Posted on: June 5, 2023
The McCoy Slave Cemetery, located on McCoy Road, has been trusted to St Mark’s Episcopal Church for its care and upkeep since the 1940’s, per Albert McCoy’s will. The cemetery has the remains of McCoy family slaves ...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: June 2, 2023
Midas Spring Water is located off Beatties Ford Rd and was founded in 1871. Midas is recognized as the oldest company in Mecklenburg County and is one of the first bottled water companies in the continental United States.
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: June 1, 2023
Joe Harvey Hunt taught history and coached baseball at North Mecklenburg High School and finished his career as principal there. He was inducted into the North Mecklenburg Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020. Mr. Hunt was a deacon and Sunday...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: May 28, 2023
Sarah McAulay has been a public servant for the Town of Huntersville and the northern Mecklenburg County region for more than 40 years. Sarah served the Town as Mayor for 10 years and as a Board of Commissioners member for an additional 14 years. McAulay ...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: May 26, 2023
River Jason Ryan is a professional baseball player and joins his brother, father, uncle, and great-uncle in the family lineage of professional players. He played baseball at North Mecklenburg High School where he was coached by his father. Ryan was drafte...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: May 24, 2023
While a student at Blythe Elementary, Mongai Fankam launched the No Backpack Day movement to raise awareness of the millions of children who walk to school with their books in their hands or in plastic bags. The program now has 40 schools through...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: May 22, 2023
Dr. William Speight McLean Davidson was a prominent physician and farmer. He received his B.A. from Davidson College in 1840, as a member of its first graduating class. Davidson’s medical practice extended from Long Creek to the Iredell County line and he...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: May 20, 2023
Jim Warren started at the Carolina Raptor Center as Chief Operating Officer in 2006. In 2011, he became Executive Director and led the Raptor Center to become one of the most highly respected and largest raptor hospitals in the United States. In partnersh...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: May 18, 2023
Monsignor Joseph A. Kerin was the founding pastor of St. Mark Catholic Church where he served until his retirement in 2003. His legacy of priestly service, first in the Diocese of Raleigh and then in the Diocese of Charlotte, spanned 57 years. He was the ...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: May 16, 2023
In 1972, the Hager family opened Tastee Freez. It was a family business with every member being part of the team. Tastee Freez was the only place to stop to eat between Charlotte and Lake Norman and the restaurant was best known for its foot-long hot dogs...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: May 14, 2023
The Oasis, "Where It's Always Cool" opened in September 1977 in Bay Shore Plaza. The vision of Terry Dewese, a life-long resident of the area, The Oasis became a successful retail store when Huntersville’s population was only 3,000 residents. Wh...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: May 12, 2023
Jill Swain served the Huntersville community in many capacities. She was elected to the town board in 1999, served four two-year terms as a commissioner, and then was elected mayor in 2007, serving four two-year terms until 2015. She was the founder and e...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: May 7, 2023
Mary Jane Hastings is the oldest living known resident of Huntersville. She turns 103 years old on May 7. In 2021, Hastings made the decision to move from New York to Huntersville to be closer to her children and grandchildren. Even at 103 years old, she ...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: April 24, 2023
Renee Mary Jane Rapp is an award-winning actress and singer who has performed on Broadway in the role of Regina George in the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical, Mean Girls. She was born in Huntersville and attended Hopewell High School for th...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: April 21, 2023
Thomas Lucky "Cap" Ward served in World War II, where he received a Purple Heart with oak leaf clusters for being wounded, and a Bronze Star for helping save his wounded boat mates. In 1951, he became the principal of Huntersville Elementary and...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: April 19, 2023
Joy Logano is a two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion and Huntersville resident. Away from the racetrack, the Joey Logano Foundation has contributed more than $5 million to organizations that provide second chances to kids and young adults in crisis. In add...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: April 17, 2023
Spurgeon Dorton served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After leaving the service and working in the field of education for several years, he was called to the ministry. Rev. Dorton served several churches throughout his career, particularly First Ba...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: April 14, 2023
Gina Michelle Stewart is a fourth-generation Huntersville native and a graduate of North Mecklenburg High School. She is an actor and entrepreneur with vast experience in film, television, voiceover, and theater roles. Stewart is also a singer/songwriter ...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: April 12, 2023
Ethelyn Plummer Fite was a member of First Baptist Church-Huntersville for 84 years. In 1997, she was honored for teaching Bible Study and serving on many boards and committees for 58 years. Fite retired from the U.S. Post Office in Huntersville after 27 ...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: April 10, 2023
Janelle Harris is an active member of the Pottstown Community. She hosts monthly community meetings, collaborated with Angels & Sparrows to secure a $3,000 grant for community members to pay tax bills, coordinates medical, residential, and financial p...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: April 7, 2023
Albert McCoy was the great-grandson of John McKnitt Alexander, who signed the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, and great-nephew of Major John Davidson, namesake of Davidson College. In 1886, he built his home on McCoy Road and was instrumental in ...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: April 5, 2023
Dakota Wright produces content on TikTok for his community of nearly three-quarters of a million followers that admire his positive relationship with food and honest opinions. In 2022, he was named one of the social media platforms’ Trailblazers...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: April 3, 2023
Jimmy Wayne “Pepsi” Henson earned his nickname from his first job working on a Pepsi truck and stocking stores and vending machines. He was regularly seen hanging out at Cashion’s Quick Stop handing out kind greetings to all....
