Alexander County is located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and 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. When the Civil War began, Alexander County was 14 years old. The 1860 population was 5,837; yet Alexander County ranked high per capita in the number of Confederate soldiers serving in the war. The county is named in honor of the Alexander family who were leaders in Colonial North Carolina. Taylorsville is the namesake of either John Louis Taylor, Carolina agriculturist and political philosopher, or General Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States.

Alexander County maintains five public parks in its county park system: East Alexander Park (Hiddenite), Jaycee Park (Taylorsville), Town Park (Taylorsville), Bethlehem Park (Bethlehem) and Dusty Ridge (Wittenburg). Taylorsville maintains one park: Matheson Park. The public can also enjoy golf with two public courses inside the county; Brushy Mountain Golf Course and Oliver's Landing Golf Course. Private recreation facilities are available at the Northwood Park Swim Club, East Alexander Swim Club, Cheatham Ford Family Campground, Hidden Valley Campground, and Hickory Cove Bible Camp.

Brushy Mountain Motor Sports Park, consisting of more than 1,700 acres, is one of the best off-road riding experiences in the state. More than 40 miles of ATV and motorcycle trails are available with more than 100 miles planned by 2006. The park is located in Northwest Alexander County. For gemologists, precious stones and gems such as emeralds, sapphires, garnets, smokey quartz, tourmaline, clear quartz, aquamarine, sillimanite, monazite, and rutile may be found in Hiddenite at the Hiddenite Gem Emerald Hollow Mines.