Gaston County’s 175^th Anniversary

 is December 21^st

 

Gaston County will be hosting a celebration of its 175^th anniversary on December 21, 2021, at the Rotary Pavilion in Gastonia at 4 pm. The ceremony will feature local speakers, winning poems from a poetry contest, and light refreshments afterward.

The kick-off for the 175^th Anniversary festivities began on December 5^th, when County staff marched in the City of Gastonia’s “Christmas in the City” parade and staffed a table near the marketplace to promote the anniversary.  Staff gave out promotional balloons, bags, ornaments, buttons, and stickers.  Flyers were distributed about how to participate in the poetry contest or contribute memories to an online site.  Many thanks to Mary Elliott and Christine Ingle from the City of Gastonia for helping to plan these two downtown events.

Emily, Dandria, and Josh with the parade banner at Christmas in the City

The deadline for the poetry contest has passed, but the online site on Biblioboard is still available to post memories, stories, historical information, or photographs:  https://gastoncounty.librariesshare.com/gastonanniversary/. 

To see what has already been posted to the Anniversary site or to see the Gaston County Public Library’s Digital History Collection, go to: https://library.biblioboard.com/module/gaston-county-community-collections .

To find out more about the early history of Gaston County and how it was formed, listen to “Gaston County:  Back to the Beginning” episode on Gaston County’s Savvy Citizen Podcast.  In this episode, Adam Gaub interviews local genealogist, historian, and retired educator Robert Carpenter: https://www.gastongov.com/government/departments/public_information/podcasts.php

-Submitted by Jane Kaylor, Librarian Supervisor, Local History and Genealogy