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, established in 1789, is approximately 45 miles north of Charlotte, and approximately 130 miles west of Raleigh, the state capital. Lake 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 2012 population was 162,708.

Topography
The county is dominated by ridges separated by creeks in the valleys. The Brushy Mountains intrude into the northwest corner and include Fox Mountain, with the county's highest elevation of 1,760 feet. The lowest point is 700 feet above sea level, where the South Yadkin River crosses the county line and flows eastward along the Davie-Rowan border. At the old courthouse (Iredell County Government Center) is the center of Statesville, where the elevation is 926 feet.

The soil is loamy, a mixture of sand and clay which varies in its proportions from one section of the county to another, depending on the indigenous mineral structure. To be agriculturally productive, the Iredell soil must be chemically supplemented. The county is, however, naturally well drained and watered by the venation of its numerous creeks.