History

The history of Belmont is laced with religion, textiles and trains. But the Catawba got things rolling. The first settlers in the 1750s established a fort overlooking the Catawba at its convergence with the South Fork. One of Gaston County’s first textile mills operated there before the Civil War.

Belmont took off shortly after the war with the coming of a new train line linking Atlanta and Richmond, the founding of Belmont Abbey and a school (the future Belmont Abbey College) and the creation of Belmont’s future town center, called Garibaldi Station.

Stowes did much to shape Belmont. Jasper Stowe helped build that first textile mill in 1853. Abram Stowe came back to the area after the war and opened a store near the future train depot. R.L. and Samuel Stowe, along with Abel Lineberger, launched the town’s first big cotton mill in 1901. By 1930 Belmont had 20 mills and nearly 4,000 residents.

The Catawba helped power that industrial explosion. The Catawba Power Company built a dam and hydroelectric power plant near Fort Mill, S.C., in 1904. Lake Catawba (renamed Lake Wylie in 1960), was later enlarged to cover 325 miles of shore including the arms of the Catawba and South Fork rivers surrounding Belmont.

Relationship to the river

Belmont has extensive riverfront along the Catawba and South Fork rivers and has adopted a strong focus on water protection. The city’s stormwater management department is charged with protecting stream and lake water quality, enforcing ordinances to protect the water and increasing public awareness of stormwater issues and pollution prevention.

Vision for the future

Belmont will lead the region in Quality of life, maintaining the balance between growth and its sense of community.

The only city in the Charlotte metropolitan region located entirely on a peninsula, Belmont possesses unique environmental, historical and economic assets.  Belmont is committed to protecting the natural environment through sustainable development requirements and environmentally friendly operations. The City has signed on to the NC League of Municipalities Green Challenge.

Belmont has adopted a New Urbanist zoning ordinance that seeks to make efficient use of land and to mix land uses. Belmont wants its residents to be within walking, bicycling, or a short drive of places to work, shop, and play. Streets need to accommodate bicycles as well as automobiles, and must be bordered by sidewalks and trees.

Belmont Arbor Day in Stowe Park, above; historic downtown Belmont, right; mt. biking at the U.S, National Whitewater Center, below; downtown Mount Holly, bottom