Historical and Industrial Supplement
The Gaston Progress
GASTONIA, N. C.. THURSDAY, JULY 4th, 1912.
Greater Gastonia Number
Part Two
GASTONIA
ilTY of Magic Energy, Chief Cotton Center
of the great and growing Southland, County
seat of Gaston, in which is located 65 Cot
ton Mills. A Young and Hustling Com
munity that is rapidly making a name for itself m the
world of Commerce, Finances and Art, Delighttul
Climate, Moral and Cultured Citizenship. Ideal Center
for both the Home Seeker and the Money Maker. A
City of Opportunity that Grows Greater Every Day.
city. The mills are equipped with
160,000 spindles and 2,500 looms, and
an enormous output of yarns in skeins,
warps, cones and tubes, combed and
carded, sheetings, shirtin&s, outings,
and print goods is shipped from here
to all parts of the world. It is es
timated that no less than 40,000 bales
of cotton are consumed annually, and
some statisticians place the number at
a much higher figure. While on the
subject of cotton it may be well to
.state that in Gaston county in the
coun^try tributary to this city, there
a.;' about 63 cotton mills, and more
tl^an in any county of the south. All
Oi\ this has been accomplished since
lb*88, and is but a beginning, for no
place ever had a more prosperous
present, or a future that is brighter
’A,l':h pr'V'^ise than has Gastonia. Her
inhat>'* p-,,:.:.
Eureka! I have found the sylvan
vale—
The sunny clime—the home of buoyant
health—
The teeming soil—the virtuous com
monwealth.
THE CITY OF GASTONIA.
Gastonia has well been called the
“City of Opportunity,” for there is no
place in this or any other country that
offers to men in all the various walks
/'of life a better chance to win out if
they ai'e industrious, capable and have^
determination ’.:^succeed thf *■ , d
.it.
the north, west, east or south, and
give him the heartiest of handclasps
if he is the proper kind of a man.
There is enough for all and plenty of
room to grow.
Location of Gastonia
No better location for the site of a
city whose chief industry is and always
will be the manufacture of textiles,
could be found. Situated as it is in
th^ center of the famous Piedmont
region, one of the healthiest and most
fertile spots of the country, the
climate is all that could be desh’ed.
II is entirely free from the malaria of
ihejow country, and the cold, and fogs
' altitudes, and./the death
in the wof/
ing can -gru
_gress dr^ng the past few years has
bef',”'"nothing short of magical. She
has no ancient history, does not live
in 'che shadows of the past, with its
narrow confines, and more distinctly
than almost any other North Carolina
city belongs to the present and the , facilities. The country surrounding
>>3' the people7^;
Southern'® i^t^its intersection
with ihe Carolina & Northwestern
railv-ay and the Piedmont & Northern
it lias 46 passenger trains daily, furn
ishing unsurpassed transportation
pursuits. There- was not an industry)
worth mentioning except a grist mill,
for miles around, and not even the
most Gptmistic of men ever dreamed
that in the site of the old Davis farm
a flourishing and thriving modern
manufacturing city would ever spring
into life. The town grew gradually,
however, for the surrounding country
was rich and a number of retired
planters made their homes here. In
1888 it claimed a population of 800,
but still slumbered a typical Southern
village of the cotton belt. Then sud
denly something happened. In thio
epochal year of 1888 a few progiessive
gentlemen some, meajis conc^iver,,^^
the most optmistic
of peoplt hears the good
old times bt.ji che war” mentioned
except by a few old croakers such as
is to be found in every community,
and the city itself partakes of the
nature of those who built it.
A Modern City.
There is nothing that partakes of
the country .town about Gastonia.
Nearly all of the old frame structures
have been dismantled and their places
taken by modern brick, cement and
iron building that would be a credit
to any city in the land. Few places oi
the size of this has so many or more
' substantial stores, warehouscr-- and
factories, handsomer public buildinfe.^
and churches and more beautiful
homes. Gastonia is at the same time
a busy manufacturing city, and a
beautiful one, a combination rarely to
be found The principal thorough
fare is paved with bithulitic, a com
position somewhat similar to asphalt,
the sidewalks are of cement and in
the near future it is proposed to pav'e
the entire citv with improved road-
be done in
irogres-
up this
and yarn valued approximately at
$5,000,000.00 are shipped every year,
some of it as far as China. Three
strong banks which have shown a con
tinuous increase in surplus, deposits
and earnings every year. One of the
best school systems in the south, 31
teachers being on the rolls. Three
railroads offer splendid shipping facil-
ites. They do a freight business of
upwards of $1,000,000 a year. There
is a taxable property valuation of be
tween $6,000,000 and $7,000,000.
