Denver, North Carolina
Denver, North Carolina | ||
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FIPS code 37-17000 | | |
GNIS feature ID | 2584315[1] | |
Website | http://www.denvernc.com |
Denver, formerly known as Dry Pond, is a
Known as “Dry Pond” until 1873, it was renamed “Denver” (after the capital of the then territory of Colorado) as a marketing and growth strategy directed towards the emerging railroad industry. This change was championed by D. Matt Thompson, a local principal. The town was incorporated as such from 1877 until 1971, when the town lost its charter and was reincorporated back into Lincoln County.
Geography
Denver is situated on
According to the
Denver's
.Demographics
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | 2,697 | — | |
U.S. Decennial Census[5] |
The
70.7% of residents over 16 were employed, with 84.7% of those commuting to work alone in a vehicle. The largest employers were Manufacturing at 20.2%, 'Transportation and warehousing, and utilities' at 11.6%, and Construction at 10.0%. The median household income was $52,304. 3.7% of families were below the poverty line. The median house value was $162,000 with 75.8% having a mortgage, contract to purchase, or similar debt.[7]
History
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2014) |
Period of foundation
The community of Dry Pond derived its name from a small pond, which once stood at what is now the corner of Highway 16 Business and Campground Road, now the site of the local First Federal branch. The pond would dry up in the heat of summer months.
18th century
Adam Sherrill and his family first settled in the area in 1747, and they were followed by John Beatty two years later. The actual location of Denver was first settled around 1770. People of
The Presbyterians were soon joined by early
Native Americans
Most of the land that these Europeans claimed had long been the home of the Catawba and Cherokee people. The Catawba River in this part of North Carolina acted as a border between the two nations, who were often at odds with each other. In the earliest days of European settlement, there were episodes of violence between the Native Americans and the new settlers, and eventually a fort was constructed near present-day Statesville to help provide a level of defense for the western portion of the colony.
General William Lee Davidson
On February 1, 1781, British forces under the command of Lt. General
Local blacksmiths made 45 rough swords for the new mounted troops. Only fifteen of Graham's troops had pistols, but all had rifles, not the ideal weapon for horseback fighting. Davidson, charged with guarding four of the Catawba River crossings, had sent 500 troops to Beattie's Ford, keeping only 25 at Cowan's. But the river was high and Cornwallis did not have access to his heavy guns. Led by a local Tory guide, Frederick Hager, the British began to cross the river early as the Americans were still sleeping. The sentry was not alerted until Cornwallis' troops were within 100 yards of the shore. The battle began, and the strong current was on the American's side. Greatly outnumbered, the local forces were able to hold their own, slowly falling back into the woods while returning fire. The British finally took the ford and advanced. General Davidson was shot, and the militia, seeing this, fled. Major Graham's cavalry covered their retreat. The battle had helped a larger force under the command of Daniel Morgan reach the Yadkin River unopposed. It is said that Frederick Hager was the man who shot the gun that killed General Davidson.
19th century
Most of the early settlers were
Dry Pond
There was a Dry Pond Post Office beginning right before the Civil War, although it moved across the line to Catawba County near what is now Kiestler's Store Road in December 1868. In 1873, in an attempt to attract a railroad spur and thinking that the moniker "Dry Pond" didn't present a nice enough image for the railroad planners, headmaster of the local Rock Springs Academy, D. Matt Thompson, led the effort to have Dry Pond renamed for the capital of Colorado, which was just then petitioning for statehood.
In the years before the Civil War, North Carolina's wealthy class in need of a break from the summer heat, could escape to Lincoln County's Catawba Springs resort. The popular antebellum destination, named for the Catawba people formerly living in the area, was built amidst seven mineral springs near Denver. Guests vacationed there as early as the 1790s. In 1824, geology professor Denison Olmstead recommended the waters of the springs for complaints concerning the liver and weakness. There is little evidence that healing actually occurred; nonetheless Catawba Springs became a popular stop on the stagecoach lines from Salisbury to Asheville.
