Catawba Station

   


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FAMILY
NAMES

LOFTIN:
Beatty
Corzine
Cranford
Fisher
Givens
Harwell
Kaiser
Lanier
Lomax
McCorkle
Rudisill
Sherrill
Upright
Washington
Work


SETZER:
Aderholdt
Barringer
Bovey
Bushart
Deal
Heavner
Herman
Ikert
Miller
Motz
Rankin
Witherspoon

GOBLE:
Babst/Bobst
Douglas
Faber
Fink
Fulbright
Hefner
Meinhert
Miller
Muller
Pabst/Bobst
Robinson

JOHNSON:
Corzine
Fink
Hamilton
Kaiser
Leslie
Lewis
Moore
Sherrill
Upright
Wilkinson

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FAMILY
NAMES:

Barringer

Beatty

Bovey

Bushart

Corzine

Cranford

Deal

Douglas

Fink

Fisher

Fulbright

Givens

Goble

Heavner

Hefner

Herman

Johnson

Kaiser

Leslie

Loftin

Lomax

McCorkle

Miller

Pabst/Bobst

Setzer

Sherrill

Weeks

Work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

Catawba, North Carolina

 

 
 

 
 

Catawba County, North Carolina, is located in the western part of the State in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 1842 the northern third of Lincoln County became Catawba County. It was established on December 12, 1842 and, on January 8, 1845, Newton was selected as the County seat.

                               

                               
                               

When Catawba was established, it was divided into townships.

                               

                               
                               

The town of Catawba is located in the eastern part of Catawba County.  It is one of the oldest towns between Salisbury and Asheville, having been selected as an early railroad station.  Trains ran to the town before the War Between the States, beginning about 1859.

 
The town of Catawba was birthed from one of those townships.  Catawba Station was incorporated on March 8, 1872.  The Town of Catawba was formed on February 8, 1893, when the US Postmaster ordered all small offices to have a 1-word appellation.  It was named for the Catawba River which flows to its east.
 
Catawba Station was more prosperous than either Conover on Claremont in the years following the Civil War.
 
 

The new historical sign for the "Town of Catawba" was installed in 2012

 
 
                               
Catawba Station Depot

No. 11 Arriving in Catawba, 1916

 
 

The town of Catawba originally grew in the area around the Train Depot and buildings that were constructed were common board buildings.  Later brick buildings formed the center of the town on the hill above the Depot, causing the town to be referred to as a "layered" town.  Stoneman's Raiders burned the Train Station during the Civil War, but it was quickly rebuilt.

 
 

For the first two decades, trade was the town's sole source of income for the cotton producing area of Hamilton Township (later Catawba Station).  Farmers preferred to ship their goods by railroad and by 1885 they had constructed a bridge across the railroad. 

 

Eventually Catawba Station drew the trades such as Cobble (Hosea Danner), Blacksmith (Sidney Reinhart) and Carriage Shop (Noah Fry). 

 

Catawba was also the home of several Doctors - Dr. Q. M. Little and Dr. G. H. McNeill.  Dr. Little's home and office was in the center of town while Dr. McNeill's home and office was just outside of town.  McNeill's office was destroyed by the 1884 cyclone, but he rebuilt.  Dr. Fred Long eventually became the town doctor.

 

Catawba Station Depot

 
 
 
 

The Catawba Leather Novelty Company (below) was one of the businesses near the Depot.  The owner was E. E. Deal.  The building was demolished by the Department of Transportation in 1992.

 

The Catawba Leather Novelty Company

  
 
 

The street through town remained a dirt road well into the twentieth century.  Below is a winter view of the wooden bridge crossing the railroad tracks into Catawba around 1900.

 

Catawba Main Street

 
 

1900 view of Main Street, Catawba, NC

 
 

1940s Main Street

 
 
 
 

North Main Street Catawba

                               

After you cross Lyle Creek and come up the hill into Catawba, Martin's Service Station was one of the first stores you'd see in the 1940s.

