Town of Huntersville: A Brief History

Town of Huntersville:
A Brief History
From Local Commerce, Farming and the Mill Village to
Booming Suburb: A Tale of Annexation, Infrastructure and
growth.
Early Settlers Connected to Local Churches
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Most of Huntersville’s early communities (farm
land) developed around churches
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Ramah Presbyterian Church
Caldwell Station (Mayes Rd.) – Rail stop
Gilead Community (ARP church)
Hopewell Presbyterian (Beatties Ford Rd.)
St Marks Episcopal (Mt Holly/Huntersville)
Catawba Presbyterian – the original site is under Lake
Norman near where Southlake Academy is today (it
now resides off McCoy Rd. and its cemetery remains
off Brown Mill Road)
Mt Olive Missionary Baptist Church (Neck Rd)
Huntersville from a Postal Perspective
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Huntersville covered everything East of
the Catawba River into Cabarrus County
It stretched South from Cornelius’s
1900’s town limit to Harris Blvd/I-85
Town went south along Beatties Ford Rd.
past Long Creek to Sunset Road.
As far east to include Mallard Creek,
including all of Eastfield Road.
Huntersville through the 1900s
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Town renamed to Huntersville from Craighead
(local minister) for prominent “Hunter” family
Town was 1 square mile (railroad at its center)
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Main Street – stores, bank, laundromat
Town limit was just west of Dallas St. (across from
Huntersville Elementary School)
Early housing (pre-1950) were custom built by
local men (farmers, carpenters, bricklayers,
etc.)
Most paid cash or got loans from the Bank of
Cornelius, which had a branch in downtown
Huntersville
A Look Back at Downtown Huntersville
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Cross Chevrolet (Town Center)
Bus stop (where Fire Station is today)
Auten Ford (NC115/Mt Holly-Huntersville)
General Store on Maxwell/Huntersville-Concord
Rd. (burned to the ground)
Banks
3 Grocery
Stores
A Look Back at Downtown Huntersville
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Doctor Craven’s Office and Pharmacy (Lupie’s)
Neil’s Drug Store (where Lupie’s is today)
Lane Clothing Store (same block as Lupie’s, lived where
Cafe 100 is today)
A 2nd doctor located on Gilead (west of DPK)
The Early Economy
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After WWI, Duke Power
and Bellsouth were the
prominent employers.
After WWII, nearly all
families had at least one
family member working
in Charlotte –Duke
Power, Bellsouth, at one
of the banks, in general
office work, at the
hosiery mills or teaching.
Area Jobs
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Former Anchor Mill site, east of railroad
Most people who worked in the mill lived around the
mill
Other Huntersville families lived and worked on
farms, in community commerce (retail/commercial)
jobs or in Charlotte.
Prison Camp and Highway Maintenance yard was
located on Mt Holly-Huntersville Road – behind
where the Park and new NC DOT/DMV is today
(helped get state and county roads cleaned
regularly, though there weren’t many at the time.)
The Early Economy
Some families moved to Huntersville for their
children to go to Grey’s Academy (where
HES is today)
1950s Development
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Town’s first subdivision: Greenfield
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Lower Greenfield – divided and sold to individuals
Upper Greenfield – Dallas and Hillcrest Streets, laid out like a
subdivision
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Developed under Town’s first planning / zoning ordinance to
control type of development in area
Town expanded to strip shopping center known as
Huntersville Square today – voluntary annexation in
late 50s.
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Town’s first involuntary annexation came many years later –
land along Sam Furr Road (including Cambridge Grove and
Greenfarm to NC73/Catawba Ave near the Breckenridge
area
A Snapshot from the 1950’s
“Huntersville, 13 miles
north of Charlotte on the
Statesville highway, No.
21, is currently in the
spotlight as perhaps the
only municipality in the
United States whose
every foot of streets is
paved.”
The Town has been referred
to by speakers and in
written notices as the
municipality in North
Carolina having the largest
percentage of college
trained citizens.
Huntersville was
also one of the first
communities in
rural Mecklenburg
to obtain modern
facilities, including
electricity and
water.
“The town has an
excellent financial
rating with a low
indebtedness and
ample revenue to
handle its
obligations. The
current tax rate is
$1.
Western Huntersville
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West side (of NC-115)
developed first
Primarily because of water
from the lake
Intake on Lake Norman
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1st water treatment plant was
where Regency Village is today.
Huntersville supplied water to
developers along NC73 and
Lake Norman for development
outside Huntersville Town limits.
Water and Sewer Feeds Growth
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In 1979, hooked into McDowell Creek regional
wastewater system
Anything west of the railroad was gravity-fed
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Ramah Church to Huntersville-Concord (East Huntersville) had
sewer – to the Huntersville water treatment plant out Gibson
Park Drive (Vermillion) to Clark Creek.
CMU converted it from a treatment plant to a lift station
and pumps it across the railroad out to the treatment
plant off Neck Rd. (where it is today).
75% of cost paid by the Federal government and
12.5% each by the State and Mecklenburg County.
