A Past Expert

Andy Poore’s job is history,
and that’s just fine with him.

by Scott Graf   |   photography by Glenn Roberson

   Did you know that Mooresville was first settled in the 1720s? And that its name used to be Deep Well? And that some homes in the area — still occupied — date back to the late 1700s? Andy Poore does. Why? Well, because it’s his job to know. Poore, 40, oversees special historic collections at the Mooresville Library. He’s done so for six years. But it doesn’t take long to figure out this Mooresville native has been soaking up his hometown’s history his entire life.

When you took this job, did you have to study the city’s history?

   No. But I did have to study to learn about libraries. Library cataloguing is much different than museum cataloguing. So I had to retrain myself. And I’ve had to train people as to what a special collections is and what it does, and why I keep a lot of things under lock and key.

So what is a special collection?

   Special collections for years have been associated with academic libraries. And it’s usually where theses, dissertations, the history of the college, maps and all that are kept. In public libraries, it’s been within the last 40 or 50 years that they’ve started having special collections. Special collections house things you wouldn’t normally house in the rest of the library. Maps, board minutes, scrapbooks, annuals, photographs, things of that nature. And that’s what I house here. Maps from the town transfers, minutes from department meetings of the town, scrapbooks from clubs and organizations, photographs — things of that nature.

What’s a project you’ve recently helped someone with?

   I could name hundreds. (He laughs.) For example, when people buy and sell property and they’re doing the deed trust, a lot of those people come to me to find more information. And I’ll have photographs or something that will save them from having to go to the register of deeds. I help people who buy houses in town. They’ll come to me and say, “I live at so-and-so. What’s the history of this house? Who lived here?”

Another thing is the display on the 1961 Mooresville High School football team that won the state championship. Now I’m getting ready to scan all the photos and take pictures of the trophy to make it a digital collection. I also get college and high school students in here working on projects. The high school students tend to come for the rare books. That’s something else that I house, rare, out-of-print books that don’t really circulate anymore but that we need to keep for whatever reason. And then of course I also get a lot of people doing genealogy.

Is there a favorite tidbit of Mooresville history you like to share with people?

   Oh, I love to tell people a lot of things. We’re just a sordid little berg. (He laughs.)

How well documented is the history of Mooresville?

   The history is here, but it’s scattered to the winds. Because no one to this point has ever collected it. And that’s sort of what I’m doing. I’m trying to round it all up. It’s traveling around in people’s heads. It’s in closets. A lot of it has gone to antique stores.

Is this area’s history underrated or underappreciated because so many people who live here aren’t   natives?

   Yes. I think everyone looks at us as this poor little mill town, that we don’t have any history and there’s nothing here to preserve. And there’s a lot here to preserve.

Why do you think history here gets overlooked?

   Because it’s an old Southern thing. You grow up here, you know the history, why tell anyone? But here’s the problem — the people here aren’t learning it. They’re moving in. They’re not from here. So it’s not being told. And it needs to be told because it’s important. People don’t realize Junior Johnson ran moonshine right down Main Street. And hid it in some of the basements under the stores uptown. Mooresville was never dry during Prohibition.

Any other stories we should know?

   People don’t know Thomas Edison once came through looking for a rock for a filament for his light bulbs. Albert Einstein even came through Mooresville one time. He was also searching for minerals to mine. They were interested in our geological presence. We had the Mooresville Moors baseball team, which was a Cotton League baseball team. Over half those guys went on to the big leagues, but people don’t know that.

How often do you see people who are new to this area who come in to learn about this region’s history?

   Daily. People want to learn new stuff, the history of something. Many want to learn about the houses they live in.

When was Mooresville settled?

   We were settled as early as the 1720s. We were called the community of Deep Well. Mooresville was incorporated in 1873 from what was called Moore’s Village. John Franklin Moore’s family was one of the large landowners in the area. That’s why it was called Moore’s Village. But there are some families here that go back even further than the 1720s.

I hear John F. Kennedy’s doctor was from Mooresville. Is that true?

   His name was Dr. Winston Taylor, and he was an ear, nose and throat doctor. He was his physician when JFK was president. And then Dr. Taylor came home. And he’s buried over in Glenwood Cemetery.

If you could pick one favorite document in your collection, what would it be?

   That’s a hard one. (Pauses) It would be a photograph. And it’s the earliest known photograph we have of Mooresville. It was taken about 1875. We actually got it from Mr. Brooks, he was the assistant fire marshal. And it’s his great grandfather and aunt. And they’re in a wagon, pulled by a goat, right up here in town showing the first depot. It shows how flat Mooresville was. It’s really interesting. It’s almost like taking a picture when your child is born. It’s literally the birth of the town.

And I understand you have some local history yourself. You’re tied to a local ice cream company?

   Yes, that was my great grandfather. He came to Mooresville to help the Mooresville Creamery start the DeLuxe Ice Cream plant. And for 80-some years it was in the family.