 

Willie Martin at Martin's Service Station

 
 

This corner store changed owners and its look over a 100-year time frame

 
 

Stores as they appeared around 1895

 
 

(Left to Right) Coulter's Grocery Store, Antique Store, Musgrove's Fountain & Drug Store

                               
 
 
 

1960s Main Street after a heavy snow storm

 
 

1960s view of North Main Street Stores

 
 

Former Main Street's Pure Food Grocery

 
 

Former North Main Street Storefronts

 
 

Catawba's first Post Office was a simple one-room building (2010 photo)

 
 

The 1950s & 1960s Post Office in Catawba was located on Main Street

 
 

Former John F. Herman Storefront at the end of North Main Street
Mabel Gilleland Smith standing outside store

 
 

R. R. Boggs Hardware & Paints

 
 

This old house at the Intersections of North Main, South Main, E Central Ave & W Central Ave
was the site of Grady's Barber Shop in the 1960s & 70s.

 
 
 
South Main Street Catawba
 

June 2007 photo

 
 

Remodeling of the Old Stores on South Main - June 2007 photo

 
 
 
History About the Buildings in Catawba
 
 
North Main Street
(Photos of buildings appear below store description)
 
 
 
Pitts-Carpenter Store
Built about 1895
(not pictured)

The Pitts-Carpenter Store was a remarkably well-preserved late nineteenth century brick commercial building, two stories in height and three bays wide.  J. H. Pitts, long identified with Catawba's late nineteenth and early twentieth century business community, bought this lot in 1895.  It is assumed that he build the general store building sometime thereafter, although he had been in business in Catawba as early as 1890.  In 1922, Pitts sold the store to Robert E. Carpenter who had previously been Catawba's postmaster.  Carpenter managed Carpenter's Store here until about 1932 when the building was sold to Junior Order of the American Mechanics Council.  They owned it until 1975

 
 
 
 
Catawba Drug Company / Musgroves Fountain
Built about 1915

The former Catawba Drug Company is a remarkably well-preserved two story commercial building which retains both its early twentieth century pressed tin ceiling, counters, and display cases, as well as the booths from a 1930's remodeling.  The store's original interior furnishings features darkly stained half-wall display cabinets and free standing cases.  In 1915, J. H. Pitts, who operated the adjacent Pitts-Carpenter Store, sold this lot to the Catawba Drug Company.  Partners in the company were F. N. Long, Vernon Long, Glenn Long and William Walker.  The Long brothers were sons of Jeptha U. Long, founder of the general mercantile firm of Long and Company and an active force in Catawba's development.  By the early 1920s, interest in the Catawba Drug Company had been sold to various other persons.  In 1931 William Mushgrove began to acquire some of these shares and eventually became the sole owner.  After his death in 1972, the business passed to his daughter, Mrs. Jo Ann Jackson.

 
 
 
 
Long & Company Dry Goods Store / Antiques, Collectibles & Restorables
Built about 1905

This two story brick store building is, with the exception of its remodeled storefront, one of Catawba's most intack and well-detailed early twentieth century commercial structures.  Composed of two recessed doors at the east-southeast corner, the storefront also has modern glass windows to the north.  The general mercantile firm of J. U. Long & Company erected this second building on the adjacent lot.  According to one source, this building housed their dry goods department.  J. U. Long's heirs sold the building to Carl W. Ervin, Sr. in 1940.  He operated a general store here and his heirs sold it in 1959 to Clyde Maguire.  Whether J. U. Long & Company used or rented the second story of the building is not known.  The building has served as a dry goods store, a building contractor office, an appliance store, a dress shop, a music store, a wood-working shop and a beauty parlor.  Will & Nancy Rhyne, local residents, decided to invest their time and resources in a local business and spent four years in a well-planned restoration project.  The store re-opened on Festival Day, 13 Nov 2010.

 
 
 
 
J. U. Long & Company / Coulter's Grocery Store / Old Country Store
Built around 1895

This two-story brick (common bond) commercial building is one of two well-detailed late nineteenth century stores which have survived virtually intact in Catawba.  The second story has had a number of tenants and was once a pool room operated by John Phillips.  Jeptha U. Long acquired this property in 1894 and it is believed that he built this store soon after.  J. U. Long & Company's General Store had been in operation in Catawba as early as 1890.  In 1909, and at the age of sixty-six, he sold the property to W. B. Huitt, who in 1910 was the chief of police in Catawba.  C. A. Little, another Catawba merchant and operator of the telephone exchange, bought the store in 1913 and probably operated it until he and his cousin, J. H. L. Coulter, moved to the old Sherrill Tobacco Company Building.  C. W. and Cecil L. Ervin acquired it in 1921, and John P. and Zella C. coulter purchased the property in 1940 and ran Coulter's Grocery Store in the building for many years.

