Belmont Historical Society Cultural and Heritage Learning Center

Step back in time and learn about the history of Belmont, North Carolina through photographs, artifacts and other exhibits.

Preview your trip on the web: Belmont Historical Society Cultural and Heritage Learning Center

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• Like a Family: The Making of a Southern Cotton Mill World Explore Southern textile mills from their beginnings to the 1930s, drawing largely on the perspectives of mill workers themselves.
• Cotton mills from differing perspectives: Critically analyzing primary documents In this lesson, students will read two primary source documents: a 1909 pamphlet exposing the use of child labor in the cotton mills of North Carolina, and a weekly newsletter published by the mill companies. Students will also listen to oral history excerpts from mill workers to gain a third perspective. In a critical analysis, students will identify the audiences for both documents, speculate on the motivations of their authors, and examine the historical importance of each document.
• History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web A gateway to U.S. History Web resources. Teaching materials, first-person primary documents and discussions on teaching U.S. history.

Related pages

• The strikers move into tents: Article from the Gastonia Daily Gazette printed during the Loray Mill strike, 1929. Striking workers were thrown out of their houses, which were owned by the mill. Includes historical background and commentary.
• Congress considers an inquiry into textile strikes: Newspaper article about a congressional debate about southern textile strikes, 1929. Includes historical background and commentary.
• A union organizer blames the mill: Article printed by the Gastonia Daily Gazette during the Loray Mill strike in 1929, one of the few printed that represented the views of the strikers. Includes historical background and commentary.

Related topics

• Learn more about 20th century, Gaston County, North Carolina, history, and textile mill.

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Housed in the former home of textile business leader, Robert L. Stowe, the Cultural and Learning Center strives to educate visitors about the history of the community of Belmont. The Center “traces Belmont from the early days , even before Garibaldi, through the years as a textile manufacturing giant, to the current days of a growing community of interesting people and places.” The Historical Society is working to preserve a mill house to what it looked like in the 1920s and a miniature G16 model train.

The museum has displays documenting pre-colonial Indians that passed through the area, artifacts from families that lived in the Belmont area through its history, the Belmont’s Sports Hall of Fame, and much more.

For more information, or to schedule a visit, please call (704)825-4848 or send email to belmonthistoricl@bellsouth.net.

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