Between two lakes
Mountain Island Lake
Mountain Island is the smallest and least discussed of the three reservoirs on Mecklenburg’s western edge, and by some distance the most important. More than a million people drink out of it.
A name older than the lake
Start with something this article cannot tell you. The popular explanations of the name — that the lake was named for a small island within it, or for a rise that stayed above the waterline when the valley flooded — are both chronologically impossible. “Mountain Island” was attached to this stretch of the Catawba by 1848, some seventy-five years before there was a lake. The lake took its name from the place, not the reverse. The name almost certainly comes from a feature in the river itself, but no authoritative source documents it, so the honest answer is that the origin is unresolved.
The mill of 1848
The Mountain Island Mill was founded in 1848 by Thomas R. Tate and Henry Humphreys, who owned the Mount Hecla steam mill near Greensboro and moved to the Catawba for cheaper water power. Operations began in 1849 once the machinery had been hauled across the state. A village of brick houses grew up around it. Some accounts call it Gaston County’s first cotton mill, though the sources hedge, so it is fairer to say it was among the first.
The flood of 1916
On July 15, 1916 the mill and its village were destroyed. The cause was two hurricanes in succession: one came ashore at Mobile, the second moved inland from the Atlantic on July 14, and between them they dropped more than nineteen inches of rain on the Catawba valley in twenty-four hours. Duke Energy records that the river rose forty-seven feet above flood level. More than eighty people died across the region. Nine railroad lines were destroyed. Property losses ran to about $22 million in the money of the day.
The state highway marker at Belmont records ten railroad workers drowned in a trestle washout a mile south on July 16. Southern Power’s own hydro system was wrecked: one station destroyed, the powerhouse at Rocky Creek collapsed. The engineering answer to that disaster is the thing most people now think of as scenery. Construction began at Bridgewater in August 1916, and by 1940 the company had built ten dams on the river.
The dam
Duke Power contracted Rinehart and Dennis in 1920 to build a hydroelectric dam on the site; some accounts date the start of construction to 1921. It was built by Catawba Manufacturing and Electric Power Company, a Southern Power subsidiary, to feed textile mills, and the station went into service in 1923. Duke marked its centenary in 2023.
The dam stands roughly a hundred feet tall near Mount Holly and carries four turbines. Duke gives the capacity as 68 megawatts; other reporting says up to 65. Before 2005 the station was staffed by fifteen people around the clock; it now runs with two, controlled remotely from Charlotte. Mountain Island was the eighth of eleven reservoirs in the Catawba-Wateree chain, forty years ahead of Lake Norman upstream.
The water supply
The lake covers about 3,281 acres at a full pond of roughly 647.5 feet, on the Gaston and Mecklenburg county line northwest of Charlotte. It is the smallest of the three man-made lakes bordering Mecklenburg, between Lake Norman above and Lake Wylie below.
It is also the primary drinking water source for more than a million people in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, Gastonia and Mount Holly. Duke Energy calls it one of the most important lakes in North Carolina from a public water supply standpoint. Published shoreline figures vary widely by measurement method — 61, 89 and 96.5 miles all appear in reputable sources — which is a reminder that even basic numbers about these reservoirs deserve a second look.
Latta and the raptors
On the Mecklenburg shore sits Latta Nature Preserve, county-owned land around Latta Place, a Federal-style house built about 1800 and added to the National Register on March 16, 1972. The historic house site closed in 2021 amid controversy over a planned event and has been under county renovation since; its operating status has changed more than once, so check before driving out. The nature preserve itself and the Carolina Raptor Center stayed open.
The Raptor Center began in 1975 with an injured broad-winged hawk brought to UNC Charlotte, was incorporated in 1981 and moved to the preserve in 1984. Its raptor trail draws more than 35,000 visitors a year. The same nature center keeps the bird checklists for Cowan’s Ford Wildlife Refuge, six miles north.
Mountain Island on the record
The smallest of the three lakes on Mecklenburg’s border does the most work: it is where more than a million people’s drinking water comes from.
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Mill founded | 1848, by Thomas R. Tate and Henry Humphreys, who moved their machinery from a steam mill near Greensboro; operating from 1849 |
| Mill and village destroyed | July 15, 1916, in the flood that followed two hurricanes and put more than 19 inches of rain on the Catawba valley in a day |
| Dam contracted | 1920, to Rinehart and Dennis; construction is reported from 1921 |
| Station in service | 1923. Duke marked the centenary in 2023 |
| Units and capacity | Four units; 68 megawatts on Duke’s own figure, about 65 on another |
| Lake surface | 3,281 acres, at a full pond near 647.5 feet above sea level |
| Shoreline | Given variously as 61, 89 and 96.5 miles, depending on who measured and how |
| Drinking water | The primary supply for more than a million people in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, Gastonia and Mount Holly |
| The name | Unresolved. “Mountain Island” was in use by 1848, three quarters of a century before the lake existed, so the lake was named for the place and not the other way round |
The 1916 flood is the hinge of this whole river’s history. More than eighty people died, nine railroad lines were destroyed and one of Southern Power’s hydro stations was wrecked outright. The rebuilding program that followed is what produced the modern chain of Catawba reservoirs — ten dams by 1940, and Cowan’s Ford two decades after that.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it called Mountain Island?
Unresolved. The name was in use by 1848, decades before the lake existed, so the common explanations that credit the lake are impossible. It almost certainly refers to a feature in the river, but no authoritative source documents it.
When was Mountain Island Lake created?
The dam was completed and the hydroelectric station went into service in 1923. Some sources date the lake itself to 1924, which is consistent with the pond filling after the station came online.
Where does Charlotte get its drinking water?
Principally from Mountain Island Lake, which supplies more than a million people in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, Gastonia and Mount Holly.
What happened to the Mountain Island Mill?
It was destroyed on July 15, 1916 by flooding from two successive hurricanes that dropped more than nineteen inches of rain on the Catawba valley in a day.
How big is Mountain Island Lake?
About 3,281 acres, with a full pond around 647.5 feet. It is the smallest of the three reservoirs bordering Mecklenburg County.
Sources for this article
Families on the Gaston and Mecklenburg line
The lake is the county line here, and which side of it you live on decides where a custody or divorce case is heard. Adkins Law practices in both.
Adkins Law, PLLC · 9620 Sherrill Estates Road, Huntersville, NC 28078
Keep reading
This article is local history, offered for general interest. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. Historical accounts are drawn from the sources listed above; where sources disagree, that is noted in the text. For advice about your own situation, speak with a licensed North Carolina attorney.