Concord, North Carolina, or the City of Concord, is located in Cabarrus County

William Douglas is proud to offer HOA Management and Association Management services in Concord, NC.

William Douglas Property Management knows Concord as a rapidly growing suburb of Charlotte with wide-ranging appeal to residents of all types: from Charlotte Motor Speedway to Concord Mills Outlet Mall, Concord is often front and center in the greater Charlotte metro area.

With a perfect balance of sporting, shopping, and recreational options, Concord draws a variety of residents. If you are looking for HOA management, William Douglas Property Management has decades of experience working with homeowners associations that serve single family homes, townhouse communities, and condominiums. Or experience, combined with our in-depth knowledge of Concord, gives us a clear advantage over other firms.

The area that is now Cabarrus County was once part of Mecklenburg County. Cabarrus County was established in 1792 and named after Stephen Cabarrus. Stephen Cabarrus was the speaker of the North Carolina House of Commons.   

There is no written record of the first known inhabitants of Cabarrus County; however, there have been Indian artifacts found. It is presumed these artifacts are from the Catawba Indians because of their prominence in Mecklenburg County. There is documented record of the Catawba Indians in Charlotte and York County, South Carolina, as far back as the 17^th century. 

The Catawba River basin is thought to have been home to the Catawba Indians for at least the last 6,000 years. It is believed that in 1540, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto was the first European to document his meeting with the Catawbas. The next being Spanish explorer Juan Pardo in 1567. 

Large numbers of European settlers began using the Great Wagon Road around 1750. The road turned into the main method early settlers used to migrate into the backcountry of the Carolinas and Georgia. The settlers during this time period were primary Scotch-Irish and German immigrants. These early settlers were primarily farmers. However, there were skilled tradesmen. Not per se an immigrant himself, Jacob B. Stirewalt’s (1777 – 1855) parents were early settlers to the Concord area, and he was one of the most skilled and successful tradesmen of the area. Not to be confused with the Reverend Jacob Stirewalt (1805 – 1869) of roughly the same period and geographic region. Jacob B. Stirewalt’s parents were German immigrants, and his father Johannes John Steigerwaldt passed on his woodworking skills to his son Jacob. Jacob was also an industrious businessman. Besides being a skilled cabinet maker, he personally built a grist mill, a sawmill, a woolen mill, and a cotton gin. On top of these enterprises, Jacob was a farmer who ran a general store and post office.      

In 1821, on a slight hill overlooking a creek, Jacob Stirewalt built his home, “Mill Hill.” This creek is where he built his mills. Mill Hill’s architectural style is a combination of Federal and Greek Revival. This home is one of the earliest examples of the Greek Revival in the south. The home and mills left the Stirewalt family’s hands sometime in the late 1800s. However, in 1938, a descendent of Jacob Stirewalt purchased and restored the home. The mills are now gone, and Mill Hill is the only remaining original structure on the property. Mill Hill is still a private residence and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Leading up to and during the American Revolution (1775 – 1783), much of the southern Piedmont region of North Carolina was a tinderbox of anti-England and anti-King George III feelings. Before Concord was founded and before Cabarrus County was formed, the area was part of Mecklenburg County. The commanding general of British forces in the south, Lord Charles Cornwallis, was unable to quell these anti-loyalists’ sentiments. In what would later be called the Battle of Charlotte, Cornwallis’ British troops had an engagement with 160 patriot militiamen on September 26, 1780, at what is now known as Trade and Tryon Streets. On his departure from Charlotte, legend has Cornwallis saying: “Let’s get out of here; this place is a damned hornet’s nest.” Thus, the origin of a popular area moniker today, “The Hornet’s Nest.” While there were no Revolutionary battles fought within the future Cabarrus County, there were many Patriots within the future county who took up arms against the British.      

In a prelude to the American Revolution, a civil uprising called the “Regulator Insurrection” happened in North Carolina. The Regulator Insurrection (1766 – 1771) was primarily isolated to the Piedmont region or Backcountry of North Carolina, where the population had drastically increased since 1750 with European immigrants who many had become upset with colonial rule.     

During this uprising on May 9, 1771, a group of nine young men from Rowan and the future Cabarrus counties took part in an ambush of a North Carolina colonial military resupply convoy. The resupply convoy was on its way to resupply North Carolina militia General Hugh Waddell. Waddell had been forced to retreat to Salisbury because of his engagement with a numerically superior force of Regulators while his force was on the march to Hillsborough.  

Waddell’s resupply convoy was attacked by a small group of Regulators disguised as Indians. The convoy’s wagons contained various supplies, but most importantly, gunpowder to replenish Waddell’s militia troops. The ambush resulted in the burning of two wagons full of gunpowder and the destruction of other needed supplies. Legend has it that the young men who participated in the ambush either blackened their skin in attempts to look like Indians, or their skin was blackened by the gunpowder that was emptied from the wagons. These young men were eventually referred to with the moniker “The Black Boys of Cabarrus.” 

