H. Lee Waters’ second floor studio on South Main Street provided a window to the hustle and bustle of the busy commercial district below. Inside the studio he made portraits of thousands of local residents. But outside its confines he recorded all aspects of daily life in his community. His extensive documentation of this area, combined with images earlier photographers left behind in the studio, produced a unique record of how Uptown looked as early as WWI, and how buildings and businesses changed in the years since. The Uptown Lexington Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
H. Lee Waters Copyright & Usage
Materials from this collection may not be used for any purpose without written permission from The Davidson County Historical Museum. Contact the museum to submit an one-time-use of photographic image request.
Erlanger Mill Village was carefully planned for the employees of Lexington’s largest and most productive textile mill. Mill owners Abraham and Charles Erlanger were New York textile magnates recruited to North Carolina by Lexington businessman George Mountcastle. Construction of the mill and hundreds of houses began in 1913 and continued for 15 years. The remarkably stylish Craftsman bungalows were added between 1917 and 1923. The mill originally provided fabric for men’s “union suits.” The Village was annexed into Lexington in 1942, but maintained its unique identity through many social and civic activities that occurred in the Village through the 1960s. Erlanger Mill Village was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
H. Lee Waters Copyright & Usage
Materials from this collection may not be used for any purpose without written permission from The Davidson County Historical Museum. Contact the museum to submit an one-time-use of photographic image request.
H. Lee Waters’ first big commercial job was to document the construction of High Rock Lake Dam, built by Tallassee Power Company, 1926-1927. Waters visited the site at regular intervals to record the rapid progress. once after a big snow. Tallassee started filling the lake after clearing 10,000 acres of land, which required moving many families out of the area, and flooding the small town of Newsom. The reservoir was completed on April 14, 1928, and for many years the lake was primarily used by fishermen -- housing and recreation were not widespread until the 1950s. Waters’ beautiful sepia-toned prints were scanned to produce this gallery.
H. Lee Waters Copyright & Usage
Materials from this collection may not be used for any purpose without written permission from The Davidson County Historical Museum. Contact the museum to submit an one-time-use of photographic image request.
In the late 19th Century, furniture factories were a driving force of Lexington commerce. At the center of this force was the Dixie Furniture Company, which saw many changes since its inception in 1901. It was organized by a group of Lexington business leaders, with E.J. Buchanan serving as the first President. From 1901 to 1935, the small company was known for producing oak and walnut bedroom furniture. However, under the leadership of Henry T. Link, a graduate of the local Yadkin College, Dixie would grow to become one of the largest facilities in the country.
In 1936, Henry T. Link organized a merger between Dixie and the Elk Furniture Company. Then, in 1940, after visiting Henry Ford’s automobile assembly plant in Detroit, Mr. Link revolutionized the furniture industry with the introduction of automatic conveyors and mass production techniques to transfer furniture from one phase of assembly to the next.
During the ‘50s and ‘60s, four separate companies were created, each with an individual specialty. Dixie was mostly known for medium-priced bedroom and dining room furniture; Link-Taylor made high end bedroom and dining room furniture; Young-Hinkle specialized in boy’s bedroom furniture; and Henry Link was known for girl’s bedroom furniture. In 1987, Masco Corp. bought these four companies and renamed them Lexington Furniture Industries.
Over the years, many furniture companies have moved their production overseas in order to lower costs. In 2003, Dixie’s “Plant 1” was not immune to this increasing trend. Today, an inspection station at Brown Street and a shipping facility on South Salisbury Street are all that remain in operation.
H. Lee Waters Copyright & Usage
Materials from this collection may not be used for any purpose without written permission from The Davidson County Historical Museum. Contact the museum to submit an one-time-use of photographic image request.
H. Lee Waters’ clients included African-American citizens of Lexington and the surrounding area. Waters made their portraits in his South Main Street studio, and went into minority neighborhoods, homes, churches and schools for his commercial work. Everyday life during segregation can be seen in incidental content of images Waters shot around town. While difficult to gauge how Waters’ relationship to this community compared to other photographers of his day, he seemed to take note of everyone – not just the well-to-do. Like many other noted documentary photographers he was able to put people at ease, making them, and not the cameraman, the subject of the image.
This collection of photos documents family gatherings, church congregations, places of employment, black businesses, recreational activities, civic groups, and more within the black community in Davidson County. An additional gallery coming soon, called Education, includes photos of Dunbar, the segregated school in Lexington providing an education for black students.
H. Lee Waters Copyright & Usage
Materials from this collection may not be used for any purpose without written permission from The Davidson County Historical Museum. Contact the museum to submit an one-time-use of photographic image request.
