Charlotte area "ring cities"

[rancenc]

I guess you can classify Conover as a OUTER outer ring community, but a major mixed use development is planned for the town.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/major-mixed-use-development-works-500-acre-site-conover/W5TAORL7KVH6HO6B3FIUPTYTZU/

[rancenc]

Townhouse community coming to the Lake Norman/Terrell area in Catawba County.

https://hickoryrecord.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/130-unit-town-home-development-planned-on-n-c-150/article_c0f4fc28-d662-11ea-8c65-0f82c32c179f.html

Dutch based company is adding jobs and new investment to Gaston County.

https://www.gastongazette.com/news/20200805/dutch-company-investing-30-million-in-new-gaston-operation

[rancenc]

This was from January of this year, but new $36 million medical building broke ground in Mooresville.

https://mooresvilletribune.com/news/local/iredell-health-system-holds-groundbreaking-ceremony-for-new-medical-facility/article_6d447f52-8f27-5d28-8e0c-bbbf0a2d3ecb.html

[rancenc]

I honestly did not realize that this organization was still around!

https://independenttribune.com/news/centralina-council-of-governments-launches-re-branding-new-mission-statement/article_cac7b7b2-dd8e-11ea-bd83-7b824981cf8e.html?mode=comments

[rancenc]

Recent aerial view of downtown Shelby!

 

[JorgiPorgi]

20 hours ago, rancenc said:

Recent aerial view of downtown Shelby!

 

Shelby should be a model of downtown revitalization for southern towns and cities. Uptown Shelby(it’s always been called uptown like Charlotte) is quite impressive with storefronts, breweries, etc- lets hope the pandemic doesn’t take its toll on smaller cities who have put so much effort Into their their downtowns.  

[KJHburg]

how the Kannapolis CannonBallers are dealing with not being able to play or host fans in their stadium.

https://www.futuresox.com/2020/08/26/the-story-of-kannapolis-2020-hope-reigns-in-lost-season/

[KJHburg]

Kannapolis projects from the city . 

[KJHburg]

drive bys through downtown Pineville and they are building new townhomes a block of this street.  downtown Pineville shop space looks full to me. 

and a new location of Krispy Kreme on "heart attack alley" near Atrium Pineville Hospital.

[KJHburg]

Crate and Barrel announces major new warehouse over 700,000 sq. ft and 150 new jobs in Newton.  

https://www.catawbaedc.org/news/crate-and-barrel

Newton is home to a massive Target distribution center and this will be built in front of it.

 

 

Edited September 16, 2020 by KJHburg

[videtur quam contuor]

 

 

Lovely day for a drive to Dallas in Gaston County. Greek Revival courthouse. This style was copied nearly exactly in many county seats. Courtrooms upstairs and county offices ground floor. Lancaster SC used their copy of this building as the ONLY courthouse until about 2005.  175 years in the same building there. 1848 here. Dallas sits on a ridge and is centrally located n the county. Court personnel and jurors had to travel by horse and reducing travel time was critical so central location ruled. Rail line came through Gastonia and sped the textile revolution. Seat of government moved there in 1911.

 

Now a walk around the courthouse square. Nearly every original building survives, as far as I can tell.

Across from courthouse is jail. This building is for sale from Preservation NC.

Glass windows came some time after building original use.

Remains of extra large  hinges. Jails needed to keep people in and also keep people out.

View of courthouse from jail.

Renovation for Sammys's. Sammy's is in Belmont and I am unsure if this is for Sammy's opening, has Sammy's been here for some time? This is North side of square.

Around a corner and facing the rear of the courthouse is this original building. It, too is for sale. Note the upping block used for mounting and dismounting horse or carriage.

Former home now Pickles restaurant.

Hoffman Hotel from 1852. This is around a corner facing the south side of the courthouse.

Jurors may have been called to court for more than a day session in the 1800's. Not same as now. (I have a Sam Ervin story below about this situation)

Now county art and history museum

Home (I assume) next to hotel

[videtur quam contuor]

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Ervin  Sam was judiciary committee chairman during Watergate hearings. Among a lifetime of service, and devotion to the best of personal and civic virtue.

