Located just west of Charlotte across the Catawba River, Belmont and Mount Holly offer quiet living in historic Old South towns. Belmont, home of Belmont Abbey College and the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens, was established in the 1870s around several cotton mills. Belmont planners anticipated the area's growth and in 1994 developed a strategic plan that includes the renovation and revitalization of the downtown area, adopted a new code that discourages suburban sprawl, adopted a tree protection ordinance, and began development of a National Register historic district. Mt. Holly, an older textile town, dates back to 1801. Like Belmont, it has tree-lined downtown streets. The current revitalization in downtown Gastonia, to the west of these towns, may accelerate home development there. Already planners estimate that new Gaston County homes and businesses are consuming more than 3,000 acres of undeveloped land each year. County population: 180,000.Textile production and trucking drives the county economy. Attractions include the C. Grier Beam Truck Museum in Cherryville, the Gaston County Museum of Art and History and the Schiele Museum of Natural History. County population: 194,000. Median household income: $42,400. Per capita income: $21,100. Single-family homes average $144,000; condos and townhomes, $106,000.

Community Links:

• Gaston County Profile
• Gaston County Answerbook
• Gaston County Government Web
• Gaston Chamber of Commerce
• Gaston County Economic Development Commission

Education Links:

• Gaston County Schools
• Gaston County Schools listed by the Gazette. Gives information and links to public, private and charter schools in Gaston County.
• Gaston College
• North Carolina Center for Applied Textile Technology

Government Links:

• Belmont
• Bessemer City
• Cherryville
• Gastonia
• Kings Mountain
• McAdenville
• Mount Holly