 
 
 
 
South Main Street
 
 
Sherrill Tobacco Company Building
Built around 1896

The Sherrill Tobacco Company Building is Catawba's most impressive commercial building, even though it has suffered recent alterations.  It is also one of the finest commercial building in Catawba County.  Three stories in height and six bays wide, the brick building features large round arched windows on the first story.  The Sherrill Tobacco Company was formed in May of 1896.  Judging by the impressive building erected at this time to house the operation, the founders had a great deal of optimism in the future of the local tobacco industry.  James H. Sherrill (1845 - 1927) and J. W. Blackwelder (1855 - 1925) formed the company.  Here they produced plug tobacco under the names "Little Marian", "Ten Cent Cotton", "John's Ox", and "16 to 1".  By 1900 the company had stopped production and in 1902 the building was sold to J. H. Pitts (1850 - 1930).  Pitts moved his general merchandise store from an older building and apparently stayed here until he retired.  In 1919 Pitts sold the business to his son-in-law, Charles A. Little (1878 - 1969), and Little's cousin, John H. L. Coulter (1869 - 1943).  The general mercantile firm of Coulter and Little used all three floors of this large building.  Their slogan, as fondly recalled by Little's daughter, was "Dealers in everything for everybody From the cradle to the grave".  Coffins were sold on the third floor.  The firm remained in business until about 1947 when Little sold the property to the Dorsett Manufacturing Company.  In 1962 the U. S. Hosiery Corporation purchased the building.  Betterware Hosiery Mill (the former Elliots' Hosiery) used the facility in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Curtis Loftin worked in the building in the summer of 1970, constructing "dumps & totes", used for Betterware to ship their socks & tights to their customers.  Later it was used by the Ward Furniture Company.  At the present, it is a restaurant.  The owners altered the windows and sandblasted the woodwork on the first story.

 
 
The mural on the northern side of the Sherrill Tobacco Company was painted in the early 2000s
 
 
 
Catawba Post Office / Catawba Tavern
Built around 1902

Joined to the south elevation of the Sherrill Tobacco Factory building, this brick building was built for use as an office and Post Office.  One-story in height and four bays wide, its features include the the principal center entrance, flanking paired windows (originally one-over-one double hung sash units) and a later side door.  Although there is a local tradition that this building was constructed by Coulter and Little when they operated their mercantile business in the former tobacco factory, the masonry work appears to pre-date 1919.  Therefore, it seems reasonable to speculate that J. H. Pitts, who acquired the Sherrill Tobacco Company building in 1902, probably built it.  Although Pitts operated a general store in Catawba prior to 1902, he probably moved it to the old tobacco factory and at some point built this structure which local sources remember as being the Post Office at one time.  Subsequent owners have incorporated it into the tobacco company building and it is now treated as one property on the tax maps.  It is currently the sight of the Catawba Tavern.

 
 
 
 
Catawba Feed Store
Built around 1902

This one story brick commercial building was originally used as a feed store.  The lot on which the building stands was acquired by J. H. Pitts in 1902.  Most local sources say it was originally used as the Catawba Feed store.   The brickwork suggests a turn-of-the-century date of construction and therefore Pitts must have built it either to rent or for use in his general mercantile business which was housed in the Sherrill Tobacco Company building.  Pitts transferred all of the property in this block to J. H. L. Coulter and C. A. Little in 1919 and they utilized their building until 1921 when it was sold to Alonzo Lester Loftin.  Alonzo continued to operate a feed and fertilizer store.  Numerous owners have used the building for various things, and at the present (2007) it is part of the Catawba Tavern.

 
 
 
 
Loftin-Goodman Building
Built around 1928

The Loftin-Goodman Building is a one-story brick veneered two-store-front commercial structure.  Both stores have recessed  central doorways flanked by display windows.  Alonzo Lester Loftin acquired this and the adjacent store lot in 1921 from the dry goods firm of Coulter and Little.  Alonzo sold this lot to his son, Roy Loftin in 1928, and the building was erected soon after that.  Roy used the southern/left half for his own business and rented the other half to a grocery store.   At first Roy had a Meat Market in the building, but soon opened a cafe in the front part of the Meat Market.    Mrs. Clyde Goodman acquired the property in 1944 from Frank E. Booth.  For many years a beauty parlor occupied the north/right half and the Pink Lady Laundry operated the south/left half.  Currently (2007), the south/left part of the building is the Catawba Fruit & Vegetable Market.

 
 
 
 
Abernethy Hardware Company
Built around 1928

John Troutman, owner of the adjacent Catawba Garage, sold the lot on which this building is built to Garland P. Drum.  Local tradition maintains that he built an automobile showroom and then leased or rented it to Ralph Boggs.  Boggs had a Chevrolet dealership until the early 1930s.  The Masonic Lodge used the upstairs space until about 1952. In 1937 Claude Abernethy acquired the property from the Savings and Loan Insurance Company and established the hardware store.  Talmadge R. Korn purchased the store in 1969, but kept the name of Abernethy Hardware.   It continued in operation until the late 1990s.

 
 
 
 
Catawba Garage / Catawba Dry Cleaners / Choo-Choos / Penny's Downtown Cafe
Cindy's Starlight Cafe
Built around 1925

The Catawba Garage is a one-story commercial building and was built as an automobile service facility.  In 1925 John Troutman purchased the lot on Main Street, built the garage and a blacksmith's shop on part of the lot soon after.  By 1928 when Troutman sold the adjacent lot to G. P. Drum, it was referred to as the Catawba Garage Lot.  Its use has been changed several times over the years.  In that alteration (probably during the late 1930s) the walls were stuccoed and the front, east elevation received two doors as well as windows. From the 1940s to 1960s it served as the Catawba Dry Cleaners.  Michael Whitener Loftin and Tate Pope operated the Dry Cleaners here in the 1940s.  From the 1970s to the mid-1990s, the building was part of the Abernethy Hardware Company.  After that, the building was used for Jeff Pope's Sign Shop.  Jeff painted a beautiful mural on the southern side of the building, depicting Catawba in the late 1800s.  For the next 10 years, the building was used for a series of restaurants, including an Italian Restaurant named "Choo-Choos", Penny's Downtown Cafe, The Sweetheart Restaurant, and Cindy's Starlight Cafe.

 
 

The "original" mural on the southern side of the Former Catawba Garage building

 
 
 

(Left) Mike Loftin with Tate & Fred Pope
(Right) Mike with Winifred Kale and Mary Jo Rufty, 1945, at the Cleaners in Catawba

   
 
 
 
The J. U. Long House
 

The J.U. Long house was built in the 1870 and served as a boarding house even into the late 1900s.  It was located at the Intersections of North Main St, South Main St, E. Central Ave and W. Central Ave.

 
 
 
Huffman House & Kale/Huffman Barber Shop
 

The Huffman house and the Kale Huffman Barber Shop

 
The barber shop became Don Greene's Beauty Shop in the 1960s.  After Peoples Bank was destroyed by fire, the Huffman house and barber shop property was purchased, the buildings were demolished, and the site became the home for the newly constructed People's Bank.
 
 
 
People's Bank
 

Peoples Bank - September 2011

 

People bank was originally located on the opposite side of the street in the location of several previous building, but when the bank was destroyed by fire, a new building was built on the site of the Huffman Home & Kale/Huffman Barber Shop.

 
 
 
Grady's Barber Shop / Abernathy Income Tax - September 2011
 
 
A prominent sight in the 1960s in the town of Catawba was Grady's Barber Shop - owned and operated by Grady Abernathy.  The location eventually became the home for Abernathy Income Tax - operated by Grady's daughter, Karen.
 
 
 
Catawba Town Hall - September 2011
 
 
The two garage bays on the left side of the Catawba Town Hall was the original location for the Catawba Fire Department.  A new fire department was eventually built on Hwy. 10 before you cross the railroad bridge coming into town.
 
