ASHEBORO

city, seat (1802) of Randolph county, central North Carolina, U.S. It lies in the forested Uwharrie Mountains and was founded in 1796 on land that was once the home of Keyauwee Indians. A prehistoric Indian burial ground nearby was excavated in 1936. The name (originally Asheborough) honoured North Carolina governor Samuel Ashe (17251813). The community was a rural trade centre until the first railroad arrived in 1889, and several lumber plants, using waterpower furnished by the Deep and Uwharrie rivers, were established. Now industrialized, the city has large hosiery and knitwear mills and upholstery-manufacturing plants. Lumbering and the manufacture of wood products are important. The North Carolina Zoological Park and the well-known Seagrove potters' colony are nearby. Inc. 1843. Pop. (1990) 16,362.