Concord And Cabarrus County In Vintage Postcards

Located in the rolling hills of North Carolina's Piedmont, between the Yadkin and the Catawba Rivers, Cabarrus County was once a haven of lush vegetation and wild animals. Early immigrants-mostly of German and Scotch-Irish descent-arrived with a strong pioneering spirit to carve out of this wilderness a place to call home. The rich and fertile soil was ideal for agriculture, while the shiny yellow rocks proved to be "worth their weight" when correctly identified as nuggets of gold. Today, Cabarrus County and its county seat, Concord, are considered home to more than 100,000 residents.

Around 1760, Scottish emigrant John Patterson left Philadelphia with a group of adventurous pioneers for the North Carolina Piedmont. Along the banks of Coldwater Creek in what was then Mecklenburg County, Patterson found fertile land for crops, timber to build a home, adequate game for his table, and friendly natives, with the exception of traveling bands of Cherokee. Cabarrus County has a rich history beginning with the first gold discovered in the United States. Today, it is home to NASCAR's Charlotte Motor Speedway complex; a first-class shopping mall, Concord Mills; an impressive convention center; and a world leader in biotechnological research with the opening of the North Carolina Research Campus, located in downtown Kannapolis.

When state legislator Stephen Cabarrus sought a compromise between quarreling Scotch-Irish and German settlers over the location of Cabarrus County's seat, his appeal led to a "concord" that gave birth to one of North Carolina's most charming cities. Not long after its 1796 founding, Concord began a transformation from an agricultural community into a textile-manufacturing mecca as captains of industry built empires exploiting the cotton that so abundantly sprouted from the region's fruitful soil. By the advent of the 1900s, textiles' prosperity encouraged an architectural renaissance within Concord's downtown, where the stately buildings, churches, and residences still stand today. While the cotton mills that made Concord famous are no more, the city has transitioned into a fast-paced motorsports center and the home of North Carolina's most popular tourist destination, Concord Mills shopping mall.

From the 1890s through the 1920s, the postcard was an extraordinarily popular means of communication, and many of the postcards produced during this "golden age" can today be considered works of art. Postcard photographers traveled the length and breadth of the nation snapping photographs of busy street scenes, documenting local landmarks, and assembling crowds of local children only too happy to pose for a picture. These images, printed as postcards and sold in general stores across the country, survive as telling reminders of an important era in America's history. This fascinating new history of New Jersey's Somerset County showcases more than two hundred of the best vintage postcards available.

From the 1890s through the 1920s, the postcard was an extraordinarily popular means of communication, and many of the postcards produced during this agolden agea can today be considered works of art. Postcard photographers traveled the length and breadth of the nation snapping photographs of busy street scenes, documenting local landmarks, and assembling crowds of local children only too happy to pose for a picture. These images, printed as postcards and sold in general stores across the country, survive as telling reminders of an important era in Americaas history. This fascinating new history of West Central Georgia showcases more than two hundred of the best vintage postcards available.