Within a few years real estate values
have increased several hundred pei
cent. There are two good semi-week
ly newspapers, The Progress and The
Gazette. Two theatres furnish the peo
ple with amusement at more than rea
sonable prices. There are eight whole
sale grocery, feed and fruit stores. It
has two high-class modern hospitals, a
new postoffice at a cost of $65,000 will
scon be erected in the square, the ap
propriation having been made. A
building permit for the erection of a
house is issued nearly every other
day. The Piedmont Telegraph and
a Telephone Company supply excel
lent service. It is the county seat
of Gaston, one of the richest counties
in North Carolina, and has a mag-
Ward, J, O. White; Second Ward, S.
M. Morris; Third Ward, A. B. Elliott;
Fourth Ward, C. L. Chandler; Fifth
W’ard, A. M. Dixon; Sixth Ward, J. H.
Separk; Seventh Ward, John O. Ran
kin; City Clerk, John R. Rankin;
Chief of Police and Tax Collector, J.
W. Carroll; Chief of Fire Department
and Building Inspector; B. B. Gardner,
Assistant Building Inspector, Sanitary
and Quarantine Officer, B. W. Craig;
Superintendent Water, Light and
Sewers, H. Rutter; Street Commis
sioner, S. M. Morris; City Phy
sician and Health Officer, Dr. M.
G. Andrews; School Board, Mayor
Thomas L. Craig, Chairman ex-officio,
B F. S. Austin, E. J. Rankin, S.
Settlemyer, W. V. West, S. N. Boyce.
Dr. D. E. McConnell and J. P. Reid;
Supt. of Schools, Joe S. Wray.
Churches Are Numerous.
Gastonia is well supplied with;
churches of the principal Christian
sects, and all of them have a large and
growing membership. Within the
city proper there are twelve buildings,
many of them being more than us
ually handsome and substantial. The
Methodist Episcopal South, has three
erything canno
that-
future. And it is an entirely leg'
mate and pardonable source of ''oal
the city is rich and fertile, to a degree
possessed by but few sections, farm-
An organization was affected kn\.
Gastonia Co .ton Manufacturir^^^
pany was incorporated, the V.ders
ct the enterprise being MessV.. R. C.
G Love, John H. Craig, James D.
Moore and George A. Gray. The little
town seemed to have been touched
with a magic wand when the wheels
of the machinery began to turn, and
tO:
spared.
the majorit:'
my of them,
ante-bellum time;
pride that its phenominal growth and
progress has been due to the efforts
almost entirely of men born right here
on the soil of old Gaston and the sur
rounding country. Glance over the
brief biographical sketches given
elsewhere in this special issue of The
Progress, and it will be found that 90
per cent, of the men who are respon
sible for the making of the town have
been North Carolinians, the decend-
ants of those same game fighters who
won the famous battle at King’s
Mountain during the Revolution, and
changed the fate of the nation, and of
the men who signed the Mecklenburg
Declaration of Independence, before
Thomas Jefferson, wrote his famous
document. But it must not be thought
that the men of this new generation
are in any way clannish, for they are
not. As a matter of fact no warmer
hearted or more generous people ever
lived and they heartily welcome the
stranger within their gates be he from
INTERIOR FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
ers growing with great success cotton,
grain, clover, grasses and garden truck
of all kinds, for which a ready market
at good prices is found in this and
neighboring cities. The supply is not
equal to the great demand made by
a rapidly growing population and as
a location for the small farmer and i
fiom that day to this.the story of the
city has been one of constant and sub
stantial growth, and the development
of long dorminant resources. Wi^iji
'five years the population doubled. In
1895 it was 2,313; . five years later iti
had reached 4,610; in 1906 it was
8,000; and conservative estimates
fruit grower, the advantages offered i made by those in a position to know'
are superb, and only await develop- \ place the present population at about
ment by the industrious husbandman. x^OOO. Hardly a day passes that this
Gastonia's Phenominal Growth.
Nothing shows the growth and
population of a community so accu
rately as does statistics of the in
crease of its population. Men. do not
remain in a place where there is no
work, there are too many opportuni
ties always to be found. Everyone has
work here, and the man and woman
who is not afraid of it need never be
idle.lS77^_the city_ was - only a
struggling village with a population
of perhaps 250 people, who were for
the most part engaged in agricultural
is not increased by the addition of
sturdy, industrious settlers who have
heard of the opportunities offered
here, and have come to take advan
tage of them.
Cotton is King.
Old King Cotton reigns supreme in
Gastonia all throughout the county.
There is located in the city proper
a dozen textile corporations, operat
ing 16 mills and having a capitaliza
tion of $3,000,000 with an annual pay'
roll of $600,000.00, most of which is
spent among the merchants of the
Public Utilities.
One of the first matters that received
the attention of the people of Gastonia
when the city began to grow was in
1899 when by popular vote $105,000
in bonds was issued for th£ purpose
of graded schools, electric lights,
water works, and a sewerage sys
tem. All of these necessary utilities
are owned by the city and with the
exception of the schools of course,
pay a handsome profit which is in
variably used in betterments. Follow
ing this policy there is always a fund
on hand to make necessary improve
ments, and all of the systems are kept
in the highest state of efficiency.
