Gastonia, NC news and local guide

In 1929 Gastonia was the scene of the Loray Mill strike, a key event in the American labor movement. The role of organizers from the Communist-affiliated National Textile Workers Union alienated local religious leaders, who denounced their ideology and undermined support for the strike. The strike collapsed after the death of the city's police chief led to a murder trial of several militants, including the union's chief organizer, Fred Beal, who was convicted but fled to the Soviet Union. The strike largely failed to win better wages and working conditions, and organized labor never gained a foothold among Gastonia's textile workers, but for a time it became an international cause and figured in several novels of the 1930s. The Loray Mill Historic District, the Downtown Gastonia Historic District, the Gaston County Courthouse, Gastonia High School, the Craig Farmstead and several early bank buildings are among the city's sites on the National Register of Historic Places. Gastonia lies about 21 miles west of Charlotte. Sources Wikipedia: Gastonia, North Carolina