 
 
Catawba Fire Department - September 2011
 
 
 
 
Catawba Masonic Lodge/Temple - September 2011
 
 
 
 
Dr. Fred Long's Medical Practice
Built in 1910

Dr. Long’s medical office was built in the 1910's, and it is listed on the National Registry of Historical Places.  The medical office is located across the street from the house where he lived in Catawba.

 
 
 

Dr. Fred Long (1875 - 1965) was a prominent Doctor in Catawba.     He delivered many Loftin children, including ...                                   

 
 
Loftin Children Delivered by Dr. Fred Long
Child's Name Birth Date Location Father Mother Twin
Ophia Willie Jane Loftin 15 Sep 1906 Catawba Twsp.      
Daisy Pearl Loftin 06 Jun 1914 Catawba Twsp. Alonzo Loftin Ida Setzer X
Infant Son Loftin 06 Jun 1914 Catawba Twsp. Alonzo Loftin Ida Setzer X
Mike Whitener Loftin 18 Feb 1916 Catawba Twsp. Alonzo Loftin Ida Setzer  
Infant Son Loftin 18 Jul 1916 Catawba Twsp. Charles Loftin Eva L. Setzer  
L. D. Loftin 03 Sep 1916 Catawba Twsp.      
Minnie Aileen Loftin 23 Feb 1918 Catawba Twsp.      
Sam William Loftin 13 May 1918 Catawba Twsp. Alonzo Loftin Ida Setzer  
Lola Mae Loftin 07 Jul 1919 Catawba Twsp. Charles Loftin Eva L. Setzer  
Lola Mae Loftin 30 Dec 1919 Catawba Twsp. O. Fred Loftin Elizabeth Lowrance  
Oscar Sherrill Loftin 22 Oct 1920 Catawba Twsp. Alonzo Loftin Ida Setzer  
Arthur Fred Loftin 21 Jan 1923 Catawba Twsp. O. Fred Loftin Nannie E. Lowarnce  
Helen Josephine Loftin 15 Jun 1926 Catawba Twsp. Arthur Lee Loftin Josephine Gilleland  
Glennie Frances Loftin 13 Jul 1926 Catawba Twsp. Alonzo Loftin Ida Setzer  
Paul Roosevelt Loftin 05 Mar 1927 Catawba Twsp. Charlie Loftin Edna Jones  
Charlene Amanda Loftin 06 May 1928 Catawba Twsp.      
Elsie Louise Loftin 02 Dec 1928 Catawba Twsp. Charlie Loftin Edna Jones  
Eunice Mozell Loftin 14 Dec 1929 Catawba Twsp.      
Wayne Morrow Loftin 22 Sep 1930 Catawba Twsp. Roy Henry Loftin Mae Morrow  
Peggy Sue Loftin 30 May 1935 Catawba Twsp. Theodore Loftin Marie Hoke  
 
 
 

(Below) Dr. Fred Long even made house calls

 
 

Dr. Fred also aided in the delivery of the following children that have connections to the Loftin, Setzer, Goble and Johnson Families.

