Place:Union Grove (township), Iredell, North Carolina, United States

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NameUnion Grove (township)
Alt namesUnion Grove Township
Union Grovesource: WeRelate abbreviation
TypeTownship
Coordinates36.024°N 80.866°W
Located inIredell, North Carolina, United States


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Union Grove Township is a rural, non-functioning county subdivision established in 1868 in Iredell County, North Carolina, United States. Two towns have existed in Union Grove township: 1) the unincorporated community Union Grove, established in 1857 and 2) the former town of Williamsburg established in 1812. The Union Grove Post Office was established in 1857. In 2019, within the unincorporated town of Union Grove is the Union Grove Milling Company, Union Grove School (formerly Union Grove elementary through high school), Union Grove Volunteer Fire House, and two Methodist churches. In the later half of the 20th century, Union Grove was famous for the Fiddler's Convention which was held in Union Grove from the 1920s to 1970s. The Fiddler's Convention was originally established to benefit the Union Grove school.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The area that is now Union Grove Township was a favorite spot with the Indians before early settlers. Many Indian artifacts have been found in the area, especially a site near Jennings mill known as Indian Hill.[1]

Several mills were built on the Hunting Creek in the south and Rocky Creek in the north, the two main streams in Union Grove Township. The mills were used as both a grist mill and saw mill. Mills in the area included the following:[1]

  • Campbell Mill on Rocky Creek built by Perciphull Campbell in 1820, see also Perciphull Campbell House, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
  • Old Brothers Mill built before 1848, later the site of the Weisner mill;
  • Diffy Mill built before 1848, later the site of the Robertson mill.
  • Rev. Quentin Holten Mill built about 1850. Jennings mill was built on the site of the Holten mill. This mill, originally built by Sandy Hall and Sampson Ball, included a corn grist mill first, and later a sash mill was added.
  • About 1880, John R. Huey built a mill several miles down Rocky Creek from the Jennings mill to grind wheat and corn, as well to saw lumber.
  • Union Grove mill, an electric-powered mill in Union Grove built in the 1900s


Severe flooding in the area in 1848 left only three mills in operation in North Iredell County, the Campbell mill on Rocky Creek, the Jennings mill, and the Diffy mill.[1]

The community churches grew up around the mills, two towns, and concentration of inhabitants. The following churches are within Union Grove township:[1][2][3]

  • Barker's Grove Baptist Church
  • Cavalry Baptist Church
  • Friendship Baptist Church
  • Grassy Knob Baptist Church, founded in 1794, within New Hope Township, Union Grove Post Office
  • Macedonia United Methodist Church, in Williamsburg in 1829
  • Moss Chapel was named after Rev. William Moss, who died in 1826. Rev. Moss was a Circuit Riding Methodist preacher from Brunswick County, Virginia, founded in 1799
  • New Friendship Church, Baptist, founded in 1896
  • Smith Chapel
  • Sweet Home Baptist Church, founded in 1886, located nearby in Osborneville in Wilkes County
  • Union Grove Christian Church
  • Union Grove United Methodist, founded on September 23, 1846, Tradition says that Union Grove referred to the church meeting place in the grove where the church members met.
  • Wesley Chapel, formerly Bush Hill Methodist Church, founded on August 8, 1868
  • Winthrop Friends Meeting, Quaker, established in the 1870s
  • Zion Baptist Church, founded on June 4, 1825, organized in the Douthit School House, which stood within 75 feet of the present Zion Church building—just north of the Campbell Mill site on Rocky Creek. The Douthit School, established in the 1830s in a log cabin, was a subscription school.


The earliest known store in the area was operated on the John Howard farm, two miles north of Union Grove, by Jacob Fraley. Prior to the Civil War, Mr Fraley moved his store to Union Grove. Jesse E. Fraley and John A. Fraley operated a store in Union Grove around 1844. Jacob Fraley was Postmaster of the Union Grove Post Office on December 21, 1857.

By the requirements of the North Carolina Constitution of 1868, the county was divided into townships. Previous to that time, the subdivisions were Captain's Districts. While the Captain's Districts referred primarily to the militia, it served also for the election precinct, the tax listing and tax collecting district. Union Grove Township was named after the Union Grove postoffice in the center of that township. Union Grove Township has been used since 1870 as a census district.[4]

The longest operating commercial activity in the area is the Jenning store, which is located one and one-half miles south of Union Grove. This store was originally operated by Rev. Quentin Holton about 1850. In 1886, Mr. John Myers and the Rev. T.L. Jennings founded a mercantile business on this site. Rev. Jennings son, J.T. Jennings, purchased the store from his father.[1]

In the later 1800s or early 1900s, Union Grove citizens founded the Union Grove School. The earliest records show that in 1905 the average attendance was 50. There was only one teacher and the salary for one month was thirty dollars. The first schoolhouse was a one-room frame building. For the first time, the Union Grove school opened on September 14, 1925 with 67 high school students. The high school continued until 1966 when high schools in Iredell County where consolidated. The elementary and junior high students remained at Union Grove School, until 1991, when a consolidated middle school opened.[1][2][3]

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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Union Grove Township, North Carolina. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.