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 31, 2023
Luke Combs began performing as a child, most notably performing a solo at Carnegie Hall. Originally from Huntersville, he played his first country music show in Boone while a student at Appalachian State University. Combs is now a multi-platinum, award-wi...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 29, 2023
Rev. Alexander Craighead was an itinerant Presbyterian minister in the North Mecklenburg area. He preached to congregations to resist threats to their independence and was a vocal critic of King George III and the Church of England. One of the earliest na...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 27, 2023
Luke Maye is an American professional basketball player for Covirán Granada of the Spanish basketball league. He played basketball at Hough High School in Cornelius and at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Growing up, Maye spent time playing w...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 26, 2023
Howard Augustine “Humpy” Wheeler served as President and General Manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway (Lowes Motor Speedway) for more than 30 years. This NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee lived in Huntersville for many years, performed the voice of Tex in the D...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 24, 2023
Dr. Thomas Craven was a veteran of both World Wars, serving in the first World War as a Captain in the Medical Corps and attaining the rank of Colonel in the second war. He served as Huntersville’s mayor for seven terms and later as a commission...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 22, 2023
John Frank Lytle was born into slavery but became a prominent farmer and businessman. His farm grew cotton and corn and he owned a great deal of land. Lytle was key in developing educational opportunities for African American children and in 1926 built th...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 20, 2023
Benny Reeder is a self-taught welder and artist. His whimsical yard art has been a fixture outside of his home on Gilead Road since he began creating art out of scrap metal in the early 1990s. Utilizing materials such as old shopping carts, golf clubs, di...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 17, 2023
David Harris “Harry” Gant grew up working with his family at their sawmill. After serving in the US Navy during World War II, he began his brick-laying career. Gant started his own masonry company, McCord & Gant, with business partner and friend, Dave...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 15, 2023
William "Bill" Fite Auten served as Huntersville's Postmaster for 20 years. Known for his extravagant Christmas light display at his home on Hillcrest Drive, he was also a faithful supporter of the Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry.
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 14, 2023
Larry Banks has served as Scoutmaster of Troop 19, based at Huntersville Presbyterian Church, since 1988. During his 34-year tenure, the Troop has registered more than 525 Scouts, with 165 having earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Scoutmaster Banks has grown...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 13, 2023
Metrolina Greenhouses has been part of Huntersville's "landscape" for more than 50 years. Founded by Tom and Vickie VanWingerden who immigrated from the Netherlands in 1971, their initial 20,000-square-foot rented greenhouse has flourished into ...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 8, 2023
Rachel Miller Bellew was Huntersville’s first female Town Board Commissioner when elected in 1973. She served on the Sanitation Committee and volunteered as a school crossing guard.
150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 7, 2023
Torrence-Lytle School opened in 1937 and represented the first opportunity for African American students, elementary through high school, to attend a public school in the region where they lived. It had seven classrooms and 181 pupils. The school&rsqu...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 6, 2023
The Pottstown Community is the earliest African American neighborhood in Huntersville. Located southeast of the Town’s center, the community began as a sparsely settled area of small farms and workers’ dwellings, with churches marking the general boundari...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 4, 2023
Levera Pearson Wynn worked tirelessly to improve the lives of others. In the 1970s, she went door to door in the Pottstown community trying to get residents to support a voluntary annexation into Huntersville so residents could receive Town services. Wynn...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 3, 2023
In 1928, NCDOT solicited churches for their stone walls so the stone could be crushed and used to surface local roads. Many churchyards had stone wall boundaries to define the sacred area and keep out livestock. Hopewell Presbyterian Church had stones aro...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: March 2, 2023
Otha James Potts owned a substantial amount of land around and behind Church Street. Although initially farmland, Potts sold parcels for homes. Employed by a construction company in Charlotte, he used scrap materials from commercial construction sites to ...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: February 27, 2023
Leroy Roscoe Wynn was an agriculture and horticulture teacher at multiple Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, including Torrence-Lytle School where he taught for 18 years. In 39 years of teaching, Wynn never took a sick day. He was the first African American e...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: February 22, 2023
Caldwell Rosenwald School, 15435 NC Hwy73, was constructed in 1925 to serve African American children in the Lemley community of North Mecklenburg County. The cost of construction was $5,200; of that, $1,100 was paid by the Rosenwald Fund, $3,500 by the p...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: February 21, 2023
