On September 28, 1959, Southern Power Company—now Duke Energy—broke ground on the Cowan’s Ford Dam on the Catawba River. The dam was the starting point for creating what is now Lake Norman in Catawba, Iredell, Lincoln and Mecklenburg Counties.
The company’s plans for the area actually had their origins in the late 1800s, when the company began buying land around the Catawba River, but it continued to allow people to live on the property for many years.
On September 27, 1903, arguably the most famous train wreck in U.S. history, the wreck of the old 97, occurred in Danville, Va. The mail train was in route to Spencer in Rowan County.
Late leaving and under company orders to get back on schedule, engineer Joseph A., “Steve” Broady had the steam engine rolling at about 90 miles an hour, way too fast for safety.
On September 27, 1718, Colonel William Rhett captured the so-called “Gentleman Pirate” Stede Bonnet, after a six-hour battle near the mouth of the Cape Fear River.
On September 26, 1829, Governor Gabriel Holmes died suddenly while serving a term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Born in Duplin County in 1769, Holmes studied law and later practiced in Sampson County. He served in both houses of the General Assembly, was appointed to the Council of State and served as a trustee of the University of North Carolina before being elected governor in 1821.
On September 26, 1911, Forsyth County native Adelaide Fries was appointed Archivist of the Southern Province of the Moravian Church.