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Center Street (U.S. 21), downtown Statesville: Built in 1892 as a U.S. Courthouse and Post Office, this is a fine example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. Owned by the City of Statesville since 1945, the building was recently renovated and contains City Hall. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Catawba River Road just north of Great Falls, S.C.: In South Carolina, U.S. 21 is known as Catawba River Road, although for most of its route the river is not visible. Not so here. The Fishing Creek Lake impoundment has eroded so much that what was once a buildable lot is now just a thin strip of land between lake and road.
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U.S. 21 through Fort Lawn, S.C.
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U.S. 21 and Cureton Ferry Road near Catawba, S.C.:This house was built in 1890 behind Coat’s Tavern, which for 80 years was a stopover for travelers to or from the Cureton Ferry river crossing. The railroad crossed the river in the 1890s. The ferry, operated by Catawba Indians, was decommissioned in 1958 when a bridge (S.C. 5) was built over the river.
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U.S. 21 and Landsford Canal Road, Chester County, S.C.: As the historic marker describes, Landsford was an early ford on the Catawba, probably named for Thomas Land, who received a nearby land grant from the Crown in 1755.
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Sixth-generation Thomas family land, U.S. 21, Chester County: Tommy Westbrook says his great-great-grandfather, Mexican and Confederate War veteran Capt. Alexander Thomas (born 1827) owned this land. Here, Tommy Westbrook paused while helping his son, Jimmy, the current owner, clear brush. Tommy and his wife, Linda, live on nearby family land that borders U.S. 21.
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U.S. 21 in Chester County: Tommy and Linda Westbrook recall how their children, in the 1970s, walked to the WD Fudge Store for nickel Coca-Colas and candy.
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Catawba River Road (U.S. 21) near Catawba, S.C.: Since 1972, families have gathered on Friday nights at Dixie Stockyard, Auction and Grill. Once one of the largest equipment and big livestock auctions in the state, it now mostly sells antiques and poultry, rabbits, goats and an occasional pony.
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Catawba River Road (U.S. 21) near Catawba, S.C.: The Dixie Grill at Dixie Stockyard still serves a robust dinner, then children pick out their favorite small animals and beg their parents to bid.
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Nation Ford crossing, Catawba River, Norfolk Southern trestle: At the Nation Ford crossing, granite shoals provided firm footing for horses and wagons to cross the river. The railroad bridge was built in 1852, burned by Union forces in 1865, rebuilt, destroyed by 1916 floods and rebuilt again. The ford, 2 miles south of today’s U.S. 21, was the scene of the last conflict and treaty between the Cherokee and the Catawba tribes. In 1780 Lord Cornwallis camped and crossed here.
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Adjacent to Banks Road River in Fort Mill, S.C., east bank of Catawba River: This might be remains of the historic Nation Ford Road, used by American Indians and European traders as early as 1650. Judging from the topography, its location above the Nation Ford, the large rock placements and berms, it’s likely the old wagon road was in this location, parallel to the railroad built in 1852, a time when the wagon road and ford were the primary river crossing. Now U.S. 21 is about 2 miles upstream.
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U.S. 21 bridge over the Catawba, between Fort Mill and Rock Hill: Signs and markers indicate the area’s historic significance. The railroad bridge was first built by the Charlotte & South Carolina RR, Charlotte’s first rail line, its construction pivotal for the Charlotte area’s economy. A 1974 marker names it the Thomas B. Spratt Memorial Bridge. The historic marker tells the significance of Nation Ford, where Cornwallis waited to cross after leaving Charlotte in 1780..
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On the Catawba River, 100 yards downstream from the U.S. 21 bridge at Rock Hill: This water intake is all that remains of the former Celriver Celanese plant in Rock Hill. At its peak, the intake pumped 40 million gallons a day from the Catawba. The Celanese plant halted production in 2005, and the riverfront land is being developed as RiverWalk, a mixed-use residential and retail area with trails, a canoe/kayak landing and a velodrome.
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Off Brickyard Road near U.S. 21, Fort Mill, S.C.: In 1763 Thomas Spratt – the first white settler in Fort Mill area, Revolutionary War soldier and friend of the Catawba Indians – built his home near the Nation Ford Road. The Spratt family cemetery remains on the spot in a wooded area near the present-day bustle of U.S. 21.
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Flint Hill Road near U.S. 21, Fort Mill: Flint Hill Baptist Church was built on the Nation Ford Road in 1792. Its current building dates to 1903. The church cemetery contains headstones for about 200 war veterans, including 100 from the Civil War.
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South Boulevard (formerly U.S. 21), Charlotte: This is all that remains of the original South 21 Curb Service Restaurant, opened by Greek immigrants in 1954 in the countryside outside Charlotte. At its peak, it had 54 car stations. South 21 closed around 2007, but a second South 21 Curb Service Restaurant still operates on Independence Boulevard.
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East Independence Boulevard, Charlotte: South 21 on Independence Boulevard, named for its sibling restaurant on South Boulevard (then-U.S. 21) opened in 1959 and is still in business. A South 21 Jr. – without curb service – has been on North Tryon Street near UNC Charlotte since the early 1960s.
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South Boulevard, Charlotte: Upscale apartments replace old businesses along South Boulevard (which used to be U.S. 21) as it parallels Charlotte’s Lynx Blue Line light rail. Under construction here is Colonial Homes at South End.
