Following my last Tidbits with respect to our original builders, Beverly Miller on Lazy Branch wrote to add her builder to the list. John Harold Nance built their home. Thanks Beverly.
Below I’m addressing our street names. Much of this information came from Henry Newson who planned, sold and developed Providence Plantation. Henry spoke to our Women’s Club just after Hurricane Hugo hit Charlotte and many of our properties in 1989. I remember this because he damaged his car hitting some of the debris piled along our streets. Henry stated that it was quite difficult to come up with available names which met the city/county guidelines. The land itself gave them ideas.
Anvil: It’s a tool so perhaps they found an anvil when surveying the street.
Beaucatcher Lane: Maybe because it is a hill and was named after Beaucatcher Mountain in Ashville, NC.
Bee Tree Circle: This is my street and Henry Newsom told us at our Women’s Club meeting that they had to deal tree housing a huge bee hive.
Briarberry, Cherry Tree and Bittersweet: These are the first 3 streets off High Ridge and are a shrub, tree or plant. Did they find each on the streets or simply follow a theme?
Brushy Lane: When the neighborhood was developed there were few trees. It had been farmland. I’m assuming this street was covered with brush.
Buckeye Lane: A buckeye tree on the property?
High Ridge Road: Henry Newson told us the ridge on High Ridge is the highest point in Providence Plantation.
Indian Rock Road: They found Indian arrow heads and huge rocks in this area.
Kuykendall Road: Named for a local family.
Lazy Branch Road: Henry Newson said the branch was lazy.
Little Cove Road: Was there a “little cove or tree?”
Millstone Lane: Probably found a millstone.
Moss Spring Road: Maybe there was moss around a natural spring.
Old Barn Road: An old barn on the property?
Poplar Hill Road: A popular tree?
Providence Branch, Canyon, Creek, Crest, Glen, Grove, Manor, Pine, Plantation, Spring, Trail, and View: They were running out of names!
Grimmersborough Lane: They ran out of names. (Harry Grimmer was the developer at this time.)
Providence Plantation Lane: I told Harry Grimmer this one would not fit on the envelope. In fact Providence Plantation South was merged into Providence Plantation because our MLS service had limited space and the name was too long.
Silver Fox Road: This one was named Red Fox Trail until they found they were unable to use the name because there is a Red Fox Trail near Southpark. They changed the name to Silver Fox.
Simmon Tree Road: A simmon tree was found on the property.
Tulip Hill Drive: A tulip tree on the property.
Valentine Lane: I would love to know how they arrived at this name.
Woodchuck Road: A woodchuck spotted on the property maybe.
Missing from the above list are streets which were developed later and other methods were used for the street names. If you have information to correct or add please let me know and I will add in the next issue.
Joye Baucom, Historian
704 564 2643
jbaucom@cottinghamchalk.com