General William Lee Davidson Memorial, Huntersville
This memorial to General Davidson is a pillar constructed of local stone and rock standing roughly eight feet tall with a metal plaque attached. It is one of at least four memorials to General Davidson in the Charlotte area with one of the later ones (1971) at the same location. The marker was originally placed at the spot where General Davidson fell during the battle of Chowan’s Ford on February 1, 1781. It had been lost to history but was rediscovered by a bulldozer driver as land was being cleared for the McGuire Nuclear Station at Lake Norman. Duke Energy had the pillar relocated to the General Davidson Memorial Area.
CHOWAN’S FORD. / WHERE FELL / THE REVOLUTIONARY HERO, / GENL. WH LEE DAVIDSON. / 1781. / ERECTED BY / E.L. BAXTER DAVIDSON.
Duke Energy
1923
35.415170 , -80.943740
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"The Davidson Monument Again," The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), April 14, 1887 Link
Davidson, Chalmers G. “Davidson, William Lee,” NCPedia.org, (accessed January 23, 2017) Link
Graham, William Alexander. "General William Lee Davidson," (Greensboro, NC: Guilford Battle Ground Co., 1906), (accessed May 25, 2012) Link
United States Congressional Record. "Nash and Davidson Monuments: Full Text of the Debate Between Congressmen Cannon and Kitchin," from the U.S. Congressional Record, 57th Congress, First Session, Washington, D.C., July 1, 1902, (accessed February 6, 2012) Link
“General William Lee Davidson,” The Dispatch (Lexington, NC), April, 19, 1971, (accessed November 29, 2015) Link
“Memorializing the Historical Battle and Death,” Davidson College Lake Norman Project, davidsonarchivesandspecialcollections.org, (accessed November 29, 2020) Link
Yes
Metal, stone
Edward Lee Baxter Davidson
General Davidson was killed in a delaying action skirmish known as the Battle of Chowan’s Ford.
Although technically a defeat, this action delayed the British long enough for the Patriot army
under General Nathanial Greene to escape to Guildford Courthouse and prepare for the battle
that was a turning point in the Revolutionary War.
Edward Lee Baxter Davidson was proud of his ancestry and also placed and paid for several markers in the Charlotte area to relatives who were prominent during the American Revolution including The Battle of McIntyre’s Farm marker and Major John Davidson. He was a member of the North Carolina Historical Society and served as a District Vice President of the Sons of the American Revolution.
The General William Lee Davidson Grave is located at the cemetery of Hopewell Presbyterian Church, at 10500 Beatties Ford Road
Huntersville, NC 28078.
Davidson College, County and City are all named for General William Davidson.
[Additional information from NCpedia editors at the State Library of North Carolina: This person enslaved and owned other people. Many Black and African people, their descendants, and some others were enslaved in the United States until the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in 1865. It was common for wealthy landowners, entrepreneurs, politicians, institutions, and others to enslave people and use enslaved labor during this period. To read more about the enslavement and transportation of African people to North Carolina, visit https://aahc.nc.gov/programs/africa-carolina-0. To read more about slavery and its history in North Carolina, visit https://www.ncpedia.org/slavery. - Government and Heritage Library, 2023.]
The General William Lee Davidson Memorial is located at 5455 Cashion Road, in a small memorial park near the intersection of North Carolina Highway 73 and McGuire Nuclear Station Road, , in Huntersville, NC.
This memorial stands in a small park designed by a landscape architect Jack Hurst. The park was designed for the 1971 General Davidson Memorial which includes a Revolutionary War era cannon.
The maker had to be relocated in 1971 for construction of the McGuire Nuclear Station near Lake Norman. A 1971 news article noted that the original location is now submerged.
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