New development planned for High Shoals
The town of High Shoals celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and what was once a small mill village is expanding, with the addition of more than 100 homes in a new development.
The celebration
The town of High Shoals celebrated 50 years last weekend with a festival and fireworks.
The all day event, which took place Saturday, acknowledged the town's incorporation in 1973.
"It was basically a big deal then, to kind of come into its own instead of being just a mill village," said High Shoals Mayor P.J. Rathbone. "I'm just honored to live there. I'm honored to be the mayor, honored that some of the same folks that were there whenever it was incorporated in '73 actually still live there. Some of those folks have lived there their entire life."
Big changes
While High Shoals has always been small, with a population of 599, as of 2021, the town will see a significant population increase in the coming years.
A housing development of 104 homes will be built in the northeast portion of town near North Lincoln Street, Rathbone said. Construction on the 53-acre tract is expected to begin in March of 2024.
"We're looking forward to bringing some more folks into town and letting them share what the small town feeling feels like," Rathbone said.
High Shoals also recently received a state grant of around $900,000 that allowed the town to select 10 homeowners and update their houses. The Community Block Development Grant is intended to help revitalize the town, renovating homes at no cost to the homeowners, Rathbone said.
Work is expected to begin early next year.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: New development planned for High Shoals
