Displacement

1963-1970

On Displacement:

The idea of Lake Norman began by Dr. W. Gill Wylie and William States Lee around the 1930’s as a way to revitalize the Southern Industry, but this idea came at the cost of displacing some of the areas’ original residents.

Prior to the building of Lake Norman, the Mecklenburg area was predominantly agricultural; containing small farms in what is now Cornelius, Davidson, and Huntersville. It was a held concept that the North Mecklenburg area, a type of soil bank for Mecklenburg County, could someday be developed. The idea and introduction of the lake injected growth for the area in concentrations that were unforeseen.

Farmers were forced to move as the introduction of the lake took over their livelihoods. Farmers were encouraged to sell their land in order to avoid “rumination of their crops and livestock” to be caused by the introduction of a future coal-burning plant expected to generate soot. Families that held land for generations were forced to sell their land to Duke Energy and look to live elsewhere. John Wally, a Lake Norman farmer, felt like “he was like a displaced person in a foreign land.” However, Duke power decided against the coal burning plant, and when community leaders asked if they can re-buy their land it was being sold at $1000 per acre, a price farmers deemed “crazy” leaving them no option but to wait for prices to decrease.

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Source:

Brotherton, Ken. Lake Norman–Piedmont History. Davidson, N.C. (138 Meadowbrook Lane, P.O. Box 62 Davidson 28036): K. Brotherton, 1993. Print.