They are managed by trained men,
who thoroughly know their business,
and politics are not allowed to enter
into this branch of the public ser
vice. Neither has it much to do with
any branch, the people voting for ti^
man rather than the political party to
which he belongs.
The Water Supply.
iCrastonia is fortunate in having a
^.'ater supply that is second to that
of no city of its size in the country,
and will be sufficient for a number of
.Vears to come, notwithstanding its
^Dhenominally rapid growth. It comes
Long Creek, about two miles
'■ri-om the city, the water shed of
^’hich has never been contaminated,
and is for the most part covered with
virgin pine forest. An analysis of the
water is regularly made by the State
chemist who has time and again given
it the highest mark as to purity.
There is an efficient fire department,
of which B. B. Gardner is chief, com
posed of 15 men. It is well equipped
with a modern hose wagon drawn by
two horses and carrying 3,000 feet of
hose. An engine is unnecessary as the
pressure of water from the reservoir
is 90 pounds, sufficient to send a
stream over any building in the city,
the exception being the Realty build
ing. The company is composed of 15
men,, and the depg,rtment is partially
paid.
What Gastonia Has.
More cotton mills than any city in
Gaston county which has more mills
than any part of the United States of
America. Their 12 modern structures,
all working full time and many night
and day. Over 5,000 people are em
ployed in its mills, and the annual
pay rolls reach three-quarters of a
million dollars. Shipments of cloth
ud build-
head of
.narge the
.nd sewerage
In Gastonia these
were all built by the municipality out
the bond.issue of nO^.OOO in^9,
kSJ
although a great deal more has been
spent on them from time to time, sinct
then. 'IsihWeNyiL^ngineer, Mr.
most f. . -■
, lax-
d ex-
■ of
STATUTE TO COMMEMORATE THE BATTLE OF KING’S MOUNTAIN
nificent court house. What it has
in other lines of endeavor may be as
certained by reading carefully this
special issue of The Gaston Progress,
the leading paper of the city.
As a Wholesale Center.
Gastonia as a center of the whole
sale trade is splendidly located and
those who have embarked in busi
ness along this line have been most
successful. Surrounded as it is with
a number of small towns within a
radius of 75 miles both in North and
South Carolina the wholesale mer
chants of the city have for some years
successfully competed with those of
other and much larger cities for the
possession of the trade of this terri
tory which naturally belongs to
Gastonia. The competition has been
keen, and the commercial battle waged
with vigor, but no one will deny that
Gastonia has won out especially as re
gards the grocery, fruit, cigar and to
bacco business. There is located in
the city five wholesale grocery houses,
two fruit importing concerns, three
hay and grain houses, several who
handle cigars and tobacco, and every
year the volume of trade in its favor
shows a healthy and steady increase.
More extended reference is made to
these progressive establishments in
other pages of this issue.
How the City is Governed.
Gastonia has the same general
municipal government as other North
Carolina cities, although she is more
than usually fortunate in the fact that
her most prominent manufacturers,
merchants and professional men do
not shirk their duty as is the case in
many cities, and are never so busy
that they cannot find time to give
their services to the public without
compensation. As a consequence
municipal affairs have been adminis
tered along business lines, and the
people of the city has had an economi
cal and at the same time progressive
government. The present officials
of the present day are: Mayor,
Thomas L. Craig; Mayor protem, Jos.
H. Separk; Board of Aldermen, First
buildings. The First Church founded
in 1881, the West End and the Ozark,
near the mills of that name. The
First Baptist Church was dedicated
in September, 1885, and the Franklin
Avenue Baptist Church in 1905. The
First Presbyterian Church was organ
ized July 16, 1882, in a building on
Long street, but now has a handsome
structure on Marrietta street near
Main, which was dedicated September
11, 1898. It has a seating capacity of
1,000. The Associated Reformed
Presbyterian Church was organized
in 1886 and the building dedicated the
same year. St. Mark’s^ Protestant
Episcopal Church was completed in
1900. It is located on Long street,
and is in a most flourishing condition.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church
was organized in 1898 and the present
building was erected the following
year. St. Michael’s Roman Catholic
Church was built in 1902. Mass is
said every second and fourth Sunday
of each month at 11 a. m. There are
also a number of fine churches for
colored people, nearly all of the de
nominations having a building.
Moving the County Seat.
One of the most interesting events
in the history of Gastonia was the
removal of the county seat from the
old town of Dallas where it had been
located since the county was formed
in 1847 to this city. Dallas is the
oldest town in the county, having
been named in honor of George M.
Dallas, vice-president during the ad
ministration of President Polk. It
was in those days quite a lively little
town, as towns went then, while Gas
tonia had never been dreamed of by
any one. But about 10 years ago
when this city was fairly started on
its career of progress and prosperity
the question of the removal of the
county seat began to be agitated and
as a consequence much ill-feeling was
engendered for the removal of the
court house and officials from one
town to another is a serious matter.
It is in the nature of a slur on the
town losing the prize, and a big
feather in the cap of the one gaining