Few of us living today know about the town
that used to be Mountain Island, NC. Formerly located on a
peninsula created by the Catawba River in the northeast portion of
Gaston County bordering Mecklenburg County; this was the
location for the fist cotton mill constructed in Gaston County and
the beginning of an industrial era that has lasted more than 150
years. The mill operated from sunup until sundown and employed
people of any age. The wages were extremely attractive in
comparison to working on a farm; men earned 25 to 45 cents per day,
women 25 – 40 cents per day and children 5 to 25 cents per day. A
village sprung up around the mill and prospered until the great
flood of 1916, which demolished it. From July 8th until 10th of
that year, North Carolina was soaked with rain from a Gulf
Hurricane that swept through the Blue Ridge Mountains, followed 3
days later by an Atlantic hurricane that came up through
Charleston. The Catawba River crested at 47 feet above flood
level.Every bridge on the Catawba River, both rail and highway,
washed away except for one railroad bridge near Marion.
Today, the Mountain Island dam stands in the
exact location of the former mill. The dam was built and came on
line in December 1923, and provides 60 megawatts of power to the
surrounding area.
The lake that was formed behind the dam covers
3,281 acres with 61 miles of shoreline. The lake is used for
recreation but, also provides drinking water for Gaston &
Mecklenburg Counties.
Post card circa 1940's showing Duke Power's Mountain Island dam and
village with Mountain Island in upper right corner.
As I surveyed the trail and area for
prospective hiding spots, I found some remnants of days gone by –
when you arrive at the 4th leg of the journey, you will
be standing in a brick debris field. I can only assume that this
was some structure of the former town. I couldn’t find anything
else that indicated what used to be here, maybe you will.
This is your typical multi-cache – nothing
fancy. Each destination will provide the coords for the next. All
waypoints are no more than ~ 50ft from the trail – so there’s no
need for deep bushwhacking. There are a total of 5 waypoints and
you should plan on at least 1.5 hours to complete it; when you
reach the last location, you will have walked ~1.5 miles, and then
you still need to walk back out. Although, the main trail is graded
and graveled, all but one of my hides are on the secondary trail;
which is a rougher terrain and more of a “foot path” cut through
the thicket. For this reason and the length of the trek, I don’t
recommend this cache for small children.
Enjoy the trail and the hunt.
Addition information about this history of
this area can found at the following web addresses:
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Island_Lake
Personal ancestry web-page
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/1174/gastonhistory.html
And by visiting the Schiele Museum in
Gastonia, or the Gaston County Museum in Dallas.
Please follow the: 
