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Description
This article explains why Shelby did not secure the main line of the Southern Railway in the mid-1800s. It argues that local leaders were not necessarily short-sighted but faced severe financial constraints, war-related economic decline, and existing debt from investments in the Wilmington, Charlotte & Rutherford Railroad. Census data and county records show limited resources and difficulty paying bond interest after the Civil War. The railroad ultimately followed a different route through Kings Mountain and Grover, though Shelby later gained a branch line in 1889.
Publication Date
2-9-1950
City
Shelby, NC
Keywords
Thomas Lattimore, John F. Hoke, William Malone, C. Dowd, P. M. B. Young, John F. Jones, John F. Hoke, William Malone, Southern Railway, Wilmington, Charlotte & Rutherford Railroad, Seaboard Air Line Railroad, Carolina Central Railroad, Shelby, Kings Mountain, Grover
Contributors
Fay Webb Gardner Collection in the Gardner-Webb University Archives
Recommended Citation
Jones, Mamie, "1950, February 9 - Cleveland County Early Days" (1950). Cleveland County Early Days Newspaper Column. 49.
https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/fay-webb-gardner-cleveland-county-early-days-newspaper-column/49