What do we mean by "Old Gastonia?"

For purposes of our efforts here, “Old Gastonia” is considered to be the Uptown (or “Downtown,” if you prefer) area, which encompassed roughly the territory bounded by Long Avenue on the north (including the traditional business center of the early African-American neighborhoods along North York Street) , Broad Street on the east, Second Avenue on the south, and Chester Street on the west; the contiguous commercial and residential suburbs; the patchwork of mill villages on the east, west, and south; the former machine shops clustered around North Marietta Street and other places; and post-World War II development (50’s and 60’s) wherever it took place. From time-to-time the term is stretched to include places outside the above described area that had a definite Gastonia connection. The time period is generally the mid-1970s and earlier.