Morganton

The county seat for Burke County, Morganton, North Carolina, is among the principal cities in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is located close to the historically and archaeologically significant city of Joara, a former Mississippian village, where Fort San Juan was built by the Spanish in 1567. The state of North Carolina is one of the major employers in the area, with state-run facilities that include psychiatric facility Broughton Hospital and the North Carolina School for the Deaf. Other employers include manufacturers and businesses that cater to tourists visiting the surrounding attractions in the Blue Ridge Mountains.