LINCOLN COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

What LINCOLN COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION does

Lincoln County Historical Association (LCHA) is a private nonprofit historical organization founded in 1954 and chartered by the State of North Carolina on March 28, 1955, headquartered in Lincolnton, North Carolina. It operates the Lincoln County Museum of History out of the Lincoln Cultural Center at 403 East Main Street, serving Lincoln County residents, genealogy researchers, students, and educators. The association preserves, documents, and promotes the history of Lincoln County through archival collections (including the Alfred Nixon Collection, census records, wills, deeds, newspapers, and genealogical records covering over 2,000 named families), museum exhibits, and community programming.

LCHA's product and service portfolio spans a museum (open Thursdays through Saturdays), a genealogy library and research office, an online e-commerce shop selling Arcadia Publishing "Images of America" books, genealogical CDs/DVDs, and historical publications (priced $12.50-$65.00), historic property tours (including the Battle of Ramsour's Mill site and a Historic Walking Tour of Lincolnton), educational programs including an America250 student guide, and a membership program with quarterly newsletters and member-only events. The underlying technology is a standard WordPress-based website supporting content, donations, memberships, and shop transactions via PayPal; no proprietary technology, API, or AI/ML capabilities are in evidence.

The business model is a hybrid nonprofit funding structure: recurring membership dues and tax-deductible donations, one-time merchandise sales, government appropriations (notably a large North Carolina General Assembly appropriation in 1986), and foundation grants (most notably a $1 million Timken Foundation grant in 1991 that funded the Lincoln Cultural Center). The organization is governed by a 14-member board of directors, operates with 1-10 employees (including President Steve Bailey, Vice President Tom Howard, Treasurer Laura Gregory, and Director Jason L. Harpe), and holds 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. It is a member of the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits and the American Association of State and Local History.

Name

LINCOLN COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Legal name

Lincoln County Historical Association, Inc.

Website

https://lincolncountyhistory.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1954

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Lincoln County Historical Association is a small nonprofit founded in 1954 that preserves and promotes Lincoln County, North Carolina history through a museum, archival and genealogical collections, publications, educational programs, and community events, serving local residents, genealogy researchers, and students.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Historical Preservation Services

NAICS

Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

History Museums (THAJADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA), Historic Sites, Heritage Landmarks & Archaeological Sites (THAJACAC), Cultural Heritage Institutions (Archives, Historic Houses, Monuments Foundations) (THAJADAI)

Keywords

• Historical preservation
• Genealogy research
• Museum operations
• Local history education
• Archival collections

Headquarters

HQ city

Wiscasset, Maine

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership and Donations: The association collects annual membership dues and tax-deductible donations from supporters. Members receive quarterly newsletters and access to member-only events.
2. Merchandise and Publication Sales: Sale of historical books, photography collections, genealogy materials, and DVDs through an online shop. Products include Images of America series books, genealogical records, and historical documents.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Lincoln County Historical Association is a nonprofit historical society that collects, preserves, documents, and promotes the history of Lincoln County, North Carolina. It operates the Lincoln County Museum of History in the Lincoln Cultural Center, maintains a genealogy library and research office, sells historical publications (books, CDs, DVDs), and provides access to historic properties and sites. The association runs a membership program supported by dues, donations, and grants.

Product overview

The Lincoln County Historical Association operates a nonprofit museum and historical organization offering historical publications, genealogical research services, and access to historic sites. The core offerings include a product catalog of books, CDs, and DVDs covering Lincoln County history, genealogy, and photography, sold through an online shop. Services include a genealogy library and research office, the Lincoln County Museum of History, historic property access, and a membership program with quarterly newsletters and member-only events. The publication portfolio includes multiple Arcadia Publishing 'Images of America' titles, genealogical records and family histories, and regional history books.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lincoln County Museum of History A museum housed in the Lincoln Cultural Center at 403 East Main Street, Lincolnton, offering public exhibits of Lincoln County history and artifacts. Open to visitors Thursdays 1-5 p.m., Fridays 1-4 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Genealogy & Research Services

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• New England Historic Genealogical Society (American Ancestors): A genealogy-focused membership organization with a research library and publications program — overlaps with LCHA's genealogy-research audience and publication model but at substantially greater scale.
• American Association for State and Local History (AASLH): The national professional association of which LCHA is a member — not a direct competitor but an enabling/ecosystem organization that supports the same field through training, advocacy, and standards.

Broad incumbents

• Historical Society of Pennsylvania: A long-established state-level historical organization with a research library, exhibitions, and educational programming — sharing LCHA's archival-and-museum model at meaningfully greater scale and geographic reach.
• Maine Historical Society: A larger, state-level historical society operating a museum, research library, and publishing program in Portland, Maine — broader in scope and resources than LCHA, but directly comparable in mission and revenue mix.
• New Hampshire Historical Society: A state-level historical society running a museum, library, and education programs — broader than LCHA in scope and budget but highly comparable in audience and programming mix.
• National Trust for Historic Preservation: A leading national nonprofit focused on historic-site preservation and heritage education — overlaps with LCHA's mission of stewarding Lincoln County's historic properties but operates at national scale.

Direct peers

• Gaston County Historical Society: An adjacent NC county historical society running a museum, historic properties, and genealogy programming; closely comparable to LCHA in scale, mission, and reliance on memberships and donations.
• Cleveland County Historical Society: A fellow small NC county historical society offering museum access, archival research, and publications — directly comparable in operating model and rural-county audience.
• Iredell County Historical Society: A small North Carolina county historical organization with a comparable museum-and-publications mission and similar reliance on memberships, donations, and volunteer labor.
• Catawba County Historical Association: A neighboring North Carolina county-level historical association operating a museum, archival collection, and genealogy resources of comparable size and structure to LCHA — directly comparable in scope, funding model, and visitor base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lincoln-county-historical-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LINCOLN COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION