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Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
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Source:  First Gaston County Courthouse Marker, Dallas. Photo courtesy of Rusty Long

  • Monument Name

    First Gaston County Courthouse Marker, Dallas

  • Type

    Marker

  • Subjects

    Local History

  • City

    Dallas

  • County

    Gaston

  • Description

    The marker is a simple bronze plaque with black background set into an enormous granite boulder.

    Images: Inscription | Far-off view

  • Inscription

    FIRST GASTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE / ON THIS SQUARE WAS LOCATED THE COURTHOUSE OF GASTON COUNTY / FROM 1847 UNTIL THE COUNTY SEAT WAS MOVED TO GASTONIA IN 1911. THE / THE FIRST STRUCTURE BUILT OF LOGS, WAS REPLACED BY A BRICK BUILDING IN / 1848. THE INTERIOR OF THIS LATTER BUILDING, TOGETHER WITH MANY OF / THE PUBLIC RECORDS, WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 1874; BUT IT WAS / REBUILT WITHIN THE ORIGINAL WALLS IN 1875.

    GASTON COUNTY WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1846, AND COMPRISES LANDS / WHICH WERE FORMERLY A PART OF LINCOLN COUNTY. IT WAS NAMED FOR / JUDGE WILLIAM GASTON, OF NEW BERN, WHO WROTE THE OFFICIAL SONG / OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. THE TOWN OF DALLAS WAS NAMED / FOR GEORGE MIFFLIN DALLAS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1845-49.

    THE LAND ON WHICH THIS FORMER COUNTY SEAT WAS BUILT WAS / DONATED TO GASTON COUNTY BY JESSE HOLLAND. / MARKER ERECTED BY: DALLAS WOMAN’S CLUB – GASTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY / WILLIAM CHRONICLE AND WILLIAM GASTON CHAPTERS, / DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

  • Custodian

    Gaston County Museum of Art and History and the city of Dallas

  • Dedication Date

    March 29, 1957

  • Decade

    1950s

  • Geographic Coordinates

    35.315890 , -81.176300 View in Geobrowsemap pin

  • Supporting Sources

      "First Gaston County Courthouse," The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed April 1, 2016) Link

      Images of the Historic Gaston County Courthouse (Dallas, NC) from "Historic Architecture Research. Project Records (UA110.041)" in the "Built Heritage" digital collection, Special Collection Research Center at NCSU Libraries Link

      “Dallas Markers Dedicated,” The Gastonia Gazette (Gastonia, NC), March 30, 1957, 1, 8

      “Marker Unveiling 21 – Year Project,” The Gastonia Gazette (Gastonia, NC), March 28, 1957

  • Public Site

    Yes

  • Materials & Techniques

    Bronze, granite

  • Sponsors

    Dallas Women’s Club with assistance from the Gaston County Historical Society and the William Chronicle and William Gaston Chapters, D.A.R.

  • Monument Dedication and Unveiling

    William C. Friday, president of the University of North Carolina system and a native of Dallas was the featured speaker for the marker dedication ceremony. Friday paid tribute to “our way of living as a demonstration of our democracy at its best and a symbol of American justice and freedom at the community level.”

  • Subject Notes

    The Gastonia newspaper reported that it took 21 years to see this monument come to fruition. It seems the most significant reason for the delay was the sponsor’s inability to procure a large boulder for mounting the plaque.

  • Location

    The memorial marker is located in front of the historic Gaston County Courthouse on North Gaston Street in Dallas, NC. It stands just a few steps away from Gaston County Confederate Soldiers monument, Vietnam Memorial and a plaque to William Friday.

  • Landscape

    The memorial sits on the front lawn, surrounded by trees and bushes.

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