Lord Don't Move that Mountain

 

"Lord Don't Move That Mountain", starts off a familiar old Gospel song. I'm proposing a variation of it: 'Lord don't move that Mountain, just let me see where it is.'

The concept of lost mountains would probably be humourous to anyone who lives outside the old Uwharrie hills, but locally, modern folk whiz around, up and down highways without really thinking about it, and never seeing the mountains along the horizon. Most are aware that Stanly and Montgomery Counties are part of the Uwharrie Mountain Range, a weathered, small and ancient range, carved out by the Uwharrie and Yadkin- PeeDee Rivers, and including those pushed up between the numerous other contributary streams. 

The Uwharries actually cover Montgomery, Stanly, Davidson and Randolph Counties. Their foothills are said to include Cabarrus, Union, Anson and Richmond Counties. They predate larger mountains and are rich with minerals, hence the North Carolina Gold Rush, which predated the California Gold Rush, and brought many families to the area.

Years ago, I started a project to locate Stanly County Mountains, that I had found mentioned in old deeds, on old maps, in newspapers, and even pictures. 

Above is Palmer Mountain from a circa 1900 map of Stanly County.

Most people who grew up in Stanly County, and are old enough,  remember the commemorative plaque that stood at the Scenic Overlook at Morrow Mountain State Park and gave a topographical display of the Mountains you could see and identify from that vantage point. So, folks from Albemarle can identify the six mountains that the park actually encompasses: Morrow, Sugarloaf, Hattaway, Tater Top, Falls and Mill Mountain. 

Other Mountains have been kept alive by local lore or place names. 

Most are familiar with Stony Mountain from the Vineyards there.

People who live on Nelson Mountain Road know that at the highest part of the road, the unpaved path that heads across a beautiful meadow, also heads past the old dairy to the top of Nelsons Mountain, near Albemarle. It's one of the Long Creek Mountains that are now in or near Albemarle. Others are Wolf Mountain, long ago occupied by the Ozier family, who left these parts long ago, which is behind Walmart and has housing developments climbing it's sides. As does Lowders Mountain, that can be viewed from the Albemarle square, looking West, much like it could in the century old photo where I first saw the name. 

Shepherds Mountain rises from Town Creek and is across Highway 52 from Food Lion. Then there is Gobblers Knob, a small mountain that rises between Coleys Branch and Long Creek and is a brother to Nelson Mountain and Shepherds, footing off Pennington Ridge.

Many folks in Norwood can point out Shankle Mountain, Forks Mountain and Morgan Mountain, near Norwood Camp Ground. There's an Ugly Creek Mountain in old deeds that would also be part of that Norwood group.

Biles Mountain had been written about in the newspaper some few years ago. A gentleman who owns it offered to give me a tour just before I came down with Covid, and now I've lost the information. I can't point it out, but I know it sits right outside Morrow Mountain State Park.

Nobles Mountain, mentioned in old deeds, is also just outside the park or between the park and Stoney Mountain, which is huge in area. I haven't put a push pin on it yet, and have begun to wonder if Biles and Nobles aren't one and the same.

Fraley Mountain is another counted in Stanly County "at the mouth of Ryles Creek". Ryles or Riles Creek is located near the old Stokes Ferry and where Stanly and Rowan meet. It empties into the Yadkin River close to where four counties come together, Stanly, Montgomery, Rowan and Davidson.

I'm now up to 21 Mountains in Stanly County. Many were named for the family that lived there. Biles Mountain for Isaac Biles and Lowder Mountain for the Thomas Lowder family, for instance. Palmers for the fellas who ran a building materials business out there and Shankles for the family who had an entire community named for them near the forks. Nelson Mountain, I've come to believe, was not named for a Nelson family, but for a man named Nelson Pennington. Nobles was no doubt named for the Nobles family found in historic records, Gilbert Nobles, Henry Nobles, and their families. 

Others were named for their characteristics, like Stony Mountain and Wolf Mountain, where a pack of wolves was known to den. 

Recently, I've come across the names of more Stanly County Mountains I need the help of the general public to locate. These are in addition to the 21 I've previously mentioned.

Little Mountain

Due to the name, I don't expect this to be an imposing monolith. This unlofty peak is associated with the Hathcock family who lived there. Jesse, Lindsey and James Hathcock are listed as living there. It was also near the property of a Holt family.

Mabry Mountain 

Possibly named for the Mabry/ Marberry/Marbry family, Mabry Mountain is mentioned in the estate records of David Melton, among other places. Other people near it were Almond Bosworth, (Boysworth), John B Forrest, John Milton and William Davis, (not my line). Knowing where David Milton lived, this one must be a neighbor of Stony Mountain. 

Beard Mountain 

Beard Mountain may have started with the Michael Beard family who moved from Rowan County to the Rocky River area, but was later occupied by the Dockery family. It's mentioned in the 1935 Division of property for Charles Dockery. Others who lived near were Henry Dockery, Mary Lisenby and a Lampley family.

Spring Mountain 

Spring Mountain was the home of a Russell family, E.G. Russell, W. A. Russell, Z. D. Blaylock and Amos T. Biles lived there around the turn of the century, not this last one, but the one before that.

That's a total of 25 Mountains in Stanly County I've now heard of. If you know of any more, or where these new ones may be located, let me know. These hills had names.