Local History of Mooresville NC

Local History of Mooresville NC The Local History & Archives was started in 2005 with the expansion of the Mooresville Public Library Town of Mooresville AP-CM-002
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From Local History & Archives at MPL: Join us on Saturday, June 13, as we celebrate community, culture, and unity at the...
06/10/2026

From Local History & Archives at MPL: Join us on Saturday, June 13, as we celebrate community, culture, and unity at the Juneteenth Celebration in Mooresville!

The afternoon will begin with a special Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the newly renovated Eastern Heights Park, formerly known as Willow Valley Park, marking an exciting new chapter for this beloved community space.

This free community event is an opportunity to come together with family, friends, and neighbors as we honor Juneteenth through fellowship, celebration, and community pride.
✨ Celebrate culture and community
🍔 Enjoy delicious food
🎯 Play family-friendly games

Everyone is welcome as we come together to celebrate!

📅 Saturday, June 13 | 12 p.m.
📍 Eastern Heights Park
464 E. McLelland Ave.
Mooresville, NC 28115

Cemeteries hold the stories of those who came before us and it falls to the living to preserve and share those stories. ...
06/09/2026

Cemeteries hold the stories of those who came before us and it falls to the living to preserve and share those stories. If you are interested in learning more about cemetery preservation, check out this program, Thursday June 11, at 6 p.m. at Iredell County Public Library!

From Local History & Archives at MPL: Join the Mary Slocumb Chapter, NSDAR, and the Mooresville Museum on Saturday, June...
06/04/2026

From Local History & Archives at MPL: Join the Mary Slocumb Chapter, NSDAR, and the Mooresville Museum on Saturday, June 13, at 2 p.m. at Centre Presbyterian Church (129 Centre Church Road, Mooresville, NC 28117) for an inspiring look at the contributions and sacrifices of young people during America’s founding era. Dr. Tony Zeiss will present “From Resolve to Revolution: Voices of Young Patriots,” in celebration of America 250. Through the powerful words of the Mecklenburg Declaration, the Halifax Resolves, and the Declaration of Independence, this program traces the growing call for freedom in early America. As these historic voices unfold, often-overlooked stories of young patriots are revealed, their words--and their witness--painting a vivid picture of how courage and conviction helped shape a nation.
Co-hosts of the event, the Mooresville Museum will offer guided tours of the historic cemetery before and after the presentation at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Guests are also invited to tour the Old Session House, an important and fascinating piece of local history.
With the historic church, cemetery, and Old Session House as the backdrop, the afternoon will offer a powerful blend of education, remembrance, and appreciation for the sacrifices of America’s early patriots. A reception will follow, including the presentation of several awards. Please RSVP by June 6 to [email protected].

Images are from the photo collection of the Local History & Archives at MPL, including a circa 1910 photo of Centre Church, along with modern day (2015) photos of the church, session house and cemetery.

From Local History & Archives: Come check out our newest exhibit, America 250: A Quilted History, on display now in the ...
05/14/2026

From Local History & Archives: Come check out our newest exhibit, America 250: A Quilted History, on display now in the Williams Wing at the Main Library! Illustrating needlework techniques, fabric designs, styles and patterns used in quilt-making over the past 250 years, this exhibit celebrates quilt-makers, collectors, and the art and craft that tells the story of America. With striking color combinations and innovative patterns, quilts provide a textile narrative that contributes to America’s complex and diverse history of handcrafting, creativity and collaboration.
After you visit the exhibit, we'd love to hear your thoughts about it! Feel free to share your comments below or take an anonymous short survey accessible through a QR code at the exhibit or at https://forms.office.com/g/7A4At3jdmA.

Main Library | 304 South Main St, Mooresville, NC 28115

From Local History & Archives at MPL: Lake Norman, North Carolina’s largest human-made lake, was constructed between 195...
04/30/2026

From Local History & Archives at MPL: Lake Norman, North Carolina’s largest human-made lake, was constructed between 1959 and 1964, and has become a popular destination for luxury home buyers and boaters. When full, the surface area of the lake covers over 32,500 acres! Amazing, right? But what's under the lake? What happened to all those roads, bridges, buildings, and cemeteries? To answer these burning questions, Davidson Historical Society recently explored the lake's history with two experts, Chuck McShane and Jan Blodgett. You can read more about it or listen to the podcast at davidsonhistoricalsociety.org/post/exploring-the-history-of-lake-norman.
Images are from Local History & Archives at MPL’s Lake Norman Collection. To see more images like these, visit our online gallery at digital.mooresvillenc.gov!
Image 1: Scott Holdsclaw looking at a “hot hole” created during construction of the lake.
Image 2: Clearing the lakebed.
Image 3: A tale of two bridges…and what some of the land looked like before the lake.

