History
of Gaston County
Gastonia
Gastonia is the county seat for Gaston County and was named was named after the county by William Gaston a congressman and and state Supreme Court judge.
Mount Holly
King George II of Great Britain first issued land grants for the Mount Holly area around 1750. A few years later in 1754, James Kuykendall of Holland was issued a grant for an area known as Dutchman's Creek. By 1875, Mount Holly finally received the name it has today and was named after the Mount Holly Cotton Mill. The name "Mount Holly" was used in recognition of the famed yarn made at a spinning mill in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
A.P. and D.E. Rhyne and Ambrose Costner originally owned the Mount Holly Cotton Mill. It was the fourth mill to be built in Gaston County and is the oldest surviving mill today. The mill's success and the prosperity of the area as a whole led local residents to petition the North Carolina General Assembly for incorporation of Mount Holly in 1879.
The first railroad in Gaston County, the Carolina Central Railway, began serving Mount Holly in 1860. The line, which runs parallel with North Carolina State Highway 27, is still in service and operated by CSX. In 1911, construction began on the area's second railroad known as the Piedmont and Northern Railway. On May 20, 1912 it made its first run from Charlotte to Gastonia.
The city is situated on the western bank of the Catawba River north of I-85 and south of NC 16.
Bessemer City
The community was named for Henry Bessemer, inventor of steel-making process.
Dallas
The community was named for Vice President George Dallas.
McAdenville
The community was named for Rufus McAden, state legislator.
Lowell
The community was named for Lowell, MA
Cherryville
Located along a divide between three creeks Muddy, Beaverdam and Indian Creek Cherryville began as a water and coal stop. Along the railroad, a local resident planted cherry trees, and the train engineers soon began calling the settlement "Cherryville" and was incorporated under this name in 1881.
Agriculture was the main economic base for many years. However, during the late 1800s, the textile industry became established in the town. Cherryville's first cotton mill, Cherryville Manufacturing Plant, was incorporated in 1891. It was soon followed by the opening of three other mills.
Cramerton
The community was named for Stuart Cramer, owner of textile mill
Spencer Mountain
Spencer Mountain was settled in 1772 and named after Zachariah Spencer, a loyalist who became a patriot during the Revolutionary War. In 1874, J. Harvey Wilson II built a water-powered textile mill (Wilson & Moore Cotton Mill) at the base of Spencer's Mountain. W. Thomas Love and John C. Rankin purchased the mill in 1895 and changed its name to Spencer Mountain Mills. A predecessor of Duke Power purchased the mill and the hydroelectric plant that powered it in 1926. The mill was purchased by Pharr Yarns in 1957 and was shut down in 1999.