Jacob Forney Jr. House

Joara was a large Native American settlement, a regional chiefdom of the Mississippian culture, located in what is now Burke County, North Carolina, about 300 miles from the Atlantic coast in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Joara is notable as a significant archaeological and historic site, where Mississippian culture-era and European artifacts have been found, in addition to an earthwork platform mound and remains of a 16th-century Spanish fort. The first European encounters came in the mid-16th century. In 1540 the party of Spanish conquistador Hernando De Soto recorded visiting this place. A later expedition in 1567 under Juan Pardo, another Spanish explorer, founded the first European settlement in the interior of the continent, establishing Fort San Juan at this site, followed by other forts to the west. It is thought to be the first and the largest of the six forts that Pardo established in his attempt to establish an overland road to the silver mines of Mexico. At the time, the Spanish mistakenly believed that the Appalachian Mountains were the same as a range running through central Mexico. After about eighteen months, all but one of the Spanish troops at the six forts were killed by the indigenous people of the area. Pardo had already left and survived to return to Spain. The Spanish made no other attempts at settlement in this interior. British-related colonization did not begin here until the mid-to late 18th century. In the late 20th century, a Spanish account of the Pardo expedition was rediscovered and newly translated in English. Based on it, excavations were undertaken in this area of Burke County beginning in the 1990s. After discovery of both European and Mississippian artifacts at this site in 2008, on July 22, 2013, archeologists announced having found evidence of the remains of Fort San Juan at Joara, including a moat that cut through an earthwork mound built by the Mississippians.

Bellevue is a historic plantation house located near Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina. It was built about 1826, and consists of a two-story, six bay brick structure, with an original one-story wing, in the Federal style. It has a Quaker plan interior.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Fort San Juan was a late 16th-century fort built by the Spanish under the command of conquistador Juan Pardo in the native village of Joara, in what is now Burke County, North Carolina. Used as an outpost for Pardo's expedition into the interior of what was known to the Spaniards as "la Florida", Fort San Juan was the foremost of six forts built and garrisoned by Pardo in modern-day North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee to extend Spain's effective control deeper into the North American continent. Fort San Juan was the first European settlement in North Carolina and the interior of present-day United States, predating the earliest English settlement at Roanoke Island, North Carolina by 18 years. In 1568, natives from Joara and the region surrounding the fort razed this and the five other Spanish forts, killing all but one of the soldiers. After the fort's destruction, its exact location was lost. Archaeological work has been underway for years, revealing artifacts suggestive of Spanish settlement. During the summer of 2013, archaeologists affiliated with the University of Michigan, Tulane University and Warren Wilson College announced that they had discovered evidence of a defensive moat and other remains, definitive evidence of Fort San Juan.

John Alexander Lackey House is a historic home located at Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina. It was built about 1900, and is a two-story, T-shaped, gable roofed, brick farmhouse. It has a one-story, gabled kitchen wing. The house features Colonial Revival style detailing.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Quaker Meadows, also known as the McDowell House at Quaker Meadows, is a historic plantation house located near Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina. It was built about 1812, and is a two-story, four bay by two bay, Quaker plan brick structure in the Federal style. It features two one-story shed porches supported by square pillars ornamented by scroll sawn brackets. The Quaker Meadows plantation was the home of Revolutionary War figure, Col. Charles McDowell. It was at Quaker Meadows that Zebulon Baird Vance (later American Civil War governor) married Charles McDowell's niece, Harriet N. Espy.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.The house is owned by the Historic Burke Foundation and has been restored to an 1812 appearance. It is open for tours and available for rent. The owner of the plantation was Joseph McDowell Jr. (1758–1801), who was nicknamed Joseph "Quaker Meadows" McDowell to distinguish him from his cousin Joseph "Pleasant Gardens" McDowell (1756–1795). Since Joseph Quaker Meadows McDowell, Jr. died in 1801, the original plantation must have been built during his lifetime.

Quaker Meadows Cemetery is a historic cemetery located near Morganton, North Carolina, U.S.. It includes 59 gravesites dated between 1767 and 1879; 53 of them are marked by gravestones. The earliest grave is of David McDowell (1767), the two-year-old grandson of Joseph McDowell, the first permanent white settler in the area.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Burke County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 87,570. Its county seat is Morganton.Burke County is part of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Avery Avenue Historic District is a national historic district located at Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina. It encompasses 112 contributing buildings in a predominantly residential section of Morganton. They were built between about 1875 and 1935, and include representative examples of Colonial Revival, Bungalow / American Craftsman, and Late Victorian style architecture.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Alphonse Calhoun Avery House, also known as the Avery-Surnrnersette House, is a historic home located at Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina. It was built about 1876, and is a two-story, U-shaped, Late Victorian style brick house. It features a 2+1⁄2-story, squarish, brick tower topped by a mansard roof. Alphonso Calhoun Avery was born at Swan Ponds in 1835, the fifth son of Isaac Thomas Avery (1785-1864). Avery had a notable legal, military and political careers highlighted by an eight-year term as an associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It is located in the North Green Street-Bouchelle Street Historic District.

Freedom High School is located in Morganton, North Carolina.

North Green Street–Bouchelle Street Historic District is a national historic district located at Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina. It encompasses 37 contributing buildings in a predominantly residential section of Morganton. It includes buildings built between about 1876 and 1935, and includes representative examples of Colonial Revival, Bungalow / American Craftsman, and Late Victorian style architecture. Located in the district is the separately listed Alphonse Calhoun Avery House.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Avery Avenue School, also known as Catawba Valley Legal Services, is a historic school building located at Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina. It was built in 1923, and is a two-story, brick, crescent-shaped building. It has a polygonal center section features a pyramidal roof covered in mission tile and topped by a small belfry. The building housed a school until 1957 when it was converted to offices for Burke County.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.