From Local History & Archives at MPL: Did you know that over 300 businesses in North Carolina were listed in the Green B...
04/22/2026

From Local History & Archives at MPL: Did you know that over 300 businesses in North Carolina were listed in the Green Book? In fact, there were 327.

“The Negro Motorist Green Book,” published between 1936 and 1966, was both a travel guide and a tool of resistance designed to confront the realities of racial discrimination in the United States and beyond. The book listed over 300 North Carolina businesses—from restaurants and hotels, to tourist homes, nightclubs and beauty salons—in the three decades that it was published. To find out more visit the North Carolina African Heritage Commission webpage at https://aahc.nc.gov/green-book-project, where you will find a list of the businesses, maps, videos, student resources, an online exhibit and much more!

Don’t forget to make plans to see the traveling exhibit hosted at multiple sites across the state this year beginning April 26 at Durham County Main Library, 300 N. Roxboro St., Durham, NC 27701. The exhibit highlights a complex statewide network of business owners and Green Book sites that allowed African American communities to thrive, and that created “oasis spaces” for a variety of African American travelers.

The list of dates and host locations, which include Lake Norman State Park in Troutman (June) and Andrew Carnegie Library at Livingstone College in Salisbury (September-October), among others, can be found at https://aahc.nc.gov/green-book-project/traveling-exhibit-schedule.

Image: Morganton, NC, 1938. Courtesy Library of Congress.

Preserving Mooresville history together!
04/16/2026

Preserving Mooresville history together!

From Local History & Archives at MPL: For the first time ever, the 1926 Census of Ireland will be available online April...
04/15/2026

From Local History & Archives at MPL: For the first time ever, the 1926 Census of Ireland will be available online April 18!

The preparation of the 1926 Census of Ireland for public release has been a monumental undertaking by the National Archives of Ireland. The incredible work and dedication of the team tasked with this project has ensured that the voices of 1926 are preserved and ready for you to explore. With careful preservation, high-resolution scanning, and transcription of every sheet, the team has created a fully searchable online resource that offers an unprecedented view of Irish life in 1926.

Encompassing 700,000 pages and 2.9 million individual stories, the first census taken after the establishment of the Irish Free State will be accessible to genealogists, historians, and the public in Ireland and around the world.

Watch their video to get a look behind the scenes at the archives and see the work in progress at https://nationalarchives.ie/engage-and-learn/census-1926-public-programme/census-1926-digitisation-project.

Images courtesy The National Archives of Ireland.

From Local History & Archives at MPL: In celebration of   (April 19-25) and incorporating this year’s theme, Find Your J...
04/08/2026

From Local History & Archives at MPL: In celebration of (April 19-25) and incorporating this year’s theme, Find Your Joy, an exhibit featuring a wide variety of textiles handcrafted by library staff will be on display in the Williams Wing at the Main Library during the month of April. These creations tie in with the celebration by documenting our nation’s and our state’s rich history of handcrafting, highlighting skills learned through the generations, including crochet, knitting, cross stitch, embroidery, quilting, needle felting, and more!
Main Library | 304 South Main St, Mooresville, NC 28115

From Local History & Archives at MPL: To celebrate   we have installed an exhibit showcasing selected photographs from t...
03/05/2026

From Local History & Archives at MPL: To celebrate we have installed an exhibit showcasing selected photographs from the Sarah Brawley Cheek Collection, which will be on display in the Williams Wing at the Main Library for the month of March. The photos were originally gathered as part of the Red Clay Roots program, an oral history project for Iredell County conducted through Mitchell Community College and funded by the North Carolina Humanities Council. Many of the photos appear in the book We Well Remember, by Sarah Brawley Cheek, which includes portions of transcribed oral history interviews with 57 individuals and related photographs and covers a wide variety of topics around the history of Iredell County.
To view more photos in this collection visit our online catalog at: https://mooresvillearchives.catalogaccess.com/advanced-search?includedFields=Photos&Collection=Sarah+Brawley+Cheek&page=1&size=50&withImages=true.
To listen to the oral histories, visit our online gallery at: https://digital.mooresvillenc.gov/digital/collection/audio_history/search.
Main Library | 304 South Main St, Mooresville, NC 28115
Image 1: Emma Mills Watson, born 1871, in her wedding dress circa 1888.
Image 2: Eliza Reeves, mother of Robert Reeves, who owned and operated Reeves Cafe on Washington Street in Statesville.
Image 3: Lillie Holleman Christopher, born 1922.
Image 4: Bertha Westmoreland, circa 1945.
Image 5: The Jolly Sisters, 1952, a popular singing duo. They were regulars on The Briarhoppers, an afternoon radio program.
Image 6: Olena Clark Winford, born 1907. Photo circa 1927.
Image 7: Julie T.M. (Thelma Margie) Troutman, born 1912, and her sister Beatrice, born 1918, with their mother, Sudie Steele Troutman.

Address

304 S Main Street
Mooresville, NC
28115

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+17046644315

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