The Tram between Boger City and High Shoals

This is a story from David C. Heavner who was a local historian. He wrote this July 22, 2003.
In the early 1800’s the iron makers were having quite a bit of difficulty getting their products to market. David Smith knew of this problem. He and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of John Gottfried Arndt were closely associated with many of these iron makers. David purchased a tract of land near the furnaces. The furnaces were located in the eastern part of Lincoln County, North Carolina. After buying the land, he left for Virginia. Arriving there, he spent nearly a year studying the various types of homes. He chose one of these and returned to North Carolina. Arriving home he started building his new house.

A part of his work force was making bricks. Another group was laying the bricks and another was responsible for carpentry. The house was divided into three parts. There was the basement, the first floor and the second floor. There was a stairway connecting all three floors. In all aspects it was a true southern plantation home!

After the home was finished, it was time to put the plantation in order. All southern plantation homes need a name! David turned to Andre Micheaux. He was the botanist sent to America by the King of France to study the flora of this new part of the world. In a small corner of Lincoln County he discovered a new species of tree. He named it Magnolia. It had all the aspects of the regular tree except the leaves. They could easily grow two or three feet in length. Another oddity was they only grew in small areas of North Carolina. David had found a name! “Magnolia Grove”, for the long leaf trees that grew on the property.

Now that he had built a home, established a plantation and found a name for it, it was time to help his neighbors-the iron makers. He would do this by helping them expand their market. To broaden the market they needed an operating tram! To accomplish this he would need land and a route through it. He established a starting place-Boger City-and a delivery place-High Shoals! To enable him to do this, he purchased and leased land between the two points. David plotted a route that would follow a tree line north from High Shoals to a point where he could turn west and proceed on to Boger City. This was to be the end of the line. The route went west through what is the Country Club golf course today. The next step was to cut and level a bed that would allow the laying of crossties and rail with a smooth path beside them. The path would provide footing for the horses that pulled the tram carts holding the iron ware.

The only fault was the railroad to Lincolnton came in 1864 putting an end to the tram.