[3] Its county seat, Salisbury, is the oldest continuously populated European-American town in the western half of North Carolina.

The first Europeans to enter what is now Rowan County were members of the Spanish expedition of Juan Pardo in 1567.

They established a fort and a mission in the native village of Guatari, believed to be located near the Yadkin River and inhabited by the Wateree.

[6][7] English colonial settlement of North Carolina came decades later, starting in the coastal areas, where settlers migrated south from Virginia.

[8] A house several miles west of present-day Salisbury in "the Irish settlement" served as the first courthouse starting June 15, 1753.

"[9] As was typical of the time, Rowan County was originally a vast territory with an indefinite western boundary.

[10] Since Rowan County was developed for tobacco, cotton cultivation, and mixed farming in the antebellum period, many of the plantation owners and some farmers were dependent on enslaved labor.

In addition, textile mills were built here and elsewhere in the Piedmont, bringing back cotton processing and manufacturing from centers in New York and New England.

At the turn of the 20th century, after losing to Republican-Populist fusionist candidates, Democrats regained power and passed laws erecting barriers to voter registration to disenfranchise most Blacks.

Together with the passage of Jim Crow laws, which suppressed Blacks socially, these measures ended the progress of African Americans in the state, after Republican men had already been serving in Congress.

Charles Aycock and Robert Glenn, who were elected as state governors in 1900 and 1904, respectively, ran political campaigns to appeal to Whites.

Six lynchings of African Americans were recorded in Rowan County from the late 19th into the early 20th centuries.

The mob hanged the three men from a tree in a field, mutilated and tortured them, and shot them numerous times.

US 70 continues northeast as Main Street; it is called Salisbury Avenue in Spencer before crossing into Davidson County.

U.S. Route 29 forms Main Street in Kannapolis, China Grove, and Landis in the southern part of the county.

U.S. Route 52 is the main artery for the southeastern part of the county, serving the towns of Gold Hill, Rockwell, and Granite Quarry.

The current Commissioners are Greg Edds (chairman), Jim Greene (Vice-chairman), Judy Klusman, Mike Caskey, and Craig Pierce.

A federal district court issued an injunction forbidding the county commissioners from praying at their meetings.

[36][37] After a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit found that the prayers did not violate the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution, the full court sitting en banc disagreed and affirmed the injunction.

[40][41] In 2019, the county was forced to pay $285,000 to the ACLU for the plaintiffs' legal fees because it had lost the lawsuit.

Its duties include courthouse security, civil process, operation of detention facility, investigations and community patrol.

[44] The current Sheriff of Rowan County is Kevin L. Auten, who was appointed after the retirement of George Wilhelm in 2009.