A Guide to Historic Sites and Buildings
Summarized from “The Plantation
World Around Davidson”
by Chalmers Gaston
Davidson (published 1969)
(1) SITE OF FOREST DELL. Sometimes called the Peggy Brevard plantation,
this famous establishment was well run by its owner Margaret Jack Conner
Brevard (1790-1866), widow of John Franklin Brevard. Their daughter Rebecca
married Robert Irwin McDowell. The house at Forest Dell burned September 30, 1883, and
most of this plantation is now under Lake
Norman. View
Map
(2) GENERAL EPHRAIM DAVIDSON HOUSE. This is perhaps the
oldest house extant in this vicinity. It may even date back to General,
Ephraim's father, Colonel George Davidson of the Revolution. It is a two-story
house, originally on Davidson's Creek, now on Lake Norman,
and has been modernized. The chimneys, recently plastered over, were ornamented
with diamond designs in the brick. When it was the property of George Franklin
Davidson, son of General Ephraim, the house had one of the best private
libraries in the Piedmont. View
Map
(3) MOUNT MOURNE. Built by Major Rufus
Reid about 1837, this was the finest frame house in lower Iredell at that time.
It could easily be converted into a four-story dwelling. It has never been
abandoned or abused, and its Greek Revival porch is
admirable. Major Reid was a merchant as well as a planter and one of the most
highly successful men in his section. He married two of the Latta sisters; his
third wife was the step-daughter of the third- sister. View
Map
(4) CENTRE
CHURCH. The present building
(1854) is the second on the site and at least the third for this congregation.
It contains an old slave gallery. The congregation dates back to the 1740s,
when the Reverend John Thompson, an Old-Side Presbyterian, lived and preached
in this area. At the time of the Revolution, Centre was the church of Colonel Alexander
Osborne (ancestor of the Adlai Stevensons of Illinois),
of Squire John Brevard (ancestor of Senator Richard Brevard Russell of Georgia) and of
General William Lee Davidson, for whom Davidson College
is named. View
Map
(5) MOUNT MOURNE. This is an earlier
house and plantation than the Mt.
Mourne of the Reids a few
miles north. The house was built of logs in 1818, and has been owned by the Houston family for almost
a century and a half. The name doubtless comes from Mount Mourne
in Ireland,
whence many of the first settlers originated. The Houstons married into the Brevard, Latta, and
Reid families before the War and have many descendants today. View
Map
(6) WOOD LAWN. Built about 1840,
this was the home of Dr. George Stinson, physician, planter, and trustee of Davidson College. He married two grand-daughters
of Colonel Adlai Osborne of nearby Belmont,
of which Wood Lawn was originally a part. Dr. Stinson was a "liberal"
for his day in that he let his daughters square-dance,
thus making Wood Lawn one of the most popular homes within reach of the Davidson College students nearby. The house
originally had an avenue from its front porch to the present highway to
Mooresville. View
Map
(7) SITE OF WALNUT
GROVE. James
Johnston's house was in Davidson where the Kerr-McGee Farm
Center is now located. It
was a modest
house much like the Houstons'
Mt. Mourne, but was surrounded by a
beautiful garden. There was a deer
park with a fence fifteen feet high. planter Johnston was one of the largest slave-owners in
north Mecklenburg
County. View
Map
(8) ROBERT POTTS HOUSE.
Built
in 1811, clapboard over logs, this is an attractive small house, beautifully
restored. The wings are later additions. The most interesting interior detail
is shadow-painting on the stairs, typical of the times but nowhere else preserved
in north Mecklenburg. This family of Potts was
intimately involved in the founding of Davidson College.
One son, who entered the first class, claimed to have hauled the first load of
brick for the college buildings. View
Map
(9) BETHEL
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The congregation was organized in 1828 [sic
1829]. The present building dates from 1896, with a front vestibule added in
1955 in keeping with the earlier Gothic style. The loose rock wall of the
graveyard and handsome boxwood are much admired today. Prominent antebellum
planting families buried here include the Pattersons and the Potts. View
Map
(10) SITE OF CEDAR
GROVE. The plantation of Houston Johnston, which is now under
Lake Norman.
The large log house was built in 1814 and demolished by a later owner in
1922-23. View
Map
(11) SITE OF WILLIAM PATTERSON HOMESTEAD,
PRESENT [1969] OUTRIGGER MARINA.
