----- Original Message ----- From: <WPete53337@aol.com> To: <postalq@grnco.net> Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2001 6:28 PM Subject: Re: [QUEEN] Golden Valley Cemetery I hope this helps. If I had a scanner I would scan the two > LONG pages of this document about the history of the Golden Valley community > Golden Valley is in Rutherford County, N. C. Until the end of thr French > and Indian War (called the Cherokee war in the South) the present Golden > Valley community of Rutherford County technically lay within the predecessor > counties. Rowan and Anson. The boundary between them was the Granville > Line., an east-west bearing which passed through Golden Valley a short > distance north of Fairview Baptist Church. First permanent residents were in > about 1750 . In the later 1700's WIlliam Whitesidend Samuel Stockton moved > their families from Virginia to the surrounding areas of the Golden Valley > and their community was called the Whitesides Settlement. Around the turn > of the 19th century most mem bers of the Whiteside family sold their many > tracts of land on First Broad River to many new settlers.. Among these were > John Queen and William Hunt. The Golden Valley was in 1800 a settled > community of rather large farms nestled along the valleys between low > mountain ridges. Most of the farmers were prosperous and serveral owned > numbers of slaves. Most of the valuable land had been claimed. But soon > there came a new land rush, this time for gold! Prior to 1850, North > Carolina was the primary gold-producing area of the nation, and Golden Valley > was in the heart of the gold belt. The old name of "Whitesides" fell in to > disuse as two post offices were established in the flourishing community , an > upper one called Golden, and a lower one located at Gamble' s store. > Ultimately the name of the Golden Post Office was adopted and the entire area > at the head of First Broad River became known as "Golden Valley" > According to Clarence Griffiiin in his History of Rutherford County, > 1937-1951. the 1950 census showed 705 as the population of Golden Valley > Township, a figure that apparently has increased a lot up to the present. In > the decade of the fifties Highway 226 was built and for the first time Golden > Valley was opened to east-west cross-country traffic. > > Hope this helps a little. I can't remember what book this is from ,but I > photcopied two pages on this whole history. If you need more holler. > > Wendy