 
Additional Cousins Delivered by Dr. Fred Long
Name Birth Date Location Father Mother
A        
Paul Edward Abernathy 06 Mar 1925 Catawba Twsp. Bill Abernathy Alice
B        
Daughter 27 May 1923 Mt. Crk Twsp. Charlie Beatty Zettie Loftin
Parlier Cornelia Boggs 19 Oct 1922 Catawba Twsp. Fitzhugh Boggs Verdie Lee Loftin
Walter Roy Boggs 22 July 1933 Catawba Twsp. Fitzhugh Boggs Verdie Lee Loftin
C        
George Williams Christopher 30 Aug 1931 Catawba Twsp.    
Boyce Washington Cloninger 05 Feb 1925 Catawba Twsp.    
Celia Jo Connor 13 Jun 1932 Clines Twsp. Dewey Connor Thelma Loftin
G        
Bobby Gean Goble 11 Feb 1946 Catawba Twsp. James Goble Nina Eades
Shelby Jo Ann Goble 27 Apr 1948 Catawba Twsp. James Goble Nina Eades
L        
Dorothy Louise Lee 29 Dec 1932 Caldwell Twsp. Glenn C. Lee Allie Loftin
Glenn Clustus Lee 04 Jan 1914 Catawba Twsp. Wm. Ashborn Lee Minnie Setzer
M        
Katharine Lee McKinnis 21 Oct 1917 Catawba Twsp. Lee McKinnis  
Ora Nell McKinnis 23 Aug 1917 Catawba Twsp. Junius R. McKinnis Lola Gilleland
Dorothy Josephine Mundy 18 Aug 1928 Catawba Twsp. Preston Mundy Lois V. Loftin
Harlon Gray Mundy 18 Aug 1930 Catawba Twsp. Preston Mundy Lois V. Loftin
James Greene Mundy 13 Feb 1933 Catawba Twsp. Preston Mundy Lois V. Loftin
Billy Keith Murray 12 Jun 1929 Catawba Twsp. Paul A. Murray Sadie E. Loftin
Joyce Elizabeth Murray 25 Feb 1928 Catawba Twsp. Paul. A. Murray Sadie E. Loftin
S        
Thad Setzer 30 Mar 1916 Clines Twsp. John Marion Setzer Leola Lowrance
Stillborn Daughter Setzer 25 Feb 1920 Clines Twsp. John Marion Setzer Leola Lowrance
Martha Frances Setzer 30 Jun 1926 Newton Twsp.    
Patrick Henry Setzer 02 Oct 1923 Newton Twsp. Miles Ernest Setzer Effie Mae Lowrance
Samuel Woodrow Setzer 17 Aug 1914 Newton Twsp. Miles Ernest Setzer Effie Mae Lowrance
Carlos Ray Sigmon 28 Sep 1941 Catawba Twsp. Emanuel Sigmon Elizabeth Setzer
Daisy Lemyre Sigmon 21 Mar 1924 Catawba Twsp. Leslie Sigmon Daisy McNeill Setzer
Floyd Sigmon 09 Aug 1922 Clines Twsp. Emanuel Sigmon Elizabeth Setzer
Floyd Eugene Sigmon 20 Mar 1922 Catawba Twsp. Harry Sigmon Bessie Jane Setzer
Frances Lizzie 19 Mar 1924 Catawba Twsp. Emanuel Sigmon Elizabeth Setzer
Leslie Jackson Sigmon 24 May 1929 Clines Twsp. Leslie Sigmon Daisy McNeill Setze
T        
Annie Ruth Travis 26 Jan 1927 Catawba Twsp.    
W        
Kenneth Gray Wilson 01 May 1929 Catawba Twsp. Tom Wilson Cordie B. Loftin
         
 
 
Dr. Q. M. Little House
 

The Dr. Q. M. Little House, built around 1873, currently serves as the towns Historical Museum

  
 
 
 
 
Catawba High School / Catawba Elementary School
 

Originally, only the nearby common schools were available to Catawba children.  By 1890, however, the Catawba Academy was started for higher learning.  It later took the name Catawba High School.

 
Catawba High School / Catawba Elementary School
 
 
 

These photos of the school Cafeteria (left) and Auditorium (right) were taken 14 Dec 2006.  The Baptist Church now owns the old Cafeteria and Auditorium.  It is still used as a voting precinct by the town of Catawba.  The school gymnasium used to stand between the two building, but is no longer there.  The old school was burned in 1988 to provide needed parking for the Baptist Church.

 
 
This photo of the students at Catawba High School in 1930 includes a 15-year-old Daisy Pearl Loftin
 
 
 
Catawba In The NEWS
 
   
The Landmark
Statesville, NC, Newspaper

August 19, 1898
 

A Homicide in Catawba

 

News of a shooting near Catawba Saturday was brought here Monday.  The report is that Avery Kale, a boy about 18 years old, declared his intention to kill George Travis, a workman at Alley's distillery.  Kale went home and secured a gun and , going immediately to the distillery, opened fire on Travis, the load taking effect in the upper part of his head.  Travis died Sunday night.  No one witnessed the shooting.  Kale, just after leaving the still house, met Mr. Alley and informed him of what he had done, drawing the gun on Mr. Alley, to prevent his interference.  Kale then went home, remained there an hour or two and make his escape before an officer could be secured.  A large posse has been hunting for him since.