This
was a typical two-story, clapboard house, with a chimney at each end. It was
built in 1829 and it burned in 1945. No name is recollected for this
plantation. William Patterson left many descendants. View
Map
(12) SITE OF
LOWRIE-POTTS PLANTATION. The ante-bellum house, said to resemble the Mount Mourne
mansion of the Reids, was built by Judge Lowrie. It was purchased before the
War by William Graham Potts, a successful planter who originally lived in the
smaller two-story house across] Jetton Street from the present Hoke Lumber
Company in Davidson. View
Map
(13) BEAVER DAM. The
date of the building of this clapboard over log house is on the east chimney,
September 1829. It was probably the second house on this plantation built by
Major William Lee Davidson, III, son of General William Lee Davidson for whom
the college is named. Major Davidson gave the land for the Presbyterian
college. He married his second cousin, Betsy "Lee" Davidson, but had
no children, and later moved to Marengo County, Alabama. View
Map
(14) SITE OF HICKORY
GROVE. The
Andrew Springs house on this site was a
three-story cottage of unique design. It was allowed to deteriorate and
collapse in the twentieth century, and the Mayes brick house now occupies the
location. Much of its impressive boxwood still remains. Andrew Springs
was an elder in Bethel
but was buried in the First Presbyterian churchyard in Charlotte.
View
Map
(15) GLENWOOD. The shell of this
two-story house, built in 1833 by D. A. Caldwell, remains at Caldwell Station.
It was once the seat of a well-educated and cultured family and a rendezvous
for intellectuals. D. A. Caldwell's grandfather, Dr. David Caldwell of Guilford, was the most
distinguished divine in the colon y of North
Carolina. LeGette Blythe used this location (with
considerable liberties) as the setting for his novel Call Down
the Storm. View
Map
(16) CEDAR GROVE. This is the most
impressive plantation house yet standing in Mecklenburg County.
It is built of brick, and like the Reid’s Mount Mourne,
which was patterned on it, it could easily be
converted into a four-story dwelling. James Galbraith Torrance built it in 1831
on the site of an earlier brick house built by his father. Its most notable
interior feature is the three-story spiral stairway. It is owned and occupied
by descendants of the builder. View
Map
(17) INGLESIDE. Located one mile southwest of
Gilead Road on Henderson Road, 2131. The word means "fireside" in
Scotland
and was a popular name for Southern plantations. The Mecklenburg Ingleside was
built by Dr. William Speight McLean Davidson and was not completed until after
the War. It is a Victorian house but the cement covered columns may well have
been inspired by those of the Georgian home of Dr. Davidson's grandfather,
Major John Davidson of Rural Hill. View
Map
“Typical of many of the old country lanes in Northern Mecklenburg County
is the narrow, winding Bud
Henderson Road, which turns off Gilead Road a few miles west of
Interstate 77. Originally a dirt wagon path between several plantations and
connecting to the Salisbury Post
Road, this lane probably dates from the early
1700s. Much of the land along the road
was originally acquired by land grant to pioneer Scotch Irish settler Samuel
Wilson. On the site of Wilson's original house his descendant, Dr.
William Speight McClean Davidson, started to build a
magnificent new manor house in the 1850s. Today stands this remarkably
preserved Tuscan Revival house called Ingleside (Scottish for 'fireside') said
to have been finished after the Civil War.”
Source: http://www.cmhpf.org/surveys&ringleside.htm
(18) SITE OF CEDAR
GROVE, HOME OF ROBIN WILSON. Located one half mile southwest of Gilead Road on Henderson Road,
2131, about a mile west of the Torrance’s
“Cedar Grove,” a road turns south from the Gilead Road. This road is now known as Bud Henderson Road. The land along this road was chiefly Wilson land before the
Revolutionary War. The Wilsons were descended from Samuel Wilson [Sr], who came from England, and considered themselves
the aristocrats of North Mecklenburg. Cedar
Grove was an elegantly appointed house when built in 1819. It was abandoned and
despoiled by vandals a century later, but parts of the moulding
and paneling now give distinction to the Joe Graham Davidson home at Rural
Hill and that of LeGette Blythe in Huntersville, both families being Wilson descendants. View
Map
(19) SITE OF RURAL HILL. This was the first
mansion built on the Catawba. Major John Davidson had a log house first; then
in 1788 he built Rural Hill of brick ornamented with lacy iron grillwork. The
Major's first fortune was made in iron mines. The house burned in 1886, two
years before its centennial was to be celebrated. This house site is still in
the hands of Davidson descendants. The plantation burying-ground contains
graves of soldiers from the Revolution down through World War II. View
Map
(20)
HOLLY BEND. One mile east, and adjoining
“Rural Hill”, is “Holly Bend”, the plantation of Major John Davidson’s oldest
son Robert “Robin” Davidson. Holly Bend
bordered the river, the house being on a hill a mile or two before the Neck Road ends at
the water’s edge. Robert and his wife
Margaret “Peggy” McWhorter Osborne produced no children. Robert Davidson was the only planter in Mecklenburg who owned a hundred slaves. View
Map
(21) OAKLAWN. The traditional
building date for Benjamin Wilson Davidson's house, later called Oak Lawn, is 1818, the year
Davidson married Elizabeth (Betsy) Latta. The property
on which the house was built, however, was not acquired from his father, (Astor
John Davidson, a participant in the American Revolution) until April 14, 1819.
