Water lovers will be interested in Cornelius NC real estate on Lake Norman for their principal or second homes.  Nestled between Charlotte North Carolina real estate and Statesville, residents in the growing Town of Cornelius real estate enjoy 520 miles of shoreline, innumerable water sports, and lake adventures.  Cornelius has a unique cultural heritage and charming style to complement the recreational amenities.

In 1905, the town cropped up as a cotton mill and farm community along the Catawba River.  Although the mills closed down, the development of Interstate 77 and location near the amenities of Charlotte real estate continues to bring new residents to the lovely mid-size town of 30,000.  Downtown is a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood with stately historic homes.

Damming the Catawba River brought recreational activities, lakeside properties, flood control, and hydroelectric power for development and growth.  Residents of real estate in Charlotte and Mooresville rely on Lake Norman for their dependable water supply.  In 2003, the Lake Norman Regional Economic Development Corporation formed to focus specifically on economic development for Cornelius and the neighboring communities of Huntersville and Davidson.  The three communities share development costs and tax revenues.

The town maintains two popular parks which are the 105-acre Jetton Park with its sunning beach and picnic tables, tennis courts, biking and rollerblading trails and Ramsey Creek, a 44-acre waterfront park with a boat launch, fishing pier, horseshoe pit, volleyball courts, and dog park.

The highly regarded Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, recognized as the first large urban school district to receive district-wide accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Council on Accreditation and School Improvement.  Its magnet schools are very popular.  Colleges and universities in the area include the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Winthrop University, Gaston College, and Central Piedmont, Rowan-Cabarrus and Catawba Valley community colleges.

James B. “Buck” Duke saw a future in the textile industry in the Carolinas, using the waters of the Catawba to generate power needed to provide clothing for a growing nation.  Buck, his brother Ben, Dr. W. Gill Wylie, William S. Lee teamed up with the vision to bring electricity that would attract business and industry to the region.  The Southern Power Company formed, became Duke Power Company and by 1928, they build 10 dams and 12 powerhouses.  The largest dam would result in Lake Norman.

Begun in 1959, it took four years to finish the dam and another two years to fill the lake.  As the very large Lake Norman filled in, it landed the nickname of the “inland sea” of North Carolina.  Lake Norman is 34 miles long and 8 miles across at its widest point.  Its surface area is 32,500 acres.  It is 130 feet deep at its deepest point, and holds 3.4 trillion gallons, 760 feet above sea level.

Lake Norman honors the former president of Duke Power, Norman Atwater Cocke.  Cornelius takes its name from Joseph Benjamin Cornelius who founded the first cotton mill in the area.

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