I heard him tell this story which I was reminded of by the Dallas Courthouse. 

(paraphrased) Long ago a Burke County farmer was called for jury duty. It was a miserable day to travel. Cold hard rain, but his community called him. He arrived in Morganton and put his horse away and trudged through the mud. He entered the courthouse soaked to the bone. The heat for the building was a central wood stove in the hallway. Town lawyers and clerks were seated around the stove talking and laughing. The farmer did not wish to push his way through to comfort himself so he cleared his throat. Everyone ignored him. He slapped his wet hat against his mackinaw and everyone continued talking. Finally he cleared his throat and said in a loud voice "I had a dream last night. Dreamed I was in Hell, I did". There was a pause among those near him. He repeated his comment about dreaming about Hell. "Well, farmer, tell us what it was like" said one town lawyer. "It was a lot like the Burke County Courthouse. A man could not get close to the heat 'cause of all the lawyers."

[JRNYP2C]

Thanks for the Gaston County shout out!  Sammy's in Belmont is not going anywhere.  The owner jumped at the chance to redo the building in Dallas, and is opening a second location.  Not to get TOO off topic, but another good restaurant that used to be in Dallas is moving to downtown Gastonia.  The Pita Wheel is rehabbing an old gas station on York Street, and should be opening soon.

[ertley]

17 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

Lovely day for a drive to Dallas in Gaston County. Greek Revival courthouse. This style was copied nearly exactly in many county seats. Courtrooms upstairs and county offices ground floor. Lancaster SC used their copy of this building as the ONLY courthouse until about 2005.  175 years in the same building there. 1848 here. Dallas sits on a ridge and is centrally located n the county. Court personnel and jurors had to travel by horse and reducing travel time was critical so central location ruled. Rail line came through Gastonia and sped the textile revolution. Seat of government moved there in 1911.

Dallas, North Carolina should be an object lesson for anyone who opposes mass transit. The  railroad didn't just happen to go to present-day Gastonia: When the newfangled modern conveyance was being plotted through Gaston County, the townsfolk of Dallas rejected the original attempt to route the railroad through or by Dallas. They feared it would be too noisy, too smoky, too disruptive. So instead the line went (which was cheaper anyway) more directly west from Charlotte, through the countryside. 

And the result? Development immediately clustered along the rail line, and what had been the center of Gaston County soon shifted southward and a brand new town ended up being the county seat by 1911. The silver lining is that the decline of Dallas helped preserve its central square it as it was in the mid-19 century.   

Further historical note: Dallas only became the county seat of Gaston County in 1846 because before 1846 there was no Gaston County. Prior to then, it was part of Lincoln County, which originally encompassed Gaston to the south and Catawba (county) to the north, with its eastern and northern boundaries formed by the Catawba River, and included portions of Cleveland to the west too, I believe. (My paternal grandmother was originally from Gaston County, so I know a moderate amount of its local history.)

[videtur quam contuor]

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Posted 20 minutes ago

  17 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

Lovely day for a drive to Dallas in Gaston County. Greek Revival courthouse. This style was copied nearly exactly in many county seats. Courtrooms upstairs and county offices ground floor. Lancaster SC used their copy of this building as the ONLY courthouse until about 2005.  175 years in the same building there. 1848 here. Dallas sits on a ridge and is centrally located n the county. Court personnel and jurors had to travel by horse and reducing travel time was critical so central location ruled. Rail line came through Gastonia and sped the textile revolution. Seat of government moved there in 1911.

Dallas, North Carolina should be an object lesson for anyone who opposes mass transit. The  railroad didn't just happen to go to present-day Gastonia: When the newfangled modern conveyance was being plotted through Gaston County, the townsfolk of Dallas rejected the original attempt to route the railroad through or by Dallas. They feared it would be too noisy, too smoky, too disruptive. So instead the line went (which was cheaper anyway) more directly west from Charlotte, through the countryside. 

