Located along the borders of the Carolinas, Shelby and Cleveland County possess a special charm in the Tar Heel State, enjoying a rare combination of an agreeable climate, a picturesque countryside, and cordial citizens. Incorporated in 1843 and serving as the county seat, early Shelby enjoyed a long history of agricultural development and growth, ranging from its prosperous cotton interests to the increase of textile industries across its rural landscapes. In this volume, with over 200 historic postcards and photographs, you will journey back to the Cleveland County of yesteryear, a time when Gardner-Webb University was known as Boiling Springs High School and Junior College, when the county's numerous hotels were the destinations for many vacationers seeking rest and rejuvenation from the area's famed healing spring waters, and when Cleveland County hosted one of the South's largest county fairs, offering a variety of events and the memorable phrase: "meet me at the water wheel." Covering the city's and county's unique story from the turn of the century through the 1960s, this visual history touches upon many aspects of everyday life, showcases much of the region's lost architectural treasures, and remembers several of the area's most recognizable citizens, such as the political "Shelby Dynasty" of Governor O. Max Gardner, Governor Clyde R. Hoey, Judge James L. Webb, and Judge Edwin Yates Webb.