About the Park

As part of the Piedmont, the post-Revolution history is both varied and somewhat unique. Famed botanist André Michaux passed through the region discovering and naming the bigleaf magnolia, Magnolia macrophylla, and many other species that still bear the Latin names he provided.

During the latter part of the 1800s and into the 1900s, Crowders Mountain was the backdrop for a mineral spring resort, a seminary, an all-women's college, and a Black college. From that time period until recently, the majority of the land within and around the park was primarily used for agricultural products like cotton, tobacco, corn, and soybeans, as well as livestock.

Perhaps closer to the heart are stories of the families that once farmed this land. While they were paid for the land that founded Crowders Mountain State Park, all were not eager to sell land their families had owned and tended to since the 1800s. Brevard, Brooks, Ormand, and Short are among the family names with heritage tied to the land we all appreciate and protect today.

The Brevard family once owned the land that now contains the park campgrounds. Jacob and Rebecca Brevard were born enslaved but worked hard to become some of the early Black-Cherokee landowners in Gaston County. Together, the Brevards owned 24.75 acres of farmland, where they raised 14 children.