| Cleveland Township | |
| Settlement Type: | Township |
| Pushpin Map: | North Carolina#USA |
| Pushpin Label: | Cleveland Township |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250x200px |
| Mapsize: | 250x200px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | North Carolina |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Rowan |
| Government Type: | non-functioning county subdivision |
| Established Title: | Established in |
| Established Date: | 1868 |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Total Km2: | 73.8 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 28.48 |
| Population As Of: | 2010 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP codes |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
Cleveland Township is one of fourteen non-functioning county subdivisions (townships) in Rowan County, North Carolina that were established in 1868. The township had a population of 2,817 according to the 2010 census.[1] [2] The only incorporated municipality in Cleveland Township is the town of Cleveland. Residents are served by the Rowan–Salisbury School System and the township is home to Mt Ulla Elementary School.
In 1831, the first post office in the general vicinity of present-day Cleveland was established. It was named Cowansville.[3] In 1850 before Western North Carolina (WNC) Railroad was built, the post office and thus the town in the vicinity of present-day Cleveland was called Rowan Mills, getting its name from a large five-story flour milled owned by Osborn Giles Foard (1820-1882), who was also the first Rowan Mills postmaster. After the construction of WNC Railroad, the railroad station was named Third Creek. The post office and town kept their name Rowan Mills until 1876, when the town was incorporated and renamed into Third Creek. In 1884 township people, who were all Democrats except for three people, decided to rename the town to Cleveland, in honor of Grover Cleveland, the first Democratic president elected since the Civil War.[4] [5] [6]
The following significant sites are located within Cleveland Township: