Digital Gaston County, North Carolina

 

Arranged by publication date.

Jonathan Gulluk land record. February 15, 1764. Mecklenburg County, N.C.

Deed of Conveyance John Balch to Thomas Balch. May 24, 1788.

Land Deed from Milton W. Grissom, Lincoln County, to Moses Grissom, Lincoln County. Dated: May 15, 1830.

Deed from Saml (Samuel) Blackwood to B. (Benjamin) F. Briggs. 309 acres.  Gaston County, North Carolina, dated October 8, 1852.

Dixon family papers and photographs, 1856-1880s. The Dixon family and related members resided in the western Piedmont of North Carolina, in Cleveland and Gaston counties, adjacent to the South Carolina border. Duke University Library. "Columbus Dixon's son, John Kelly Dixon (1857-1931) became a Gastonia, N.C. textile mill operator and owner, and had two sons, Arthur Mills Dixon (1882-1956), and Kay Dixon (1884-1957). Arthur Mills Dixon became mayor of Gastonia and N.C. state senator. "

"Occurrence of cobalt and nickel in Gaston County, North Carolina," by Henry Wurtz, p. 24-31 IN American Journal of Science, Second Series, vol. 27, May 1859.  In Google Books.

High Shoals property, of Gaston County, North Carolina : its iron mines, gold mines, water power, works now on the ground, etc., etc. : what it has already produced and how much more it could produce. Fleury, A. L. Pinner, M., active 1866.

Alice Tate letters and covers, 1872-1883 and undated. Alice Goodloe Lindsay was the daughter of Marianna Perry Austin Lindsay and Robert Goodloe. She married George K. Tate (1850-1883), and resided for a span of time in Gaston County, N.C., near the Mountain Island Textile Mill, which her husband owned beginning in 1872, along with the Mecklenburg Mill in Charlotte, N.C. Duke University Library.

Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire Into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, Made to the Two Houses of Congress February 19, 1872: Testimony, North Carolina.  Government Printing Office, 1872. 591 p.

U.S. Supreme Court Olcott v. Bynum, 84 U.S. 17 Wall. 44 44 (1872). Case deals with the sale of property by High Shoals Manufacturing Company, later default of mortgage, and then public foreclosure sale of property

Sketches of Western North Carolina, Historical and Biographical : Illustrating Principally the Revolutionary Period of Mecklenburg, Rowan, Lincoln, and Adjoining Counties, Accompanied with Miscellaneous Information, Much of It Never Before Published, by C. L. Hunter, 1877, Also in FamilySearch Books.

Minutes of the Gaston County Board of County Commissioners since July 1879 are online.  Note: early years are handwritten.  Access from this page. https://www.gastongov.com/952/Agendas-Minutes-Videos

The Long Creek Gold Mining Company: Gaston Co., North Carolina, By W. L. Thompson, 1880?, 7 p.  Note:    Signed at end: W.L. Thompson, mining engineer and assayer.  Below title: Henry W. Clark, president. George A. Parker, Secretary. Capital, $500,000. 50,000 shares.  Addressed to Henry W. Clark, Esq.--p. 3.

The cotton mills of South Carolina : their names, location, capacity and history / Published for the Department of Agriculture of the state of South Carolina, by order of the Board of Commissioners. Charleston, S.C. : News and courier, 1880. 23 p.

 "Testimony before the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the Administration of the Collection of Internal Revenue in the Sixth District of North Carolina, Appointed April 21, 1882."  [Includes Gaston County] 479 p.  47th Congress, 2nd session, Senate Report No. 981, IN, Reports of Committees of the Senate of the United States for the Second Session of the Forty-Seventh Congress, 1882-'83, vol. 2. 

Separk, Joseph Henry (one of the significant correspondents who have letters in the Few Records and Papers) - William Preston Few records and papers, 1814-1971 and undated (bulk 1911-1940) Correspondence, 1885-1941 and undated. Duke University Libraries Archives & Manuscripts.

Iron Ores of North Carolina: A Preliminary Report, by Henry Benjamin Charles Nitze.  North Carolina Geological Survey Bulletin No. 1, 1893.  Numerous mentions of Gaston County. 

Sketches of the life of J.T. Beam and his fifteen children, up to the third generation from 1742 to 1897 by A. R. Beam. Shelby, North Carolina : C.P. Roberts, 1898.

A. G. Mangum, Attorney at Law  June 28, 1899. Letter about check payment fee of 5.00 dollars for joining as member of Bar Association.

Illustrated Handbook of Gastonia, N.C., by Joseph H. Separk, Gastonia Commercial Club. 1906, 96 p. Also Available here.

James Daniel Moore, by Martha J. Moore, 1907, 60 p., [16] p. of plates : ill., ports. ; 25 cm. B. 1846, d. 1905.  Of Dallas and Gastonia.  Was in 26^th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, Confederate States of America.

High Shoals, Gaston county, N.C., a Southern cotton mill town, Charlotte, N.C. : Observer printing house, 1908, 66 p.

A short sketch of Belmont Abbey the canonical erection of the Abbatia Nullius and the silver abbatial jubilee of Rt. Rev. Leo Haid, D.D., O.S.B by Belmont Abbey College, 1910.

"Soil Survey of Gaston County, North Carolina", by W. Edward Hearn, p. 345-373 IN Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils 1909, (Eleventh Report), Government Printing Office, 1912.

"Timber resources of Gaston County", Press Bulletin No. 84 of the N.C. Geological and Economic Survey, July 3 1912, 3 p.

Local Draft Board Records, Gaston County. United States. Selective Service Board (Gaston County N.C.)  Lists compiled by the local county draft boards in North Carolina of men who enlisted or were drafted during WWI.

Chattel mortgages, Gaston County, 1914-1915. Bound account book that includes a handwritten personal property inventory for men and women in Gaston County between 1914 and 1915.

Addresses at the unveiling and presentation of the bust of William Gaston by North Carolina Bar Association, 1915.

"The Greater Gaston County Association," by C. W. Roberts, Town and Country Edition of The American City, vol. 15, no. 6, 1916, p. 645-646.  In Google Books.

The North Carolina flood : July 14, 15, 16, 1916, by Bell, W. M., Charlotte, N.C. 1916.

"Report on Gaston County Soils and Agriculture," (County Soil Report no. 2) The Bulletin of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, v. 38, no. 6, June 1917. 31 p.   Link is to bound volume for the year.

Mortgage Deed Payment (G. H. Black to W. S. Reichel)  August 3, 1918.

A herald advertising a performance of the Smith Greater Shows, an early 20th century carnival show, at the Big Gaston County Fair at Gastonia, North Carolina on Tuesday, October 9, 1918.

Wartime Diary of Robert Gregg Cherry, from the 115th Machine Gun Battalion Company A, a North Carolina National Guard, 1918.

Pass Book for Members of the 115th Machine Gun Battalion, a North Carolina National Guard.

Gaston County, Economic and Social, by Samuel Huntington Hobbs.  University of North Carolina Dept. of Rural Economics and Sociology,  1920, 118 p.

Gaston County Red Cross History by Kennedy, J. H., Mrs. 1920.

Second Peace and Prosperity Number. (caption) Mill News. The Great Southern Weekly for Textile Workers. Devoted to the Textile Industries. 82 p., ill. Charlotte, N. C. Mill News Print. Co. 1920.  Much on Gaston County with a mill directory; also articles on The Gray - Separk Group of Mills in Gastonia and Lincolnton, N. C., Cherryville Mfg. Co. Howell Mfg. Co., Vivian Cotton Mills Cherryville, N. C., and Melville Mfg. Co. Cherryville, N. C.  In Documenting the American South – transcription and images.

Recollections : Written in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., by James Lee Love ; 1920-1921. 320 p.  B. 1860, d. 1950.  Memoirs. (B. Gaston County in 1860. Son of Robert Calvin Grier Love. Mathematician; cotton manufacturer; associated with Gaston Cotton Mfg. Co. and Burlington Mills. Married Julia J. Spencer and, second, Mary Elizabeth Satterfield.)

"The Treasure Chest" A Fairy Pageant Play by Josephine Thorp. August 26, 1921. A booklet with the script, actors, and stage direction of the 1921 play "The Treasure Chest", written by Josephine Thorp. Presented by Children of the "Story Hour" on August 26, 1921.

Burlington Mills: incorporated - Burlington, North Carolina. 1923. Record of business transaction between Burlington Mills and Gastonia Cotton Manufacturing company of equipment, etc. purchased and moved to Burlington. 

Visions Old and New - A Historical Pageant of Gaston County by Pearl Setzer. A booklet with the script of the 1924 play Visions Old and New: A Historical Pageant of Gaston County, written to describe the history of the county. July 4, 1924

History of Cherryville by Rev. C. A. Linn. "Note: This was copied from original newspaper clippings taken from THE CHERRYVILLE EAGLE beginning March 25, 1926 thur June 17, 1926. Each week in included and in order. Missing from the series is April 1, April 22, and June 3, 1926."

