Iredell County was incorporated in 1788 when it was formed from adjacent Rowan County. It is named for Judge James Iredell (1751-1799), Attorney General of North Carolina during the Revolutionary War and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1788. The name Iredell, originally Eyredale, dates back to year 1066 to the Battle of Hastings, and it means "a valley of flowing air. The county seat of Statesville is approximately 45 miles north of Charlotte, and approximately 130 miles west of Raleigh, the state capital. ake Norman, the nation's largest manmade lake by surface area, extends into the southwest portion of the county with approximately 520 miles of shoreline. Iredell County is in the central section of the State and is bounded by Rowan, Cabarrus, Mecklenburg, Lincoln, Catawba, Alexander, Wilkes, Yadkin and Davie counties. The present land area is 574.13 square miles and the 2000 population was 122,660. Statesville, established in 1789, is the county seat.