Cabarrus County’s population in the 1800 US Census was 5,094. The population in Cabarrus County’s 2010 Census was 178,011. The US Census estimate for 2019 was 221,479. Concord’s population was 

878 in the 1850 US Census. The 2010 US Census has 79,066 people living in Concord. Concord’s population was estimated in 2019 at 96,341. 

The economic base for the Concord area when the first settlers arrived in the 1700s was agriculture. The overwhelming majority of these early farmers were subsistence farmers. This primary agricultural economic base continued into the mid-1800s, almost unchallenged. Cotton cultivation was the leading cash crop, followed by tobacco. Cash crops being crops cultivated purely to sell. 

Prominent Concord Businessmen and Businesses

James William Cannon (1852 – 1921) founded Cannon Mills or what would become Cannon Mills in 1887 in Concord. Cannon would eventually become one of the largest employers in Concord. JW Cannon originally came to Concord in 1868 and became a clerk in a general store. By 1871 he was a partner in the general store and a cotton buyer. JW Cannon opened his first cotton mill in 1887, and this mill was in operation until 2001. In the year of JW Cannon’s death (1921), Cannon Mills had over 15,000 employees in twelve mills. Annual sales were in excess of $40 million in that year. At the time of his death, the former general store clerk James W. Cannon was known as a captain of industry. 

Warren Clay Coleman (1849 – 1904) was the founder of Coleman Manufacturing Company in Concord in 1897. Coleman Manufacturing was the country’s first textile mill owned and operated by African Americans. From humble beginnings, Coleman, born to a mother who was a slave, was the wealthiest African American in North Carolina in the 1890s. He started his fortune by collecting rags and junk in 1871. He followed that success with a combination candy store and barbershop in Concord. His next endeavors were multiple retail stores and real estate.

William Robert Odell (1855 – 1938) was a leading businessman, politician, and educator. Odell graduated from Concord High School and graduated from Trinity College (now known as Duke University) in 1875. Odell entered the cotton mill business, J.M. Odell Manufacturing, with his father in Concord in 1877. By 1888, J. M. Odell Manufacturing was the principal plaid mill in the south. Odell was involved with the founding of Cannon Manufacturing Company, Magnolia Mills, and Kerr Bag Manufacturing, textile mills all located in Concord. While involved in textiles his entire life, Odell was politically active and was elected to the North Carolina State Senate in 1905. Today, Odell is remembered as an influential proponent of improving and expanding the North Carolina public school system, which he accomplished while serving in the senate. 

Charles “Mr. Charlie” Albert Cannon (1892 – 1971) was James William Cannon’s youngest son. He became president Cannon Mills Company in 1921 with the death of his father. In 1928, he consolidated all nine textile mills into the Cannon Mills Company. Charles Cannon’s management of Cannon Mills Company is credited with the company surviving the Great Depression and the company’s massive success during his tenure.

History of Concord in the 20^th Century

As agriculture cultivation declined in the first part of the 20^th century, textile manufacturing began to decline in the 1970s. Textile manufacturers were finding it difficult to compete with less expensive imported textile products. Foreign-made textiles soon began to dominate domestic textile production in the 1980s and 1990s. One factor that hastened the decline of domestic textile production was the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA was the trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico that was ratified in 1993. The trend of declining textile employment and textile manufacturing was already happening by 1993; nevertheless, NAFTA exacerbated this trend.

Even with the deterioration of textile manufacturing in Concord and the surrounding area in the late 20^th century, the economy recovered quickly. Two factors attributed to this quick recovery: first, the diverse industrial economic base that has developed in Concord and Cabarrus County, and second, the close proximity to Charlotte. 

Local and state economic development has performed an excellent job in attracting a more diverse 

economic base. The largest employer is Atrium Health Cabarrus, with around 4,500 employees, with state and local employment accounting for close to 6,000 jobs. The largest five private enterprise employers in Concord all have under 1,000 employees. This smaller and more diverse business base has a much more stabilizing effect than what happened in 2003 with the Pillowtex (Cannon Mills successor company) bankruptcy. Pillowtex’s closing left around 4,000 people in the Concord area unemployed. Pillowtex was neighboring city Kannapolis’ largest employer and the largest employer in Cabarrus County. 

The second factor is the close proximity to Charlotte’s ever-expanding economy. Concord has become a bedroom community for Charlotte commuters. The school system and lower taxes are a huge attraction for these Charlotte workers who are willing to commute the 25 miles into Charlotte. This commute has been improved drastically because of the recent road infostructure improvements that have reduced traffic congestion. 

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