Revolutionary War veteran and state legislator Captain John Reid was the first known proprietor of Catawba Springs. After his death in 1821, the spa passed through a series of owners: Charles Jugnot, William Simonton, and Joseph Hampton. In 1838, Hampton renovated and expanded Catawba Springs, including the construction of a two-story, 100-room hotel. After the renovation, during parties and on holidays, as many as 500 guests assembled on the porch of the hotel. Before that time, the spa could only accommodate sixty to seventy guests in its cabins. Most guests were members of the southern planter class from North and South Carolina. Among the names of prominent North Carolina families listed in the hotel records are the Grahams, Brevards, Alexanders, Caldwells, Davidsons, and Polks. Some guests made their way to the spa from Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. Students from nearby Davidson College could also be found enjoying themselves there on the weekends. During the early 1840s, Peter S. Ney ran a school for boys at the resort known as Stewart's Seminary.
American Civil War
During the Civil War, the local area raised two units for the Confederacy. In March 1862, a group of local men, most of whom were related, formed a company known as the "Dry Pond Dixies" (Company G, 52nd regiment of North Carolina Troops) and joined the Confederacy. Added to their number were a number of Quakers from Randolph County, who did not fight but tended the wounded. The second group was known as the Beatty's Ford Rifles (Company K 23rd Regiment).
The Civil War put an end to the southern planter aristocracy, and with its patron base depleted, Catawba Springs closed in the mid-1860s. As North Carolina recovered from the devastation of the war, railways and eventually good highways, led to the opening of mountain resorts. (A similar, but unrelated, resort operated under the name Sparkling Catawba Springs in Catawba County during the latter part of the nineteenth and early twentieth century.) The buildings were demolished in 1930, and the springs now bubble invisibly into a farm pond. A faint, lingering scent of sulfur is all that remains.
Town incorporation
In October 1874, Denver's first postmaster, John A. Kids, was appointed. Mail to the Catawba Springs post office was transferred to the Denver post office the next year. Two years later, the community was incorporated as a town by the state of North Carolina. Unfortunately for the citizens of the area, the railroad chose not to run through the growing small town, and it began to dry up like the pond for which it was originally named.
For much of its existence, "downtown" consisted of a few houses, a handful of stores, a couple of churches, a school, a barber shop, a post office, a bank, and a cotton gin. The 1902 Soil Survey map of the Hickory, North Carolina area, shows Denver having a small grid of streets running along what are now Highway 16 Business and Campground Road. By 1914, the soil survey map of Lincoln County showed only a grid of three short streets running northwest to southeast parallel to what is now Highway 16 Business and one street running parallel to Campground Road (which still exists and was called by locals for many years "Back Street"). Apparently, one of the short streets perpendicular to Campground Road ran beside what is now the telephone building on St. James Church Road, and another of these perpendicular streets connected to what is now Campground Road right at the Rock Springs Campground. Another part of the "street grid" for Denver was Cemetery Road. It ran beside Denver United Methodist Church and was perpendicular to Highway 16, then turned in front of the community cemetery and intersected with Campground Road. The portion that ran beside the church and perpendicular to the highway was "graded under" by the church in the late 1990s.
For a brief period during the 1890s–1910s, Denver was home to small-scale gold prospecting, particularly in the area near the former Triangle School and the community now known as Westport.
20th century to present
Denver remained largely a farming community, with cotton as the primary cash crop supplemented by "truck farming" vegetables to area towns (with tomatoes and strawberries being among the most often marketed vegetable crops). Members of local families began commuting to work in textile mills in the surrounding communities of Mooresville, Lincolnton, Cornelius, Maiden, and Mount Holly just before World War II, and continued up until the early 1970s. Having failed to elect a local government for many years, Denver lost its official incorporated status in 1971 by vote of the state legislature.
It was the filling of a much larger pond,
One of Denver's major features is its "main street", which is now known as Old Highway 16. This road, once State Highway 16, was one of North Carolina's first state highways, receiving that designation in 1928. Present-day Highway 16 is a four-lane road running along the southwest edge of the community.
During the 1970s, the town hosted one of the largest cross-country motorcycle races in the nation, the "Denver 100", which was a successful fundraiser for the local volunteer fire department. Participants rode through the center of barns, along creek banks, and through pastures—most of which have now disappeared under various housing developments.
Up until recently, most African Americans in the area lived in the community known as "Little Egypt", which is the general area near East Lincoln High School along Saint James Church Road.
Denver is home to the Rock Springs Campground that has been the site of revivals and camp meetings since 1794.[8]
Major local industries included modular home builder R-Anell Homes, which recently moved from Denver to a manufacturing facility in Cherryville.
