Lewisville, NC - It's like turning a page in a history book, but better. WFMY News 2's Tracey McCain was live in Lewisville Tuesday morning uncovering some of the town's history and it starts with Lewis Laugenhour.
Laugenhour is responsible for the majority of the town's development and growth in the late 1700's and early 1800's. The story goes, Laugenhour and his brothers struck it Rich in the California Gold Rush. But he liked the area so much, he came back to North Carolina and helped settle what is now known as Lewisville.
Laugenhour was a business man and able to afford a large house which is still standing on Shallowford Road. The town owes a great bit of its development and name to Lewis Laugenhour and the town has gone through great lengths to keep the home in its natural state.
"The basics of it for sure are the way it was built. There's a few things that's been changed over time. That's natural. Porches have been removed and things of that nature but it's much like it is today," said Mayor Dan Pugh.
The town's main road is also named after a historic venture. Shallowford Road is part of the Great Wagon Road which early settlers traveled for months from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Augusta, Georgia by wagon.
Many times the settlers would have to camp out in Lewisville and wait for the Yadkin River to recede after a heavy rain. It would take weeks for the water to go down, but luckily they had plenty of supplies.
"There was an abundance of wildlife to hunt and to eat along with the ground was very fertile in this area so there was a good farming situation. So that's what led to the early settlement of Lewisville."
If the settlers didn't wait for the Yadkin to go down their wagons would float away. So they would wait for weeks until the river was shallow. Hence the name of the road Shallowford.
The Lewisville Historical Society has a monument near the Shallowford Square which shares the story of the Great Wagon Road. Right next to it, there's a Wagon Museum which holds a true replica of a wagon settlers used in the late 17-1800's.
For more information on the town click here. You can also visit the Lewisville Historical Society for detailed infomation on the town's unique history.
WFMY News 2