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History · High Shoals

High Shoals’ post office opened in 1828, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1980.

1828first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From High Shoals’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How High Shoals began

When was High Shoals founded?

1828

The High Shoals post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1973.

First census: 586 in 19802020 census: 595198 years
Founding year: the first High Shoals post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1973.The full story ↓

What stands out about High Shoals’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19143 editions of the USGS map, 1914 to 1993. Watch High Shoals change.Deep rootsA post office since 1828: 198 years of High Shoals.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start High Shoals’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how High Shoals’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMill at High Shoals, N.C. 8 P.M. Mill w…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

High Shoals on the map, 1914 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of High Shoals. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

High Shoals on the 1914 USGS mapHigh Shoals on the 1970 USGS mapHigh Shoals on the 1993 USGS map1914Gastonia sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of High Shoals.

Timeline

High Shoals, 1828 to 1914

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1828Post officeThe High Shoals post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1908In the archiveMill at High Shoals, N.C. 8 P.M. Mill was running. Location: High Shoals, North Carolina
  5. 1914On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How High Shoals came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of High Shoals.

Read it all →

High Shoals was the location of the High Shoals Iron Works, founded by Swiss-born John Fulenwider in about 1795. Fulenwider developed one of the earliest methods of making pig iron with the charcoal process. During the War of 1812, his High Shoals ironworks produced cannonballs for use by the United States Army. Fulenwider died in 1826 and is buried at High Shoals cemetery. The ironworks he developed remained in operation until 1875.

In the last decade of the 19th century, the community of High Shoals became totally owned by High Shoals Mills, a textile company founded by Charlotte industrialist Daniel A. Tompkins.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

High Shoals, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s3 items
Mill at High Shoals, N.C. 8 P.M. Mill was running. Location: High Shoals, North Carolina1908Mill at High Shoals, N.C. 8 P.M. Mill was running. Lo…St. Johns Mission School1908St. Johns Mission SchoolHigh Shoals (N.C.) School. This is average attendance. Enrollment is 80. Only one other school in town and about 15 att…1908High Shoals (N.C.) School. This is average attendance…
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Mill at High Shoals, N.C. 8 P.M. Mill was running. Location: High Shoals, North Carolina
Retake this viewMill at High Shoals, N.C. 8 P.M. Mill was running. Location: High Shoals, North Carolina, 1908

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on High Shoals’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

High Shoals, census by census

0200400600800198020002020Peak: 729

Between 586 and 729 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on High Shoals’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to High Shoals

Nobody well known was born in High Shoals itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Tori AmosAmerican singer-songwriter · b. 1963
Thomas SowellAmerican economist, social theorist, political … · b. 1930
J
James WorthyAmerican basketball player · b. 1961
Luke CombsAmerican country singer · b. 1990
Hassan WhitesideAmerican basketball player · b. 1989
Reneé RappAmerican actress and singer · b. 2000

Questions about High Shoals’ history

What year was High Shoals founded?

The High Shoals post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1973.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.