Reminiscences: Abel Peterson Rhyne, 49th North Carolina Infantry, Company H, [Experiences of A. P. Rhyne, Company H, 49^th Regiment, Ransom’s Brigade, 1861-186, Confederate Army].  Mount Holly, 1927, 13 p.

Gastonia, NC, In the Center of the Marvelous Department of Hydro-electric Power and the Manufacture of Cotton. [1928]  A booklet by the Gastonia Chamber of Commerce that includes information on cotton mills and the cotton industry throughout Gaston County, as well as information on its climate, population, and more.

Marriage bonds of Tryon and Lincoln counties : North Carolina by Curtis Bynum, 1929. Southern Historical Press, reprinted 1982.

Gastonia, citadel of the class struggle in the new South, by William FG. Dunne.  New York, pub. for National Textile Workers Union by Workers Library Publishers,  1929, 59 p.

Gastonia: a class case and a class verdict, by J. Louis Engdahl.   New York, International Labor Defense, 1929, 4 p.

A Pictorial Description of The Loray Mill and its Environs. Gastonia, N.C. 1929. The Mill with a Purpose: Loray, Where the Boss is Your Friend. Printed by News Printing House in Charlotte, N.C.

Faith in Gastonia! [1929] A booklet on Gastonia at the time of publication, including its population, climate, number of manufacturers and local GDP, as well as type of manufacturing done in the region.

“Passmore Boarding House Record Book” [manuscript].  [Gastonia] 1930, 25 p.  Textile boarding house in Gastonia.

From the files of Hugh E. White, architect, Gastonia, N. C. [Gastonia]: [s.n.], 1936. Booklet showing a few of the buildings erected from plans by Hugh E. White, of Gastonia, North Carolina.

Emergency relief in North Carolina : a record of the development and the activities of the North Carolina Emergency relief administration, 1932-1935 : North Carolina Emergency relief commission, State administrator, Mrs. Thomas O'Berry / edited by J.S. Kirk, Walter A. Cutter, Thomas W. Morse. [Raleigh : Edwards & Broughton], 1936.

Proletarian journey: New England, Gastonia, Moscow, by Fred Erwin Beal.  New York, 1937, 352 p.

History of old Tryon and Rutherford counties, North Carolina, 1730-1936 by Clarence W. Griffin, Asheville, N.C., 1937.

Annals of Lincoln County, North Carolina : Containing Interesting and Authentic Facts of Lincoln County History Through the Years 1749 to 1937, by William Landers Sherrill,  orig. pub. 1937, 556 p.   In FamilySearch.org.  (Gaston County was formed from Lincoln County in 1846.)

History of Gaston County, by Minnie Stowe Puett, Charlotte, N. C., 1939, 244 p.

Histories of the families of James and Martha Crawford and of John and Isabella Whitesides. by Amelia Crawford Ferguson, 1939.

North Carolina Vocational Textile School Belmont. [1941] A general catalog for the North Carolina Vocational Textile School in Belmont, advertising its history, schedule of classes, different departments, and more.

In memoriam : May Gray Separk, July 26, 1878 - July 31, 1940, Joseph Gray Separk, November 11, 1908 - November 9, 1940 by Separk, Joseph H., 1942.

Millhands & Preachers, by Liston Pope, Yale Studies in Religious Education no. 15,  New Haven, Yale University Press, 1942, 400 p.

Gaston County 1846-1946 Centennial Year. A foldout photograph and informational guide to Gaston County on its 100th anniversary.

100th Anniversary of the Establishment of Gaston County North Carolina. A program of events at the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Gastonia, which took place in October 1946.

Sumner Hosiery Mill Records The collection documents Sumner Hosiery Mill through articles, newspaper clippings, publications, advertisements, and photographs.1946-1957.Available at Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Extracts from the diary of Benjamin Elberfield Atkins : "a teacher of the Old School," 1848 - 1909, by Emmet D. and James W. Atkins,1947.

North Carolina Mica Spots : Mitchell, Macon, Gaston, and Yancey Counties, by L.A. Dahners and F.K. McIntosh.  [Washington, D.C. ]: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, 1948.  16 p.  Describes the Bess Mine.

Gastonia and Gaston County, North Carolina, 1846-1949. by Separk, Joseph H. (Joseph Henry) Gastonia, NC: Joseph Separk, 1949. Available on FAMILY SEARCH.

The religious beliefs of the high school students of Lincoln Academy in Kings Mountain North Carolina by George Hartford Buck, Collection for Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, 1950.