Richard Dalrymple was a connoisseur of jazz. At the urging of his barber, David Beatty of Beatty’s Barber Shop in Huntersville, Dalrymple met the owner of radio station WHIP 1350, who put him on the air. Dalrymple’s Jazz Party program was well-known as th...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: February 20, 2023
Bethesda Schoolhouse, circa 1898, is the oldest surviving school building for African Americans in Mecklenburg County. Officially designated as the Bethesda Colored School of Mallard Creek Township, School District # 3, it served the African American comm...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: February 17, 2023
William James Colson Sr. owned and operated Colson's Barber Shop, a two-chair, 900-square-foot shop on Gilead Road, for 42 years. When he opened his shop in 1966, haircuts were only 75 cents. Colson became a barber after losing his left leg in a hunting a...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: February 16, 2023
Huntersville School #2, located at 508 Dellwood Drive, is one of six surviving Rosenwald schools in Mecklenburg County. Also known as the “Little School,” this facility was designated a historical landmark in 2022. Rosenwald Schools played a key role in e...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: February 15, 2023
Betty Jane (BeeJay) Caldwell is an author, community activist, and advocate of Huntersville’s Pottstown Community. Through her docent reenactments at local historical sites and community presentations, Caldwell shares her knowledge and passion for her com...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: February 4, 2023
Juanita Pettice White taught French and English at the historic Torrence-Lytle High School in Huntersville during the 1960s, where she also served as a faculty advisor for the yearbook committee and the school paper, the "Torrence-Lytle Gazette."...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: January 31, 2023
Isaac Torrence Graham was the first and only principal of Torrence-Lytle High School (1937-1966) in Huntersville. After Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools integrated its schools, Graham became the assistant principal of North Mecklenburg High School.
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: January 27, 2023
Dr. Hillis Ledbetter Seay was a local physician who practiced medicine in the Huntersville area for more than 50 years. He did extensive clinical research in the treatment of tuberculosis and served as superintendent of the Mecklenburg Tubercular Sanitori...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: January 24, 2023
William Amos Hough, Jr., a lifelong educator, served as principal of North Mecklenburg High School from 1955 to 1974. The NC Association of Educators named him Principal of the Year in 1970 and he was one of the first inductees into the school’s Hall of F...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: January 20, 2023
James Hoyt Wilhelm was one of 11 children born to tenant farmers in Huntersville and began his baseball career in the Lake Norman area. Wilhelm served in the US Army during World War II and was awarded the Purple Heart. Nicknamed “Old Sarge&...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: January 19, 2023
Richard Barry was a tanner, legislator, and one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. He was co-founder of Hopewell Presbyterian Church and is buried in the church’s cemetery. Barry is also remembered for recovering Gene...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: January 12, 2023
Dwight Shaw Cross Jr. returned home after serving as a pilot in the Air Force and went to work for his dad at Cross Chevrolet, which he later owned. He served on the Huntersville Community Council, coached Little League, and was elected to the Huntersvill...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: January 11, 2023
Ryder Michael Ryan, a professional baseball pitcher, was born in Huntersville and attended North Mecklenburg High School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ryan won a silver medal with Team USA at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, making fou...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: January 10, 2023
Huntersville Police Chief John Albert Rape was killed in the line of duty while questioning a suspect on a burglary call during the early morning hours of January 1, 1938. His murder remains unsolved. Rape was 34 years old.
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: January 6, 2023
Andrea Stinson attended North Mecklenburg High School and was selected as Female Player of the Year for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association in 1986-87. She was often seen participating in open gym at the David B. Waymer Recreation Center. ...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: January 5, 2023
General William Lee Davidson was a Revolutionary War officer who died protecting Cowan’s Ford from an enemy crossing. Although the battle was lost, the outnumbered army’s efforts bought the patriots invaluable time later in the war. He...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: January 4, 2023
Margaret “Belle” Banks was Chairman of the Board for Central Piedmont Community College during the organizational period leading to the establishment of the North Campus in Huntersville. She served for 12 years as a commissioner on the...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: January 1, 2023
Spencer Allen Irvin served the Huntersville community as Fire Chief for 39 years. He served in the US Marine Corps during the Korean Conflict and received a Purple Heart. Irvin was the owner of Irvins Body Shop and enjoyed building fire trucks for local f...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places
Posted on: January 1, 2023
William LeGette Blythe made his name as one of the most respected journalists and versatile authors of Mecklenburg County. He worked for The Charlotte News and The Charlotte Observer as a journalist before starting to write his own award-winning books.?Bl...
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150 Anniversary - Notable Names & Places