Some areas developed with Septic – such as
Westminster Park (off MH-H at Town’s southern edge)
Residential Development in the 1980s
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Shepherd’s Vineyard
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Town’s second subdivision (just north of the
downtown area, off NC-115)
Developed in the 1980s
Breckenridge
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Proposed at the same time (off NC73 – David
Kenney Farm Rd./Birkdale Area)
Huntersville Business Park Sparks Growth
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Now known as “The Park – Huntersville”
Created in the 80’s by NCNB (now Bank of
America) – land off Gilead Road was not in
town limits at the time.
First tenant was an Ace Hardware distribution
center – large building on south area of
Reese Blvd.
Old rock quarry backs up to Park (off MH-H)
Created need for housing for managers and
executives
Residential Development in the 1990s
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Group of area business people saw need for
housing
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Greenfarm had already been built at this point.
Land was bought for Wynfield and Cedarfield in the
late 80s / early 90s
Power neighborhoods of the 1990s
Annexed into town through the 90s, large part
of exponential growth
W/S Spurs Residential Growth
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On NC73, Greenfarm was the first big subdivision
Cedarfield, Wynfield Creek and Wynfield Forest were
built in the late 80’s to mid 90’s.
MacAulay was built in the early 2000’s.
Cambridge Grove and the Hamptons built off NC73
as W/S expanded to the east and tied into the trunk
line at Clark Creek
No sewer to the east of Vermillion and Centennial,
limiting further development
Ramah Creek – important as it will provide
water/sewer along the rail road for future economic
development
Schools
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North Mecklenburg opened in 1951, first
class graduated in 1953
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Torrence-Lytle School
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Served Long Creek, Davidson, Cornelius, Huntersville
and Derita
District went beyond North Tryon St. because Garinger
hadn’t been built yet.
Known as the Huntersville Colored School until 1952-53)
Built in 1937, closed in 1966
Students integrated into North Meck HS in 1965
Hopewell High School opened in 2001
Hough High (Cornelius) opened in 2010
Schools
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Huntersville Elementary School
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Elementary Schools developed as population grew
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Blythe Elementary
Torrence Creek and Barnette Elementary Schools opened in past 10
years
Grand Oak Elementary opened to relieve TC in 2013
J.M. Alexander Junior High built in the 1960s
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Former home of Huntersville High School
and Huntersville Academy
Ag buildings still standing at HES and Long Creek.
Later Bradley Middle opened on the west side
Many Huntersville kids go to Bailey Middle in Cornelius
Other options also opened as Lake Norman Charter (Middle & High
School) in 1998-99 and Southlake Christian Academy
Highways / Interstate
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Rail line didn’t transport residents from Huntersville/North
Mecklenburg after WWII, though it continued carrying
freight.
NC 115 used to be US 21, was moved in the late 1950s to
where US21 is now.
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When ROW for 21 was purchased, landowners were told it
was also for I-77
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Two 150 year old homesteads were taken for 21/77 (poor
historic preservation)
1975: I-77 completed from Charlotte to Elkin
2 Exits fuel access and growth
Town expects additional growth from the completion of I485, set for approx. Spring 2015. Its partially open today.
Exit 25 – 1993 Aerial (Exit opened in 1994)
Exit 25 – 2007 Aerial
The Lake
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Duke Power finished the Cowans Ford Dam on the
Catawba River, officially creating Lake Norman in
1963.
The largest manmade body of fresh water in North
Carolina 1963 – 520 miles of shoreline.
Lake named for Duke Power president Norman
Cocke.
Big impact on growth of area, however through the
1980s, many people only had weekend/vacation
homes on the lake.
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It wasn’t until the 90s/2000s that development intensified.
It also wasn’t always socially acceptable for many of the
execs that call LKN home today to live north of I-85.
Early Public Safety
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Police – from 1 to 80+ today
Volunteer Fire Departments
settled around communities
(Huntersville, Gilead, Long
Creek, etc.)
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Huntersville Fire Dept – attribute
a lot to Chief Allen Irvin and
Assistant Chief Dwight Cross, Jr.
– the staff from Cross Chevrolet
would answer calls during the day
(Chief John Albert Rape, killed in
the line of duty – Jan. 1, 1938.)
Early Public Safety
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The North Mecklenburg
Volunteer Rescue Squad was
founded in 1959 in the town of
Huntersville, North Carolina. The
squad was established and
staffed by members of the
northern Mecklenburg County
communities in order to provide
ambulance and rescue services
to northern Mecklenburg County
including the communities of
Cornelius, Davidson, Gilead,
Long Creek, and Huntersville.
(training exercise from 1960s)
Other Historical Sites of Note
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Historic Latta Plantation
Rural Hill
Hugh Torrance House and Store
EnergyExplorium at McGuire Nuclear Station
Hopewell Presbyterian Church
Beatties Ford Road Corridor
Torrence-Lytle School
Ramah Presbyterian Church
Mt Olive Missionary Baptist Church
African History Museum of Church History (Neck Rd)
Children’s School House (Caldwell Station / Mayes Rd)