History & Heritage

Long before this was a lake, it was a river — and long before it was “Lake Norman of Catawba,” it was home to families whose descendants still live here today.

The Sherrill Family and the Ford

Sherrills Ford takes its name from a crossing point on the Catawba River. Adam and Elizabeth Sherrill arrived from Maryland and settled near the ford in 1747, and their family — one daughter and eight sons — grew into one of the area’s founding lineages. Many Sherrill descendants still live in the community today. The river ford itself disappeared underwater when Lake Norman was created in the 1960s, but the name stuck.

Terrell and the Country Store

Terrell was named for Pinckney Lawson Terrell, a circuit-riding Methodist preacher with ties to the nearby Rehobeth Methodist Church. A post office was established in 1893 at the T.F. Connor store, and the community took Terrell’s name because, as the story goes, he had paid all his debts. The Terrell Historic District — including the Terrell Country Store, built in 1891 and once the hub of trade in the area — is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

From River to Reservoir

Lake Norman was created in the 1960s when Duke Power dammed the Catawba River, forming what’s still the largest man-made lake in North Carolina. That single change reshaped the whole area — turning farmland and river crossings into shoreline, and setting up the slow transformation from quiet river communities to one of the fastest-growing corners of the lake.

The Lake Norman Music Hall

This area used to have a real music venue, and it hosted some of the biggest names in bluegrass. The Lake Norman Music Hall operated in Terrell through at least the late 1960s and 1970s. Bill Monroe, known as the father of bluegrass music, played there with his band the Blue Grass Boys in November 1967 and again on January 28, 1978. Recordings from that 1978 show, made by band member Butch Robins, are still up on YouTube today. Charlie Monroe, Bill’s older brother and a bluegrass pioneer in his own right, also has a live recording from a show at the hall.

Local memory points to the site of today’s Boat Rack marina and showroom on Highway 150, near Slanting Bridge Road, as the hall’s former location. We haven’t confirmed that exact address match through any public record, so for now we’re treating it as local knowledge, not proven fact.

There’s also a longstanding local rumor that Dolly Parton played the Lake Norman Music Hall at some point. We looked into it and could not find anything to confirm it. That doesn’t mean it isn’t true, just that we can’t call it fact yet.

If you remember the Lake Norman Music Hall, worked there, went to a show, have a photo, or know who else played there, we want to hear about it. Send us what you know, and help us get this piece of local history right.

Sources: Butch Robins, live recordings from Lake Norman Music Hall, Jan. 28, 1978 · Rare & Obscure, Bill Monroe & Bluegrass Boys live at Lake Norman Music Hall, Nov. 1967

Have a family story, an old photo, or a correction to something here? Send it our way — this page will keep growing as we hear from more of the families who’ve actually lived this history.