     
 
 
   
Town of Catawba Historical Association, Inc.
Preserving the History of Eastern Catawba County

Vol. VII, No. 2 - Fall 2012
 

Sights, Sounds, and Smells of Fifty Years Ago

by Charles McNeil (1913 - 1987)

 

Ring of John Troutman's blacksmith hammer,
the sound of the horseshoes plopping in the dirt,
The pink of those when they hit the iron stake.

the sickly, sweet smell of the drugstore,
The smell of overalls and dry goods in the stores,
The smell of leather goods in Mr. Smith's harness shop.

Noah and Ellie Kale having an argument,
The noise from the local garage situated on the sight of the present telephone building,
The horsey smell of the hitching posts.
The smell of Mr. Drum's meat market.

The mournful sound of the train whistle,
The appetizing odor of food spread at the Old Solder's Reunion
under the Baptist's oaks,
The sound of the local church bell tolling for Mr. Smith,
One mournful toll for each year - somewhere in sixty.

Lights and bathtubs in those houses that have them,
Sound of Gene Huffman's battery radio.
Nothing was more mournful than the school bell telling that recess was at an end.

The public toilet,
Sound of cotton wagons coming into town,
The smell of barber Kale's shaving lather.

     
 

Charles Avery McNeil was a Catawba, NC, resident - born to Avey (Avery) H. McNeil (b. 1873) and Janie Slewman McNeil (b. 1877).  Charles was born 22 Jul 1913 in Catawba County, NC, and died 20 Dec 1987, in Hickory, Catawba County, NC, at the age of 74.  He was very intelligent but was also a bit of an eccentric - never marrying during his lifetime.  Charles was a friend of my father (Sam William Loftin) and gave me (Curtis) a Spanish Language Bible when I went off to college.

 
 
 
2013 Veteran's Festival
 
On Saturday, 09 Nov 2013, the inhabitants and neighbors of the small town of Catawba came together for their annual Veteran's Festival and Parade.  Main Street was closed to make room for vendors and traffic was detoured around the back side of town. 
 

Vendors display their food, crafts and other goods

 

 

(Left Photo) Carolyn Loftin visits with Loftin cousin, Barry Brotherton,
who is helping out with the Catawba Elementary School booth

 

 

 

A play area for the kids to enjoy

 

A band and singers provide entertainment as you sit - or stroll down the street

 
 

A World War II Uniform worn by a local WWII reenactor

  

 
The young man above told me about the annual Veteran's Day Celebration at Fort Dobbs in Statesville, NC, on the very same weekend as the Catawba Veteran's Festival & Parade.  Even though Fort Dobbs is only a 20 minute drive from Catawba, I had never heard about their events and decided I'd have to check it out, too
 
 
 
 

Civil War Reenactment 2010 - 2011

 
Members of the 46th NC Co. K "Catawba Braves" set-up a Civil War village in the center of downtown Catawba in 2010 and again in 2011.
 

The 46th NC Co. K Camp in the town of Catawba

 

Fixin' some lunch over an open camp fire

 

While some clean their guns and display them proudly

 

Everyone slept in tents and lean-to's at night to keep warm and dry at night

 

 

Preparing weapon supplies (James & Karla Clark)

  

 

Hard tack and bullets

 

A variety of weapons on display

 

One less Union soldier to fight against the Confederate South
(Taylor Tipton, Josh Prevett and Anton Collins)
(Dead Soldier) Willy Baker

 

Another Union soldier captured by a young Rebel

(Billy Little and Ethan Tipton)

 

 

... and a timely rescue
(Billy Little, Anton Collins, Cissy Prevette and Willy Baker)

 

CLICK HERE to see all the photos on the Civil War Reenactment Page

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SOURCES

 

The Town of Catawba Historical Association, Inc, P.O. Box 147, Catawba, NC 28609, 828-241-4077
www.townofcatawbanc.gov

 
                               

If you have additional information or early photos of the town of Catawba, please contact me.