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Welcome to Orleans ...

Orleans is located in Lincoln County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Orleans, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1886.

Orleans is 860 feet [262 m] above sea level.<2>.

Time Zone: Orleans lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Orleans: 704 & 980<3>

Communities Also Named Orleans ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 19 communities that are also named Orleans - they are located in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa (2), Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, South Dakota and Vermont.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Orleans.

Communities near Orleans ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Orleans.

  • Gastonia
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Hickory
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory
    • Hickory is located in Catawba County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 41,473 people
  • Shelby
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
    • Shelby is located in Cleveland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,145 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shelby <4>
  • Newton
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Lincolnton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Kings Mountain
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Conover
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Conover have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conover
    • Conover is located in Catawba County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,573 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Conover <4>
  • Cherryville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Bessemer City
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Long View
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long View have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long View
    • Long View is located in Catawba County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,951 people

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Orleans. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Orleans.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Orleans. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Orleans.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Orleans. See our Newspapers Page for Orleans.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Orleans ...

Looking for more information about Orleans? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Orleans, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Orleans.

Adding Orleans to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Orleans in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Orleans was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Orleans post office opened in 1886.

We also found Orleans in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Orleans.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including Lincoln, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Orleans - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 704 code has been Overlayed with the 980 area code. New phone numbers in the Orleans area will be assigned with one of these codes: 704 or 980. As a result, placing a call in the Orleans area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<6>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/