John Glen (1726-1828) of Gaston County, North Carolina, and his descendants: a genealogy of the Glen(n) family from Lochwinnoch, Scotland, 1726-1953. Nashville, Tennessee, [1953?]. Available on FAMILY SEARCH.

The William McLean and allied families : the William McLean family, the John Davidson family, the Samuel Wilson family, the Erwin family, of Gaston County, North Carolina : dates covered 1725-1953 by McLean, John D. (John Davidson), 1953.

Transgas, September 1953. A booklet produced by the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corporation, which held an office in Gastonia. The Piedmont Prodigy section on page 16 is all about C.B. Zeigler, president of the Public Service Company of North Carolina at the time

Twenty Years of Progress: Firestone Textiles, Gastonia, North Carolina. 1955, 24 p.

"The Past Meets the Present" Historical Drama Belmont 1750-1955. Written by the eighth grade students of East Belmont School in 1955, this booklet includes the cast of characters, crew, and advertisers. March 18, 1955.

The Thread of My Life, by Miles O. Thornburg, Charlotte, William Loftin Publishers, 1958, 172 p.   B. 1891.  Textile executive, Gastonia; active Baptist layman.

Life sketches of Lutheran ministers : North Carolina and Tennessee Synods, 1773-1965. Lutheran Church in America. North Carolina Synod. 1966.

Loray Mill, Gastonia, Gaston County, NC. Firestone Textiles, Loray Plant . Gaston County Gastonia North Carolina, 1968. Historic American Engineering Record.

Mt. Holly, North Carolina, population and economic report. North Carolina. Division of Community Assistance.

Neighborhood analysis, Belmont, North Carolina. North Carolina. Division of Community Planning. 1968.

"Gaston County v. United States: Fruition of the Freezing Principle", by Owen M. Fiss, University of Chicago Law School, Chicago Unbound, 1969, 69 p.  Published as Supreme Court Review 379 (1969).  Discussion of 395 U. S. 285 relating to voting rights.

Voting Rights Act Extension: Hearings before Subcommittee no. 5, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives ... 91-1, on H.R. 4249, H.R. 5538, and similar proposals ... May 14, 15, June 19, 26, July 1, 1969, serial no. 3. Government Printing Office, 1969, iii, 458 pages.    Gaston County discussed.

Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Truck Weigh Station on I-85 East of Gastonia, vols. D, F.  Federal Highway Administration, Dept. of Transportation, 1971, various pages.   

Draft Environmental Impact Statement forUS-74, Kings Mountain bypass relocation, Gaston/Cleveland counties, vol. D.  Federal Highway Administration, Dept. of Transportation, 1971, 14 p. + map.

Stanley community heritage by James R. Potts [S.l.: Creative Printing, [1971]. Sponsored by Quality Shoes and Clothing and the Stanley Bicentennial Committee.

Leadership Profile for Gaston County, [North Carolina]. Overview. (Occasional Report 73-1. ERIC ED080250), by Maurice E. Voland, 1973, 26 p.

Wix Corporation by Sims, Allen H., 1974, New York: Newcomen Society in North America, 34 p.

Street and track improvements in Gastonia : Draft environmental impact statement.  Federal Highway Administration, Dept. of Transportation, 1975, 143 p. + maps.                Volumes held: D      

NC-16 corridor improvement, Charlotte to NC-72, Mecklenburg/Gaston/Lincoln counties : environmental impact statement, vol. D.  1975.

Crowder's Mountain State Park master plan. North Carolina. Division of Parks and Recreation. Master Planning Unit. 1975.

Two Hundred Years of Justice: The Courts in Gaston County. A booklet detailing the history of the Courts of North Carolina and the history of the Courts in Gaston County. Also included are lists of local clerks, district attorneys, and judges. 1976.

Documents regarding Crowders Mountain State Park Master Plan, 1977

Mount Holly Cotton Mill by Cecilia Marie Clemmer. N.C. History Project December 6, 1978.

North Carolina MPS Gaston County Courthouse Department of the Interior. National Park Service., 1979.

Archaeological Survey and Evaluation of Proposed Recreational Developments, Crowder's Mountain State Park, Gaston County, North Carolina, by Lesley M. Drucker, Carolina Archaeological Services, 1980, 150 p.

I-85, Charlotte bypass from NC-273 to US-29 and NC-49 connector, Gaston/Mecklenburg counties: environmental impact statement.  1980.

The Search for Ulricksburgh by Robert L. Williams, The State, Vol. 47 Issue 11, April 1980. p 10-12.

Poster for the project "Crafted with Pride: Historical Perspectives on the Textile Industry of Gaston County" January-April, 1985.

