Lake Norman is a beautiful lake just north of the City of Charlotte, but have you ever wondered what lies just beneath its waters? You may be shocked to know that the remains of a summer camp that opened in the 1930s and the site of the Battle of Cowan’s Ford, where General William Lee Davidson fought Lord Cornwallis in 1781, are at the bottom. Reportedly, many graves were moved when the lake was constructed, but some were allegedly left.
There are old plantations, highways, homesites, an airplane, and even the Long Island Mill, one of the earliest cotton mills in the American South, and the East Monbo cotton mills and Mill Villages are also submerged. Around 120 people worked in the two mills.
The Long Island Mill opened in the mid-1800s, owned by Superior Yarn Mills, and closed in the 1950s to make way for Lake Norman.
The lake even has a local legend attached to it. Her name is “Normie,” the Lake Norman Monster, and she reportedly lurks in the depths of the lake.
Written By John G. Clark Jr.