HEARTS in the News
Town of Huntersville releases collaborative video commemorating its 150th Anniversary
July 18, 2023
“This was the backcountry and mills were the key to development. No more than every four or 5 miles you’d find a mill. It was very sparsely populated and all of those plantation families grew up together, socialized together… Learning the Torrance family history opened my eyes too many of the other histories in our area - The Alexanders, the Davidsons, the Lattas, the Gastons, and the Grahams.” says Abigail Jennings
— Town of Huntersville, NC
HEARTS Collaborative founder lands top award from leading preservation group
October 20, 2023
“Abigail Jennings received the Best All Around Preserver Award at the Golden Night of Preservation at the Duke Mansion in Charlotte this week. The CEO of Lake Norman Realty has been an advocate of historic preservation and served on the Historic Preservation Commission in Cornelius before it was transitioned to a committee. She was active behind the scenes in efforts to preserve the Tenant House on the site of the former Alexander Farm where are large mixed-use project called Alexander Farms is under construction. Abigail and her husband Randolph Lewis restored the former Mt. Zion United Methodist Church parsonage just south of downtown Cornelius as their residence. The couple is also restoring a 170-year-old farmhouse on Bud Henderson Road in Huntersville. They recently joined with Torrance Banks, the seventh-generation owner of the Cedar Grove mansion on Gilead Road, with a mission to preserve and share the site with everyone. Regular programs, which are free to attend focus on local history, nature and our shared sense of place.”
— Cornelius Today Newsroom
Work to Begin Soon on Tenant House
January 26, 2023
“We finally received an approval from Lidl on the location of the Tenant House ” said McInerny “so we can start the foundation and finally get the house off the dollies asap.” He estimates that the Tenant House should be on its new foundation in the next 60 days.
The Alexander Farm tenant house was moved to the corner of Westmoreland and West Catawba last summer.
The historic structure was jacked up, placed on a trailer and towed away from its original site at W. Catawba adjacent to the Harborside townhomes.
The tenant structure is significant because so few are left in a once-agricultural county where sharecropping was commonplace.
Win Development is responsible for the restoration of the dwelling. “The sole responsibility for restoring the house rests with them,” said Dan Morrill, of Preserve Mecklenburg Inc., the organization largely responsible for saving the structure.
— Cornelius Today Newsroom
The Alexander Farm Tenant house in Cornelius is on the move
August 19, 2022
“The tenant house on Alexander Farm was making its way to the corner of Westmoreland and W. Catawba Thursday afternoon. The historic structure was jacked up and towed across a field to its new site.
The tenant structure is significant because so few are left in a once-agricultural county where sharecropping was commonplace. Historian Dan Morrill of Preserve Mecklenburg was on the scene much of the afternoon.“
— Cornelius Today Newsroom
It’s official: Potts Barber Shop is an Historic Landmark
February 28, 2022
“The storefront was constructed by the Stough-Cornelius Co., whose original shareholders included town R.J. Stough and town namesake J.B. Cornelius.
Aside from its association with the founding of the town, the former Stough-Cornelius Building also was the headquarters of the Cornelius Electric Membership Corp., an electric cooperative formed in 1940 through the federal government’s Rural Electric Administration.
Wilson Potts helped bring about integration to Cornelius.”
— Cornelius Today Newsroom
Cornelius couple envisions new life for Cedar Grove mansion
February 12, 2021
“Built of brick made on the Cedar Grove plantation by James Torrence—over the course of 250 years, the family name changes from Torance, to Torrence, to Torrance—the Greek Revival mansion is adjacent to the Hugh Torance House and Store.
Both sit on property purchased by James’ father Hugh Torance in 1779.”
— Cornelius Today Newsroom