National Register of Historic Places
The William A. Graham Jr. Farm, Munday House, and Rock Springs Camp Meeting Ground are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[9]
Transportation
- NC 16 – There are two NC 16's that go from northwest to southeast in Denver. The NC 16 going through town is referred to by locals as "Old 16" or "16 Business", while the outer route has higher speed limits and is known as "New 16" or "16 Bypass".
- NC 150 – This highway intersects NC 150 at the northwest corner of Denver and leads to Mooresville to the east and Maiden and Lincolnton to the west.
Parks
- Beatty's Ford Park (includes boat access for Lake Norman) – This park includes a picnic shelter, restrooms, disc golf, a walking trail, a volleyball court, horseshoe pits, a splash pad area during summer months, two children's playgrounds, and an outdoor fireplace.
- Rock Springs Nature Preserve - This newer park in Denver includes a picnic shelter, a large children's playground area, a partially paved .4 mile trail with a newly carved extended trail through the woods, the trail includes an outdoor classroom and amphitheater.
- Rescue Squad Park - Another newer park includes several playing fields, large picnic shelter, modern children's playground, Hilly Trail with 9 Basket Disc Golf Course and is home to Denver's Farmer's Market on Saturdays 8am-12pm (during warmer months).[10]
Education
Rock Springs Academy, one of the original schools in the community, evolved into Rock Springs School, which was a comprehensive 1–12 school until nearby East Lincoln High School was built in 1967. At that time, Rock Springs became an elementary school. The original mascot for Rocks Springs was "The Warriors", and the school colors were black and gold; in the 1990s, this was changed to "sailors". The mascot for East Lincoln High School is "The Mustangs", and the school colors are orange and green with the hues changing slightly over the years. The spring for which the academy was named lies near the Rock Springs Campground on Campground Road.
High schools
- East Lincoln High School
- North Lincoln High School (in Lincolnton)
Middle schools
- East Lincoln Middle School (in Iron Station)
- North Lincoln Middle School
Elementary schools
- Catawba Springs Elementary School
- Rock Springs Elementary School
- St. James Elementary School
Charter schools
- Lincoln Charter School
- West Lake Preparatory Academy
Closed schools include:
- Triangle Elementary School – also known as Rock Springs 2 Elementary School (property sold to the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in 1988)
Events
Town festivals have included the annual Strawberry Festival held in May and the Denver Days
The East Lincoln Betterment Association[12] hosts its annual Christmas Parade in Denver every first Saturday of December. The parade route is generally north along NC Business 16 from Haggers Ferry Rd. and ends just before the intersection of Unity Church Rd. and NC Business 16.
Notable people
- Tony Cloninger (1940–2018), former MLB pitcher and long-time pitching coach for the New York Yankees
- William Alexander Graham (1804–1875), former U.S. senator, governor of North Carolina, and U.S. Secretary of the Navy
- Jamie Hacking (born 1971), AMA motorcycle racer
- Kevin Keck (born 1973), writer
- Adam Scherr (born 1983), professional wrestler
- Paul Silas (1943–2022), NBA player and coach
- Holland Thompson (1873–1940), history professor, pioneered study of the industrializing post-Civil War South
NASCAR residents
- Kyle Busch
- Matt Carter
- Travis Carter
- Jeremy Mayfield
- Matt McCall
- Hank Parker
- Hank Parker Jr.
- John Reiser
- Ryan Repko
See also
- Mountain Air Cargo, a company having its headquarters here
References
- ^ a b c d U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Denver, North Carolina
- ^ "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
- ^ "Total Population: 2010 Census DEC Summary File 1 (P1), Denver CDP, North Carolina". data.census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ "U.S. Gazetteer Files: 2019: Places: North Carolina". U.S. Census Bureau Geography Division. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
- ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
- ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
- ^ Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS). "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
- ^ "DenverNC Home". Denvernc.com. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Lincoln County NC Parks".
- ^ "2009 Denver Days Fall Festival". Archived from the original on June 12, 2009. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
- ^ East Lincoln Betterment Association - Christmas Parade
Further reading
Agosta, Carolyn Steele, "Two Weeks Every Summer, Stories from Camp Meeting", short stories inspired by Rock Spring Camp Meeting, Denver, NC, and Lincoln County, NC. https://www.carolynsteeleagosta.com