Hobbs Hill lies just across Beaty Street from Lake Norman, a body of water that has historic significance to the entire region as the largest man-made lake in North Carolina! The section of Lake Norman North and East of Interstate I77/Exit 30 is also referred to as “Lake Davidson.” The historical Catawba River had been integral to the Catawba nation of Native Americans (or Iswa – which translated to “people of the river”) for an estimated many thousands of years prior to American colonial settlement. According to reports, the idea of damming the Catawba River to create the lake was first introduced in 1895, but wasn’t officially announced until 1957, when Duke Power revealed plans to build and name the dam at Cowans Ford, and construction began in 1959. Lake Norman was named after a former president of Duke Energy.
The dam and lake are additionally notable in our local Town history because the “Battle of Cowan’s Ford” was a battle fought between American forces led by General William Lee Davidson (namesake of our Town) and the British Army’s Charles Cornwallis during the American Revolutionary War, on February 1, 1781 at Cowan’s ford on the Catawba River in Mecklenburg County, NC. General Davidson was killed during the battle and his name was later memorialized in the naming of the College and Town founded in 1837. Today, the lake is an integral part of the Davidson and surrounding community.