury National Cemetery preserves the graves of approximately 11,700 Union soldiers who died at the Confederate Salisbury Prison – one of the deadliest prison camps of the Civil War, where overcrowding, disease, and inadequate food produced a mortality rate comparable to Andersonville. The site is managed by the National Park Service and represents some of the most powerful Civil War commemoration in North Carolina.
The county’s Great Wagon Road heritage predates the Civil War by a century – the colonial-era road that brought Scots-Irish and German settlers from Pennsylvania through the Shenandoah Valley and into the Carolina Piedmont passed directly through Salisbury, and the county’s ethnic and religious diversity (Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, Moravian) reflects that migration history. Catawba College and Livingstone College (an HBCU) provide higher education. Novant Health Rowan Medical Center serves regional healthcare.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
North Carolina assesses property at 100% of market value. Property owners may appeal to the County Board of Equalization and Review. North Carolina offers elderly and disabled exclusions for qualifying homeowners. North Carolina has no estate or inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
SENIOR SERVICES
Rowan County Senior Services
1810 West Innes Street, Salisbury, NC 28144
Phone: (704) 216-8180
Senior Services
Rowan County Senior Services
1810 West Innes Street, Salisbury, NC 28144
Phone: (704) 216-8180
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF SUPERIOR COURT
210 North Main St, Salisbury, NC 28144
(704) 630-4000
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Rowan County Clerk of Superior Court, Salisbury (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Rowan County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Rowan County Clerk of Superior Court – Estates Division 210 North Main Street, Salisbury, NC 28144 (704) 639-7505 Rowan County is in the Piedmont region of central North Carolina, seated in Salisbury.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
North Carolina has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code. Probate is handled by the Clerk of Superior Court – an elected official who serves as the ex officio judge of probate – in the county where the decedent was domiciled, under Chapter 28A of the North Carolina General Statutes. Unlike most states, North Carolina does not have a separate probate court; the Clerk’s Estates Division handles all wills, estates, and guardianship matters.
Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of Decedent (“collection by affidavit,” N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-25-1 and § 28A-25-1.1) – available when the decedent’s personal property, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $20,000, or $30,000 if the surviving spouse is the sole heir and receives all property covered by the statute. Filed at least 30 days after death, using Form AOC-E-203B. Real property CANNOT be transferred through this process. If the decedent left a will, the will must first be admitted to probate and a certified copy attached to the affidavit.
Summary Administration – an abbreviated procedure available only when the surviving spouse is the sole heir.
Full Estate Administration – required for larger or more complex estates; the personal representative (called “executor” if named in a will, “administrator” if intestate) is appointed by the Clerk and receives Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
Step 2: filing for administration
File the will (if any) and a petition with the Clerk of Superior Court, Estates Division, in the county where the decedent was domiciled.
The Clerk appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors; North Carolina’s creditor claim period is typically at least three months from first publication.
The personal representative inventories the estate’s assets, pays debts and expenses, and distributes the remaining assets according to the will or North Carolina’s intestacy law, reporting back to the Clerk at key stages.
The estate is closed once a final accounting is filed and approved by the Clerk.
What it costs
Filing fees for full estate administration generally follow the statewide statutory schedule, which scales with the estate’s value.
North Carolina repealed its state estate tax in 2013. There is no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax – only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
1700 Julian Rd, Salisbury, NC 28146
(704) 216-8700
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
1935 Jake Alexander Blvd West, Salisbury, NC 28147
(704) 216-8140
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Public Health
1811 East Innes St, Salisbury, NC 28146
(704) 216-8777
Social Services
1813 East Innes St, Salisbury, NC 28146
(704) 216-8300
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Rowan County Public Health – Salisbury, NC
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Salisbury
Population: 146,000
Tier: 3
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Rowan County facilities via Amazon.