Brochure for the project "Crafted with Pride: Historical Perspectives on the Textile Industry of Gaston County" January-April, 1985.

Area wage survey. Charlotte-Gastonia, N.C.   U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 1985, 4 p.

The Gaston System: A Community Plans for the Future (ERIC ED292168), by Rick Smyre, 1987, 5 p.

The Brandons of Halifax County, Virginia, Gaston County, North Carolina, and York County, South Carolina by Arlie Brandon Betts, 1987.

The descendants of James Davis. Morgan Hill, CA: W. Steading, c1988.

Soil Survey of Gaston County, North Carolina, by U. S. Soil Survey, 1989, 127 p.

"Archaeological Excavations at the Crowders Creek Site (31GS55): A Late Woodland Farmstead in the Catawba River Valley, Gaston County, North Carolina", by J. Alan May.  Southern Indian Studies, v. 38 (1989) pp. 23-48.

"Salvage Archaeology at the Hardins Site, 31Gs29, Gaston County, North Carolina, by Bennie C. Keel.  Southern Indian Studies, v. 39 (1990) p. 1-17.

General Management Plan for Crowders Mountain State Park, by North Carolina. Division of Parks and Recreation.  Planning and Development Section, 1993, 80 p.

The Ragans of Gastonia, 1790 - 1995 : George Washington Ragan and Caldwell Ragan : builders of the new South and pioneers in southern textiles. by Robert A. Ragan, 1995.

The family history of Benjamin Hammond Taylor (1795-1869) and his wife Marab Mooney (1797-1865) : Rutherford, McDowell, Burke, Lincoln & Gaston Counties, North Carolina by Joyce Epley Lanier, 1996.

NC-16 Upgrading and Relocation project, Lucia to North of NC-150, Gaston County, Lincoln County, and Catawba County: environmental impact statement, vols. D and F.  1997. 

History of Mountain Island Mill & Hebron Baptist Church & Flat Rock Cemetery : Gaston County, North Carolina, by Linda Adams Bell, 1997, 106 p.

National register multiple property documentation form: Architecture of Hugh Edward White and White, Streeter, and Chamberlain, 1921-1939, Gaston County, North Carolina. by Davyd Foard Hood, 14 February 1999. Also available here.

Ulrichsburg, North Carolina (established 1789).  An article by Mills Yoder Bridges.

Natural Heritage Inventory of Gaston County, N.C., 2000, North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, Division of Parks and Recreation, Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources, 2000, 293p.

Gaston County African American Resources Survey, 2000 [PDF] by Emily Ramsey & Lara Ramsey, Consultants for North Carolina Historic Preservation Office (November 9, 2000). Located at Architectural Survey Records & Reports.

Crowders Mountain by Marshall Ellis, Our State Vol. 69 Issue 3, Aug 2001. p 88-94.

"Taking the Waters: All Healing Springs Spa and Nineteenth-Century Homeopathy", by J. Alan May. North Carolina Archaeology, v. 51 (2002) p. 68-97. Full Text available at UNC Carolina Digital Repository and from ECU NCPI.

High Seas to High Shoals: The 2003 North Carolina Humanities Council Essays, by Barbara H. Brose and David S. Brose, Schiele Museum, 2003, 66 p.

Gaston County WDB labor market information update. Gaston County Workforce Development Board. January 2005, March 2010, May 2010, and More.

Aging Study of Gaston County, North Carolina Dept. of health and Human Services, Div. of Aging and Adult Services, 2008, 58 p.

Affluence and Influence:  A Study of Inequities in The Age of Excellence, by Dixie Friend Abernathy, Dissertation, East Carolina University, 2009, 263 p. 

 Lintheads and Barons: Filling the Silences in the Loray Mill Strike, by Sally Wyatt Griffin, Dissertation, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009, 156 p.

The reconstruction of white supremacy : the Ku Klux Klan in piedmont North Carolina, 1868 to 1872, by Bradley David Proctor, Thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2009, 55 p.

“Mill Mother’s Lament: Ella May Wiggins and the Gastonia Textile Strike of 1929.” by Patrick Huber, Southern Cultures, vol. 15, no. 3, 2009, pp. 81–110.

 

 

See also: Architecture, City Directories, Cookbooks, HeritageQuest Local History Books, History & Environment, Maps, Newspapers, Religion, Yearbooks

Author: Gaston County Public Library
Title:  Digital Gaston County: History and Environment
URL: https://gastonlibrary.libguides.com/digital-gaston-county/history-environment
Revised: 25 January 2023