The word "catawba" is rooted in the Choctaw sound kat'a pa, loosely translated as "to divide or separate, to break."

[4] The Native Americans who once inhabited the region known as the Catawba people, were considered one of the most powerful Southeastern Siouan-speaking tribes in the Carolina Piedmont.

An official history of the Scots-Irish and German settlement was documented in 1954, by Charles J. Preslar Jr,[5] and more recently by a series of three books by Gary Freeze, called The Catawbans.

It provides court protection, jail administration, patrol and detective services for all unincorporated county areas, serves civil process and criminal papers, provides School Resource Officers at County High and Middle Schools and CV Community College, and narcotics crime investigation.

Newton, Hickory, Long View, Conover, Claremont, Catawba, Brookford and Maiden have municipal police departments.

This is largely due to the areas strong manufacturing based economy, and its placement along the Norfolk Southern Railway line.

[22] Conover has been designated as the Catawba County passenger rail stop for the Western North Carolina Railroad planned to run from Salisbury, to Asheville.

The Greenway Public Transportation bus service serves the cities of Conover, Hickory, and Newton.

As of 2017, the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation controls a 55-acre business park in Conover designed for data centers and office use.