With help from Belmont Abbey College, Gaston County Library, the University of North Carolina, and other archives, Gaston resident Piper Peters Aheron, author of four celebrated Carolina histories, has created a unique, visual roadmap winding through the treasured past. More than 200 rustic portraits of clay main streets, horse-drawn buggies, and water-powered mills allow readers, both young and old, to revisit the optimism and the hardships, the architecture and the landscape of a city and county intricately linked to one another. Whether a lifelong county resident or a newcomer to the city, each reader will find Gastonia and Gaston County to be a charming journey down memory lane and a delightful addition to any family library.