Furthermore, purchases from Charleston
in Davidson's account with his father-in-law, James Latta, in 1821, are of the
type and quantity to indicate the building of his house at that time. Tradition
holds that Davidson was called "Independence Ben" by his father
because he was born on May
20, 1787, the twelfth anniversary of the controversial Mecklenburg
Declaration of Independence. Davidson lived the life of a prosperous cotton
planter as a member of the numerous and locally prominent Davidson family.
Davidson died relatively young in 1829, leaving his widow with six sons. View
Map
(22)
WALNUT GROVE View
Map
(23)
HOPEWELL
CHURCH Located on Beatties Ford Road. View
Map
(24)
LATTA PLACE Located two and a half miles west of Beattie’s Ford Road on Sample Road, 2125. Directly
across the Beatties Ford Road
from Hopewell Church, the Sample Road runs west to the Catawba River. At
the end of this road, some two and a half miles, stands an empty old homestead
in a beautiful grove directly on the water.
This was “Latta Place”,
the home of James Latta of Ireland. He was a traveling merchant and a planter
with a mind set chiefly on gold in the accumulation of which he was singularly
successful. The house was built shortly
after 1795 in which year he married Jane Knox.
It is a frame house, one of the first in the County, and is ornamented
inside with very elaborate woodwork, done by Hessian craftsmen who remained in America after
the Revolution. [Latta Plantation has
been restored and is now open to the public.]
View
Map
(25)
JOHN R. ALEXANDER View
Map
(26) EDGEWOOD
Located on Eastfield
Road, Huntersville, NC – the structure, built c. 1853, was the home of Robert
Davidson Alexander (1796-1863) and his wife, Abigail Bain Caldwell Alexander
(1808-1889), both being members of prominent pioneer families of Mecklenburg
County. Robert Davidson Alexander, a
trustee of Davidson
College, probably built
this home with his legacy from his uncle Robert Davidson of “Holly Bend.” View
Map
(27) SITE OF
ALEXANDRIANA. This
has become the most famous house of colonial and revolutionary Mecklenburg, for John McKnitt
Alexander had the original papers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of
Independence in his possession when his house and all its contents burned in
1800. A small house was built on the same location and was occupied by John McKnitt's son, William Bain Alexander. The fascinating story
of Alexandriana can be read in LeGette Blythe's novel by the same name,
recently republished. View
Map
(28) SITE OF ROSEDALE. The largest of the Alexander houses was Rosedale, the plantation home of Doctors Joseph McKnitt [Alexander] and Moses Winslow Alexander. It was
built about 1848 with a double gallery infrequently found in the piedmont. Like
Mt. Tirzah of the Brevards across the river, it was too large to be
maintained after the war. For years it stayed open to the winds, then was burned by vandals in 1967. Its four large chimneys,
with three fireplaces each, stood for several years in the quiet grove. View
Map
(29) CONFEDERATE
MONUMENT, Cornelius. The only statue of a Confederate soldier in Mecklenburg County is atop the monument in the
churchyard of Mt.
Zion Methodist
Church. This was the site
of the Confederate memorial "camps" as long as the veterans were able
to rally. The Stoughs, the Cravens, and others in the vicinity raised the money
for the monument which was unveiled in 1910
with appropriate ceremonies and in the presence of many who had worn
the Grey in the '60s. View
Map
========================================================
Knox Family and Other SITES – addendum not part of the original tour
(30) BLYTHE HOMESTEAD 16001 Beatties Ford Rd. “The Blythe Homestead is an intact homestead
dating back to the land acquisition by Samuel Blythe in 1772. The house located
on the Blythe Homestead is architecturally significant as an intact and finely
preserved example of rural, vernacular architecture constructed in the mid-19th
century; the
setting with its pastoral vista is a reminder of Mecklenburg County's
farm past; the outbuildings represent
traditional forms and a variety of construction techniques including a log
outbuilding. The Blythe Homestead is
still owned by descendants of Samuel Blythe and including the house,
outbuildings, and fields, provides valuable insights into life for early
settlers and yeomen farmers of Mecklenburg
County.” Samuel Blythe deeded the land for Gilead
ARP’s Church and Graveyard. In Sept
1779, he witnessed Patrick
Knox’s purchase of 373 from Archibald Henderson.
(31) GILEAD
A.R. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 15303 Beatties Ford Road, Huntersville, NC. More about Gilead.