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1800 block, Statesville Avenue: In 1867 the small group of Jews among Charlotte’s population of 4,500 bought 11 acres far out in the country on the road to Statesville for a Hebrew Cemetery. Now near downtown and enlarged, its headstones include those of 13 Jewish Civil war veterans and noted Charlotte author Harry Golden. Across the street was a 1924 Ford Motor Co. assembly plant for Model T's, which became a Nike Hercules Missile plant in 1953. Today it’s a Rite-Aid distribution center.
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2500 block, Statesville Avenue: United House of Prayer for All People is known for lively gospel music, soul food cafeterias and marching bands. Founded in 1919 by celebrity preacher “Sweet Daddy” Grace, the church gained popularity among African-Americans in pre-civil rights-era Charlotte. It has 10 locations in the region. Across the street an affordable housing development, Alexander Apartment Homes, rose in 2011 on the site of a troubled Double Oaks housing project.
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3100 Statesville Road, Charlotte: Barber James Daughtry shows off his high school yearbook from Our Lady of Consolation Catholic School. He keeps it on hand to share with customers at Charles & Son Barber shop. His employer, Charles Alexander, has operated this barber shop on Statesville Road for 42 years.
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2301 Statesville Ave., a mile from uptown Charlotte in the Double Oaks Community: Our Lady of Consolation Catholic Church and School, founded in 1955, were the center of Charlotte African-American Catholicism during the turbulent civil rights era of the 1960s and 1970s. The school closed in 1988 but the church prospers with a robust, mostly African-American congregation and a new office building. Its famous Perpetual Hope Gospel Choir has performed continuously since 1980.
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Our Lady of Consolation Catholic Church and School, founded in 1955. The school closed in 1988.
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Statesville Road, just past I-85 interchange: In the late 1900s, the Hailey-family-owned Ed’s Dairy Bar was the place to be on a hot summer night for this African-American community. The family is selling the closed dairy bar and several acres, but they let family friend Maurice “Mojo” Chambers use it in the meantime to sell hot dogs and bratwurst from his food truck.
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4227 Statesville Road, just past I-85 interchange: In the 1960s David Wike’s father, Jerry, was hauling produce for a living when he decided to open a store on Statesville Road. He hired his entire family, and now David owns and manages Jerry’s Market. With its fiercely loyal customers, the store is one of the few independent neighborhood markets in Charlotte’s predominantly low-income African-American neighborhoods.
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Statesville Road between I-85 and Sunset Road: The Charlotte Department of Transportation is widening Statesville Road (U.S. 21) to four lanes and adding bikes lanes, sidewalks and planting strips, from where I-85 crosses Statesville Road to Sunset Road.
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Statesville Road, Metrolina Expo: As Mecklenburg County urbanized in the 1950s, county agricultural fairs were no longer profitable. But in 1965 fair-lover Horace Wells and partners bought 145 acres along U.S. 21 north of Charlotte and established Metrolina Fairgrounds and Racetrack, determined to continue the tradition. The county agricultural fair survived until 1987. The grounds, still owned by Horace Wells’ family, are now the Metrolina Expo, an exhibit and event facility.
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Former Metrolina Speedway: Built in the mid-1960s at Metrolina Fairgrounds, Metrolina Speedway was a half-mile banked clay track. The track foundered during the late 1980s and closed for good in the 1990s.
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Former Metrolina Speedway: Built in the mid-1960s, Metrolina Speedway closed for good in the 1990s. Before his break into big time NASCAR in the late 1970s, racing legend Dale Earnhardt raced there.
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Downtown Troutman: The Iredell County town of Troutman sprang up in the 1850s around the Atlantic, Tennessee & Ohio Railroad with passenger service from Columbia to Statesville. Abandoned by Norfolk Southern in the 1980s, the former rail bed in downtown Troutman, parallel to U.S. 21, is now the Troutman Greenway, part of the Carolina Thread Trail.
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Barium Springs, U.S. 21 between Troutman and Statesville: Founded in 1891 as Presbyterian Orphans Home in Charlotte, the home moved to rural Iredell County. The Lottie Arey Walker building was a girls’ dormitory. From 1922 to 1950 Barium Springs thrived as a self-supporting farm, orchard, laundry, print shop, shoe repair shop and school connected with the Presbyterian Church. Today, Barium Springs is an independent, nonprofit child welfare agency.
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Davie Avenue. (U.S. 21), near downtown Statesville: Most of the 76 buildings in this Statesville historic district are homes. Like this late Victorian house built in 1918 and soon to be a taco restaurant, a few are being converted to small businesses and offices.
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Turnersburg Highway (U.S. 21) and Bethany Road north of Statesville: Ebenezer Academy, chartered in 1823 and used as a school until 1903. Built in the half dovetail log cabin style, this is the original building, heavily restored. Inside can be found mottos for good behavior carved into the original wood.
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U.S. 21 bridge over Rocky Creek, Turnersburg: Sometime before 1812, George Locke built a sawmill on these Rocky Creek Shoals and a stately house on the hill, along the Great Wagon Road. Later owners Wilfred Turner and partners added a textile mill, gin, general store, worker housing, a hydro generating facility and other enterprises, collectively known as Turnersburg. The 200-year-old house now functions as “1812 Hitching Post,” an event venue. This sawmill is still in service.
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Main Street (U.S. 21) Harmony: John Ray Campbell, Harmony mayor 1987-2011, recalls that in the 1950s and ’60s the town center bustled as people gathered evenings to sit and talk in front of the furniture store, hardware store, grocery and five-and-dime, all independently owned. Now the same buildings function as City Hall, a restaurant/deli and this Hispanic Catholic church.