I came across this old photograph of Mooresville, and one thing is certain: it had to have been taken before 1914.

How do I know? Because in 1914, Mooresville required the wooden power poles in front of commercial buildings on Main Street to be moved underground. We don’t have records showing exactly when the streets were paved, but the overhead utility poles help place this image in time. At first, I was almost certain I had matched the historic photo with the same point of view in a modern image. My reasoning was based on the buildings on the left, especially the area where the two men are standing. Architecturally, the buildings seemed very close.

Then I realized I was completely wrong

Those buildings on the left are no longer there. In fact, that entire section would eventually be torn down, rebuilt, and then rebuilt again over the years. Later, those newer buildings would also be demolished to make way for the Charles Mack Civic Center. The building on the left side of this old photo would later become the site of a future Belk’s department store, which also eventually aged out and was torn down. I’ll save that story for another day.

So what we’re really looking at is North Main Street more than 110 years ago – Think about that for a second

The two gentlemen standing on the sidewalk likely had never seen, and certainly could not have imagined, automobiles filling the street—much less three generations of entirely different buildings eventually rising where they stood. That’s probably what I find most fascinating when comparing old and new images of downtown Mooresville. It has changed dramatically, but it hasn’t completely lost its identity.

The street is still there. Many of the building lines are still there. And in a few places, even the old architectural details are still hanging on. More than a century separates these two photographs, but if you stand in the right spot on North Main Street today, you’re still looking down essentially the same corridor generations of Mooresville residents saw before us.

What may be the most remarkable detail of all is this: even more than 110 years ago… D.E. Turner Hardware was right down that dirt road on the left side, doing business much as it still does today!