Andrew Jackson
7th U.S. President
Born in the Waxhaw settlement in 1767. His childhood home and the associated Presbyterian church remain points of historical pilgrimage.
History
Waxhaw, before it was envied.
From Catawba trading paths to cotton kingdom to the Carolinas' most quietly remarkable address.
The story of Waxhaw is not one of sudden discovery. It is a story of reinvention — of a place that has quietly turned each chapter of its past into the foundation for something better.
Timeline
The long arc of a small town.
Pre-1700
The Catawba Paths
Long before European settlers arrived, the Waxhaw region was a crossroads of indigenous trade. The Catawba Nation controlled vast networks of paths that connected the Piedmont to the coast. The name 'Waxhaw' itself derives from the Waxhaw people, a Siouan-speaking group whose territory encompassed what is now southern Union County.
1700s — 1840s
Colonial Settlement & the Waxhaw Massacre
Scottish-Irish and German immigrants arrived in the 1740s, drawn by fertile Piedmont soil. The area gained national notoriety during the Revolutionary War with the Waxhaw Massacre of 1780, in which British dragoons attacked Continental forces under Colonel Abraham Buford. A young Andrew Jackson, who grew up in the Waxhaw settlement, claimed to have been wounded in the encounter — a story that became part of his political mythology.
1840s — 1889
The Railroad & the Cotton Economy
The Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad arrived in the 1840s, transforming a scattered agricultural community into a working railroad town. Cotton gins, general stores, and textile warehouses clustered near the depot. Waxhaw became a shipping point for the region's cotton, and the town's commercial district grew up along the tracks in the familiar pattern of Southern railroad towns.
1889 — 1940s
Incorporation & the Great Depression
Waxhaw was formally incorporated in 1889. The early twentieth century brought electric streetlights, a volunteer fire department, and the brick commercial buildings that still define downtown today. The Great Depression hit Union County hard, as it did everywhere in the rural South, but Waxhaw's position on the railroad kept it from the worst depopulation.
1950s — 1980s
Decline & the Threat of Oblivion
Post-war suburbanization pulled commerce toward Charlotte. Downtown Waxhaw's brick storefronts emptied. By the 1980s, the historic district was at genuine risk of demolition or decay. It was during this period that a small group of preservationists — shop owners, historians, and longtime families — began the work of saving what remained.
1990s — Today
Preservation & the Rise of Luxury
The 1990s and 2000s saw Waxhaw's historic district placed on the National Register and restored building by building. Simultaneously, Charlotte's southern expansion began to reach Union County. Gated communities, golf clubs, and equestrian estates replaced cotton fields. Waxhaw became, almost overnight, the address that Charlotte's most accomplished families quietly relocated to.
Architecture & Preservation
Brick by brick, the town was saved.
The Waxhaw Historic District encompasses more than fifty contributing structures, most built between 1888 and 1935. The railroad depot, the former McDonald Hotel, and the commercial buildings along Main and Broome Streets represent some of the best-preserved late-nineteenth-century architecture in the Carolina Piedmont.
Local preservation ordinances now require architectural review for any exterior modification within the district. The result is a downtown that functions as a working commercial center while maintaining the visual coherence of a century ago.
Notable Figures
Names that shaped the region.
The Waxhaw People
Indigenous Inhabitants
The Siouan-speaking Waxhaw tribe controlled the region's trade paths for centuries before European contact and the eventual devastation of disease and displacement.
Union County Founders
1842
Waxhaw was among the original settlements that petitioned for the creation of Union County from parts of Mecklenburg and Anson counties.
Waxhaw Today
The next chapter is already being written.
From Catawba paths to railroad ties to bridle paths, Waxhaw has always been a place people pass through — and then, remarkably often, decide to stay. The town's population has grown from under 3,000 in 2000 to more than 20,000 today, yet the historic district, the equestrian culture, and the small-town rhythm remain intact.