city, seat (1842) of Cleveland county, in the Piedmont region of southwestern North Carolina, U.S., about 40 miles (65 km) west of Charlotte. The area was originally inhabited by Catawba and Cherokee peoples and was settled after 1760. The city was chartered in 1843 and named for Colonel Isaac Shelby, hero of the Battle of Kings Mountain (Kings Mountain, Battle of) (1780) during the American Revolution. The arrival of railways in the 1870s stimulated Shelby's development. Textiles became its chief industry, later supplemented by diversified manufacturing and agriculture. Cleveland Community College was opened there in 1965, and Gardner-Webb University (1905) is to the southwest in Boiling Springs. Kings Mountain National Military Park (1931), about 15 miles (25 km) southeast in northern South Carolina, preserves the site of the battle. Pop. (1990) 14,669; (2000) 19,477.