 

Yes, this is truth^^^. Early railroads spewed smoke and cinders and ash along the route endangering building and crops. Vibration and risk of derailment and the noise were all issues on those coal and wood fired locomotives. Many a farmer had his fields burnt. Homes by the track were perforce cheaply built because if they did not burn they might collapse from the vibration.  Only after the guarantee of economic growth was certain did the risk/benefit calculation trend toward the favor of rail. Also country folk were conservative by nature. 

There were vehicles driving through the Dallas during my stroll but the only humans on foot other than I were a a group of five  18-19 yo folk.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Industrial developments have popped up throughout the Charlotte region in recent years, especially along interstates and highways. Another has now taken hold in Anson County. Atlantic Gateway Logistics Park has been in the works for about four years, said John Marek, executive director of the Anson Economic DevelopmentPartnership. Now, it is being rolled out as a strong spot along U.S. Highway 74 for industrial space.
 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2020/09/24/anson-county-atlantic-gateway-logistics-park.html

[KJHburg]

Concord is one of the top 25 best places to live so says Money Magazine.  

from Biz Journal article

""Concord is once again one of the nation's top places to live, according to Money magazine.  The publication ranked the Charlotte suburb at No. 24 on its new list of the 50 best places to live in America. Concord landed at No. 79 last year and at No. 38 in 2017. It didn't make the ranking in 2018, but Rock Hill did, with the South Carolina city coming in at No. 49 that year.  "Though the job market was dinged by the pandemic, it has been recovering relatively quickly. With a median home price of $226,000, Concord is more affordable than popular North Carolina destination Raleigh ($297,000), but with demand outpacing supply buyers need to act fast," it read.  The growing suburb has contributed to the population boom occurring in the greater Charlotte region. The local metro area counted an estimated 2.64 million residents in 2019, up 17.9% from 2010.  Concord's population was 96,341 as July 1, 2019, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates. That's up 21.4% since 2010, when there were 79,389 residents in that city.""   Morrisville next to Cary and RTP only other town in the state ranking higher at #10. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2020/09/25/charlotte-suburb-on-ranking-of-best-places-to-live.html

[videtur quam contuor]

Sunday corona virus drive to Lancaster South Carolina. This is the Greek Revival courthouse in the Red Rose city built in 1828 and in use until the early 2000's. Now with new courthouse and municipal and county services buildings beside and across the street. Used as a history museum now. 

 

Lancaster on a Sunday afternoon is empty as Chernobyl. Main street is Meeting Street. Here it is:

 

First time I was in Lancaster downtown was ~maybe~2003-2004 and it was a husk of a city. The original Springs mill was still there, though mostly vacant. The mill is now gone. It was a forbidding brick castle of a building meant to defend against outsiders, at least as I saw it. One thing has not changed. Still unpopulated downtown and obvious why. One functioning business, Leigh Ann's restaurant, open Sundays and between the old courthouse and the new.

 

 

 

One block off Meeting Street one sees a several block string of this:

 

For those who live in the thriving new developments of North Lancaster County, Del Webb community and much more, then if they ever happen to go to the county service center they will enter 1973.

 

One fine thing discovered today in Westside Cemetery. I am a cemetery visitor wherever I go. This is a new one for me as a grave marker and I rather like it. Not for me, you understand, but as a monument of distinction for two people born early years of 20th century is stands out in a good way. Maybe a family member was a metal artist.

 

Edited September 27, 2020 by tarhoosier

[rancenc]

More of a Outer Ring city, but over 100 new jobs coming to Caldwell County!

https://www.nccommerce.com/news/press-releases/governor-cooper-announces-merchants-distributors-will-expand-and-create-111-jobs

[videtur quam contuor]

 

 

Outer ring or "fringe" city of Gaffney, South Carolina. We know about the Peachoid and Gaffney Outlets on I-85 and the MANY peach stands on the access roads as we whiz by. Some of us with more experience recall the clothing manufacturer and retailer Hamricks's of Gaffney, still operating with stores in Gastonia and Rock Hill among other locations. Gaffney is a short drive from 85 and worth the small investment in time. The early 20th century was providential for Gaffney. Textiles rose dramatically, the cotton and agriculture of the area was productive, the rail line through town was busy. This period is echoed in the fine public buildings of the city. I note two of them here.

