Who Was George P. Morrison? You know his barn but do you know him?
I recently had the pleasure of becoming friends with the great grandson of George P Morrison, the namesake for Morrison Plantation. His story is quite intriguing and well worth sharing. I’ll do my best to tell the story as I heard it. Mr. Morrison was born just before the turn of the century. His family was very poor, so he dropped out of school in the third grade and went to work in a sawmill. Let me say that again. When he was about EIGHT-years-old he went to work in a SAWMILL! As a teenager he began sharecropping using rented tools and over time he was able acquire tools of his own.
He eventually saved enough money to buy some land and found a tract of 100 acres near what is now Morrison Farm Road near Lake Norman State Park.
It is said that the land was so thick and overgrown that you could not step a foot into it even with a machete. Everyone thought he was crazy for buying land, but he did it anyway. He immediately set goats free on the land and within a few months they had cleared nearly all of it. He then sold the fattened goats and used the money to pay towards the land. The land was in the area of Penicillin Point and was primarily bottom land and not very good for farming so what did he do? He planted watermelons. Rumor has it that most of his watermelons averaged 90 pounds. In a few short years he was able to pay for the land by selling his watermelons.
Mr. Morrison lived off Perth Rd near what is now Lake Norman Air Park. His children would walk from Perth Road to the school which was located at the present-day corner of Morrison Plantation Parkway and HWY 150 under the big Oak Trees that are still there today. (across from Advance Auto parts). The school was a small white two-story farmhouse. (It was torn down in 2008). The kids would bring beans to school and the teacher would cook them on the cast iron stove. When the new school was built (Brawley School) he purchased the old schoolhouse and moved his family there from Perth.
He then began buying more land. The land we now know as Morrison Plantation. Over time Mr. Morrison acquired over 2000 acres of land. Pretty impressive for a third-grade dropout! The barn that we all love was built around 1925. There are pictures of it when it still had a shiny roof. The pond behind the barn was originally half its present-day size. It was the Bass Pond. The Catfish Pond was right across “the trail” where the retention pond is now beside Hickory Tavern. -Shared with permission
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Who Was George P. Morrison? You know his barn but do you know him?
I recently had the pleasure of becoming friends with the great grandson of George P Morrison, the namesake for Morrison Plantation. His story is quite intriguing and well worth sharing. I’ll do my best to tell the story as I heard it. Mr. Morrison was born just before the turn of the century. His family was very poor, so he dropped out of school in the third grade and went to work in a sawmill. Let me say that again. When he was about EIGHT-years-old he went to work in a SAWMILL! As a teenager he began sharecropping using rented tools and over time he was able acquire tools of his own.
He eventually saved enough money to buy some land and found a tract of 100 acres near what is now Morrison Farm Road near Lake Norman State Park.
It is said that the land was so thick and overgrown that you could not step a foot into it even with a machete. Everyone thought he was crazy for buying land, but he did it anyway. He immediately set goats free on the land and within a few months they had cleared nearly all of it. He then sold the fattened goats and used the money to pay towards the land. The land was in the area of Penicillin Point and was primarily bottom land and not very good for farming so what did he do? He planted watermelons. Rumor has it that most of his watermelons averaged 90 pounds. In a few short years he was able to pay for the land by selling his watermelons.
Mr. Morrison lived off Perth Rd near what is now Lake Norman Air Park. His children would walk from Perth Road to the school which was located at the present-day corner of Morrison Plantation Parkway and HWY 150 under the big Oak Trees that are still there today. (across from Advance Auto parts). The school was a small white two-story farmhouse. (It was torn down in 2008). The kids would bring beans to school and the teacher would cook them on the cast iron stove. When the new school was built (Brawley School) he purchased the old schoolhouse and moved his family there from Perth.
He then began buying more land. The land we now know as Morrison Plantation. Over time Mr. Morrison acquired over 2000 acres of land. Pretty impressive for a third-grade dropout! The barn that we all love was built around 1925. There are pictures of it when it still had a shiny roof. The pond behind the barn was originally half its present-day size. It was the Bass Pond. The Catfish Pond was right across “the trail” where the retention pond is now beside Hickory Tavern. -Shared with permission
