The Lake Norman area is rich in history. Did you know that  Davidson had a cotton mill in 1890, but it could never compete with Cornelius and Mooresville as manufacturing centers? Continue reading for some of my favorite local historical sites that are great day trips or just a quick get-a-way for the history lover.

 

 

Historic Latta Plantation (Huntersville)

Historic Latta Plantation, circa 1800, is the last remaining Catawba River Plantation that is open to the public. The 62 acre farm of James Latta, and Irish – Scot merchant, is on the National Register of Historic Sites and consists of the original home and smokehouse, enhanced by eleven other outbuildings, as well as fields, farm animals, gardens, and interpreters in period clothing.  This is a great day trip for children and adults alike! To extend your visit, stop by the Carolina Raptor Center which is located right down the road.

 

Unity Church Cabin / Lingle Hut (Davidson)

Lingle Hut, originally known as the Unity Church Cabin, was designated as a local historic landmark by the Davidson Town Board in December 0f 2009. During the 1930s, some farmers and small town residents in rural Mecklenburg County began to construct log buildings for use by their communities. The Unity Church Cabin was the first of these communal-built rustic-revival log buildings.

The Unity Church served the white residents on the west side of Davidson. The church was founded in 1890 by mill operator Dr. J. P. Munroe as a nondenominational church known as the Mill Chapel. Between 1933 and 1936, a community “bath house” was built behind the Cabin, to serve those in the community without indoor plumbing. In 1939, the Cabin experienced its first expansion, with an addition added to the rear of the building. One of the rooms in the addition served as an apartment for the student pastors.

Renamed the Lingle Hut in honor of Louise Lingle, the wife of the president of Davidson College, in 1966, the Reeves Temple A.M.E. Zion Church now owns the property and uses it for Christmas dinners, picnics, fellowship events, and barbeques. The congregation continues to rely on the Lingle Hut. It contains the only kitchen for the church, and has remained the most convenient space for most church functions outside of Sunday services.

 

 Cornelius Veterans Monument (Cornelius)

At a Town of Cornelius Board of Commissioners meeting, former mayor Harold Little recommended that the town erect a monument as a tribute to all Cornelius veterans on which their names would be displayed for all to see and honor. The Veterans Monument is located on Main Street in Cornelius. Engravings of new names of Cornelius veterans are done several times each year. To learn about ceremonies conducted at the site, to make a donation, or to have a loved-ones name added to the monument, please visit the website above.

 

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