Cherokee County Courthouse-1930, made of local limestone, as the area has strong deposits, home of Limestone College and Limestone Springs which were quite the thing in the healthy springs movement in and around 1900. Classic style, certainly reminds me of Charlotte and others. Architect Marion Rossiter of Charlotte. He of the Coca Cola Building on West Morehead and the Rialto Theatre on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh. He is remembered in Elmwood Cemetery with a most modest stone but as with all proper architects he wishes for his memory to be his works and his epitaph to be his buildings. Salute!

(Thanks to the south carolina picture project for guidance online for courthouses https://www.scpictureproject.org/cherokee-county/cherokee-county-courthouse.html)

 

There is a fine US Post office facing the rail line which is now an art gallery and visitor center, closed Sundays. Limestone, again. Those lighting fixtures!

 

Behind the County Courthouse is a reconstruction of the original structure of Michael Gaffney, the Irish immigrant who settled here, 1800.

 

The cabin was disassembled in the 60's in deplorable condition and "stored" in a location that allowed insect and water rot damage. When a place and funds were available only 20% was usable so cabin logs of the same era from elsewhere were found and using photos and notes it was rebuilt here. Second axe head, third handle sort of thing. Cabin is open to all to enter and explore. No docent or monitor, just walk in. Small towns, bruh.

There is also a Carnegie library and city hall of note. No photos as they were a few blocks walk away. Something for next time.

Gaffney downtown died with the interstate as stores and big boxes went there. The downtown has some vacancies, numerous lower tier tenants such as a gospel church, two second hand antique style businesses and a few professional services such as tax preparation. Still, the churches from the more prosperous time are still here and impressive, the business part of town involves a decent number of blocks and well maintained, no sign of arson or neglect. Worth the drive and absolutely worth it if you are already in the area for outlet or peach shopping

Edited October 4, 2020 by tarhoosier

[rancenc]

Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, Gastonia continues to attract investment and growth

https://www.gastongazette.com/news/20201008/gastonia-growing-despite-impact-of-covid-19

[rancenc]

Controversial project planned for downtown Huntersville.

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/huntersville-proposal-town-center-community-responds/275-942f09ac-6df3-4e0b-bb7a-111e9de83e05

[nicholas]

16 hours ago, rancenc said:

Controversial project planned for downtown Huntersville.

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/huntersville-proposal-town-center-community-responds/275-942f09ac-6df3-4e0b-bb7a-111e9de83e05

I wonder how much of the opposition will actually be directly affected by this.  Not many people live in "downtown" Huntersville, although I think that's partly a symptom of there being hardly anything to do there.  If Huntersville played its cards right, it could have a nice stretch of urbanity along Gilead Rd between US 21 and NC 115, but that seems very unlikely given how pro-sprawl everyone seems to be.

[tozmervo]

3 hours ago, nicholas said:

I wonder how much of the opposition will actually be directly affected by this.  Not many people live in "downtown" Huntersville, although I think that's partly a symptom of there being hardly anything to do there.  If Huntersville played its cards right, it could have a nice stretch of urbanity along Gilead Rd between US 21 and NC 115, but that seems very unlikely given how pro-sprawl everyone seems to be.

I'm not familiar with this project, but I can't figure out the NIMBY approach to it. Despite being the biggest of the northern towns (by a lot), it easily has the least defined downtown. Does anyone know if they have a downtown masterplan or something similar? 

[rancenc]

Great news for Cleveland County!

https://www.nccommerce.com/news/press-releases/international-snack-food-company-invest-24-million-kings-mountain