Alexander County is located in the foothills of the Brushy Mountains in western North Carolina. It is bordered on the south by the Catawba River and Catawba County, on the west by Caldwell County, on the north by Wilkes County and on the east by Iredell County. Taylorsville, incorporated in 1851, is the county seat of Alexander County. Primary industry includes agriculture, furniture, and textiles. In 2003, the county celebrated its 156th birthday.

The Emerald Hollow Gem Mine in Hiddenite is a favorite for rock hounds from throughout the nation. Precious stones and gems such as emeralds, sapphires, garnets, smoky quartz, tourmaline, clear quartz, aquamarine, sillimanite, monazite and rutile may be found at the mine.

Linney's Mill is one of the few fully operational and producing mills in existence in North Carolina. You can see the mill operate and make purchases from the Mill Store. Linney’s Mill has been producing corn meal with water-wheel powered grinding stones for about 67 years. W.L.Linney built a dam and installed the waterwheel on Rocky Creek in 1937.