(32)
PATRICK
KNOX’s 1779 LAND PURCHASE Comprised of 373
acres on the “eastside of the Catawba River” -
specific location of this acreage is unknown, but other Archibald Henderson
grants indicate this property adjoined Jno. Cowan
property. “4 Sept 1779, Archabald Henderson of Meck., to Patrrick Knox of same, for L3250...300 A, part of a patent
to Patrick [Peter] Elliot, and conveyed by him to George Renicks,
14 April 1752, by Renix to John Black, 23 (?) Oct 1754, and by Thos.
& Josiah Black, heirs of sd John to sd.
Henderson; also 73 A, part of 200 A granted to Geo. Renicks,
30 Aug 1753 and conveyed by John Renick, son of
George Renicks,
17 June 1776 to A. Henderson... Archibald Henderson (Seal), Wit: Saml Blith [Blythe], William
Henderson. (No rec. date)” [Holcomb & Parker, abstract - page 172]. The 15 April 1778 warrant for State Grant
333 states Archibald's grant of "224 Acres of Land In Mecklenburg County"
was "Bounded by his own line, Wm Henderson, Jno Cowns
[Cowan's] & Jno Hendersons line."
(33) EPHRAIM
ALEXANDER MCAULEY LOG HOUSE 10724 Alexanderana Rd. “In
1859, Ephraim Alexander McAuley (1826-1909) bought a 98-acre tract from Samuel
Garrison for one thousand dollars, which began the since uninterrupted McAuley
presence on this land that continues today. The farm contained a small log
cabin, which McAuley and his family lived in until they built a larger,
two-story log house in 1881.2 According to family tradition, McAuley preferred
to build the house out of logs, even though such construction was long out of
favor. The logs were acquired from a neighbor, Columbus McCoy (1834-1912), and
with the help of other neighbors, the house was raised in April, 1881. “Ephraim
Alexander [E. A.] McAuley is listed among the Ruling Elders at Gilead 1845-1890.
In 1853, E. A. McAulay was one of the two
witnessed of John Knox’s LWT.
(34) JESSE AND
MARY (KNOX) WASHAM FARM 15715
Davidson-Concord Road in Davidson, NC. “The Washam Farm
is a tangible reminder of the last prosperous decades of Mecklenburg County’s
agrarian economy, before regional and nation-wide depressions effectively ended
the reign of King Cotton and the small farmer in the South.” Mary Elizabeth Knox was daughter of William
Andrew Knox and Frances “Fannie” Catherine Thomasson; granddaughter of Robert
J. Wilson Knox and Martha Nantz Jetton; great-granddaughter of John Knox and
Mary B. Robison.
(35) SAMUEL
AND MARY ANN (BLAKELY) KNOX HOMEPLACE, c. 1890. 17303 Old Statesville Road, Huntersville, NC.
Samuel Edward Knox was the son of Robert
J. Wilson Knox and Martha Nantz Jetton; great-grandson of John Knox and
Mary B. Robison.
(36) ROBERT
CHALMERS KNOX HOMEPLACE. c. 1910. 17209 Old Statesville Road, Huntersville,
NC.
Robert Chalmers Knox was the son of Robert J. Wilson Knox and Martha Nantz
Jetton. According to John Wilson Knox,
Jr, a former Elder and Clerk of Session of Bethel for 40 years, this house was
also the Bethel Manse at one time. Later
it was the home of Robert Brice Knox, son of William Andrew Knox and Frances
“Fannie” Catherine Thomasson; grandson of Robert J. Wilson Knox and Martha
Nantz Jetton; great-grandson of John Knox and Mary B. Robison.
(37) JOHN
AND MARY B. (ROBISON) KNOX HOMEPLACE SITE. Circa? 17103 Old Statesville
Road, Huntersville, NC. In Dec 1872, Robert
J. W. Knox, son of John and Mary B., purchased 424 acres previously owned by
his father who subsequently bequeathed it to sons John R. and Andrew Springs
Knox. In Jan 1873, Robert subsequently
sold 100 acres to son John Alexander Knox, who was living with his grandmother
Mary B. Knox in 1870 Census records. Mary B. died in 1874. John A. Knox sold/bequeathed this home to his
son, John Wilson Knox Sr. John “Wilson”
Knox, Jr. says that his father and
grandfather both lived in the house that still stands on this site. It is unclear when the house was built; however,
Wilson Knox believes this was the home that “Old” John Knox lived in when he
died in 1860. The home is still owned by
Knox descendants.
(38) JAMES
CHALMERS KNOX HOMEPLACE. c. 1920s. 17636 Caldwell Station Road,
Huntersville, NC. First home of James Chalmers “Chal” Knox and
Ina Ruth Rush. Chal Knox was the son of William Andrew Knox and Frances “Fannie” Catherine Thomasson;
grandson of Robert J. Wilson Knox and Martha Nantz Jetton; great-grandson of
John Knox and Mary B. Robison.
