The Old Myers’ Place

The picture at the top of this page is of a house which no longer exists. Likely built in the early 1800s, it stood within the tip of a right angle created by what we today call Somers and Iredell Line roads in Hamptonville, NC. The house either fell or was demolished sometime after theContinue reading “The Old Myers’ Place”

Moss Chapel

It might not look like much today, but the history of this little Iredell county church goes back over 200 years. It is also unfortunately somewhat murky. As best I can discover, the earliest use of this land tied to what it would become was in the late 1790’s when Methodist evangelists began a seriesContinue reading “Moss Chapel”

Now and Then

Sometimes, the old buildings survive and prosper. This is one example from Union Grove, NC. This little building was once part of the Union Grove school but was moved across highway 901 when the new school building was built and turned into a small family grocery/gas station by Zeb and Betty Speece. It sat emptyContinue reading “Now and Then”

The Unsolved Murder of Ethel Weaver

When unsolved cases “go cold” it doesn’t always mean they are forgotten by the local law enforcement officers who have worked and still work those cases, but it means there are no leads left to follow.What it also sometimes means is that the public forgets those cases as well, and so local police and sheriffsContinue reading “The Unsolved Murder of Ethel Weaver”

Sarah Anderson Heinzerling: Statesville’s Forgotten Poetess

Sometimes the assault of time against the collective memory of a place can obscure names and stories that were once meaningful to it. Much of what I do in researching local events and people is the attempt to rediscover these lost entities and tell their story as best I can with what remains. This storyContinue reading “Sarah Anderson Heinzerling: Statesville’s Forgotten Poetess”

Where Are The Houstonville Moravian Graves?

When exploring the history of the Houstonville Moravian Church, it quickly became evident there was an unresolved mystery concerning it’s graveyard.To simplify the content of the full post on that church into relevant data, here is the history of the graveyard I have been able to discover. The first recorded death in the church isContinue reading “Where Are The Houstonville Moravian Graves?”

The Triangle House

This modest little home seems to have been given up on some time in the late 70’s or early 80’s. All of the magazines, newspapers, catalogues, and other ephemera that litters the floor of the place are from that time period.It almost seems like there might have been a fire or else a very inefficientContinue reading “The Triangle House”

The Bugle Boy Who Was Buried Twice

Thomas Boyd Speaks was born in Union Grove, NC in 1901 to John Peter (J.P.) Speaks and Gillie Lutissen Templeton. Thomas’ father John was a local farmer who lived just off NC-901 and had been in the community his whole life. With a sizeable property of almost 100 acres, he was probably able to keepContinue reading “The Bugle Boy Who Was Buried Twice”