In 1750, a Presbyterian minister, John Thompson, purchased seven parcels of land that he sold to settlers that became members of his Fourth Creek Congregation.

[2][3][4][5][6] In 1773, a map of showing the location of the members of the Fourth Creek Congregation was made by William Sharpe.

The map shows a total of 224 heads of families and the location of creeks and mills.

The map was probably made to support the appeal for formation of the Concord and Bethany Presbyterian Churches formed in 1775.

One year later (1789), the legislature selected the Fourth Creek settlement as the location for the Iredell County seat.

The First Presbyterian Church conveyed Fourth Creek Cemetery to the city of Statesville in 1933, on condition that “the city accept and maintain the same as a memorial cemetery to be designated as Fourth Creek Memorial Burying Ground and be preserved in perpetuity as a memorial to pioneers and soldiers buried there.” In 2018, The First Presbyterian Church, Statesville, funded a ground penetrating radar study of the cemetery to attempt to identify the number of burials.