Albemarle is the trading center for people living within a wide radius
of the town. Here’s part of its bustling retail business section.
By J. It. IIAHICIS
Editor “Stanly News and Press"
ALTHOUGH Stanly County was
ijk created in 1841. she made very
/
\ little industrial, educational,
or agricultural progress until the
turn of the present century. The
building of the Yadkin Railroad from
Salisbury to Norwood, and the estab¬
lishment of cotton mills in Albe¬
marle marked the beginning of an
awakening in Stanly County that has
brought it into the forefront of the
counties in the state.
The 1940 census gave Stanly
County 33,000 people. While many
new families have moved into the
county in recent years, it is not likely
that the 3,000 men who are now in
the service and the scores of families
who are ill defense centers have been
replaced with new citizens.
Albemarle, the county seat, is offi¬
cially listed in the federal census as
a community of 4,060 souls, but in
the city administrative school unit
area there are between 11,000 and 12,-
000 |>oople.
Taking them in their alphabetical
order — agriculture, education and
industry, wo find that Stanly has be¬
come fumed throughout tho state as
well as the South as a producer of
Icspedcz.n, better known to old-timers
n- .Inpan clover. According to more
or less accurate figures furnished by
the county farm agent, W. Z. Smith,
Sturdy County bad approximately
30,000 acres in lespedeza last year.
Since there are only about 85,000
acres under cultivation in the county,
one readily understands why Stanly
ranks so high as a lespedeza county.
Mr. Smith estimates that under nor¬
mal conditions an acre of lespedeza
will produce $30.00 worth of seed a
Ven r. That amounts lo $900,000 in
money, which makes it the biggest
money- producing crop in the county.
Incidentally, $30 an acre is in nor¬
mal times; the present situation is
abnormal, and seed from an acre of
lespedeza now brings nearer $40.00.
Lespedeza seed are in great de¬
mand because lespedeza not only
builds up the fertility of the soil,
but it is a great bay producing crop.
l/>cnl seed dealers likely turned down
more orders for lespedeza seed this
past year than they filled, and they
filled a lot of them.
lor some years, Stanly led the
state in the production of wheat, but
«be has now dropped into second place.
About 24,000 acres arc put in wheat
every year, corn comes next with 23,-
900 acres, while some 10,000 acres
are put in oats annually. Stanly
usually produces between 5,000 and
6.000 bales of cotton every year on
tho 8.000 acres which are used for
growing this crop. Stanly’s cotton
production has dropped considerably
in the past ten years.
It lias been estimated that about
300 acres are planted in sweet pota¬
toes every year in tho county and n
like number of acres are devoted to
tho production of Irish potatoes.
The county has 3,620 head of
work stock on its 2,700 farms, and
cows two years and older number 3,-
770. Stanly farmers have 740 sows,
and the number of laying hens has
been figured at 98,000.
Half of Stanly's population i<
classed as rural, and 65 per cent of
:be farms are operated by their own¬
ers. Only about 50 per cent of tho
farms in the state, as a whole, nro
operated by owners.
Stanly fanners have always been
thrifty, and back in the good old days
when banks were paving 4 ]>or cent
on savings, the bulk of tho money
on savings in the county's banks was
put there by the farmers. In these
latter days, the farmers of the county
have bought liberally of war bonds.
Lespedeza brought about a great
change in the farm situation back in
the 20's and 30’s, and the establish¬
ment of a milk receiving station in
INDUSTRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL
DEVELOPMENT OF
STANLY COUNTY
IG
