The city of Belmont is located 15 miles west of uptown Charlotte and is
flanked by the Catawba and South Fork Catawba rivers. Settlement in the
Belmont area began around the colonial-era Fort at the Point, built in
the 1750s by Dutch settler James Kuykendall and others. The fort was
built because of ongoing hostilities with the Cherokee, but it was
apparently never attacked. The South Point Community, located about
2-1/2 miles south of present-day downtown Belmont, was the site of
Stowesville Mill. Founded by Jasper Stowe and Associates in 1853, it was
one of the first three cotton mills in operation in Gaston County.
Belmont is home to the beautiful and nationally recognized Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, a 450-acre botanical garden.
Sitting on the west shores of Lake Norman, Denver, North Carolina is a
small southern town located at the east end of Lincoln County in western
North Carolina. The east side of the lake was once home to small
cottage homes and forests that stood not to long ago, but have now been
replaced by multi-million dollar homes due to the tremendous growth of
Charlotte and the ease of access from I-77. Unlike the east side, the
west side, where Denver sits, has a much more laid-back and relaxing
atmosphere.
The largest city of Gaston County Gastonia is also considered a part of
the Charlotte metropolitan area. Gastonia has for years attracted
shopping-minded visitors and presently feature 4 major shopping centers;
Westfield Eastridge a large regional mall, Franklin Square is the other
one of Gastonia’s premier shopping centers. The complex is divided into
for Phases. Phase I features a The new Shops at Franklin and The Gaston
Mall, which is currently in the process of a redevelopment that will
possibly include a houses a large and popular fabric store called Mary
Jo’s, and one of the oldest operating Harris Teeter grocery stores in
the chain.
Mount Holly on the western bank of the Catawba River north of I-85 and
south of NC 16. Improvements in the regional transportation network and
the economic growth of the Charlotte-Metropolitan area, and Mount
Holly’s strategic location between Charlotte and Gastonia, have created
conditions for an expanding population in recent years.
Mountain Island Lake was created in 1924 to coincide with the building
of Mountain Island Hydroelectric Station. Riverbend Steam Station is
also located on Mountain Lake and uses the lake to cool the steam that
drives the turbines
Once a small, farming village known as Shuffletown, the Mountain Island
area has become a popular location for residential development. Numerous
new housing developments are emerging along Mt. Holly-Huntersville
Road, which runs parallel to I-485 in this area from I-77 to Mountain
Island Lake, and in the Northlake Mall area.
The Steele Creek Community dates back to the 1740’s and has been one of
the fastest growing residential areas of Mecklenburg County. It also
contains one of the highest employment concentrations in the county and
is home to several recreation sites. The character of Steele Creek
continues to change due to rapid residential, commercial, and other
growth in the area.