Waxhaw is an early settler village that really got started in 1889.

That's when it was officially incorporated as a city.

Its primary industry was cotton.

We have a very large mill behind us.

It's still standing.

So textile and cotton was the main industry that sort of put Waxhaw on the map in conjunction with the railway and access to railroads.

So that's really what put Waxhaw here.

Waxhaw has four main landmarks that we're really proud of.

First of all is the Mercantile Exchange across the street that houses several thriving businesses today.

Those buildings were right around the turn of the century.

Those were built.

The other one is the water tank.

We have a big water tank that's kind of the main feature of town.

It sort of defines the center of town and really establishes the character and the tradition of the town.

Then we have the third Belk store that was ever opened is here in Waxhaw.

It is now the Women's Club Waxhaw Women's Club, still very active and thriving today.

And then, of course, we have our very famous walking bridge.

We have an old wooden bridge that crosses these railroad tracks, and it's how people really navigate these tracks on a regular basis.

A big part of what draws people to Waxhaw, I think, is the charm and the history.

We have a lot of classic architecture here in town that contains a lot of great, thriving businesses, stores, restaurants, bars, a lot of things that people you know need on a daily basis and use on a regular basis.

So they're drawn to that, and it's very safe and very charming.

This is my great grandfather's livery stable is referred to as a mule barn here in Waxhaw.

So you got to have a family in 1958 and I was able to buy it back in, 2015 and six years of restoration.

We opened in 21.

Blacksmithing and horse shoeing is, you know, part of my heritage.

My brother did it for about 6 or 8 years, and I learned how.

So we all, we all, have the ability to, to carry on a little bit of the trade that my grandfather had.

I've seen a lot of small towns that are dying because of the lack of economic vitality.

So we are very lucky here to be in proximity to Charlotte.

it's just far enough away.

We've got the small town flavor, and ambiance but we have the health of the surrounding greater Charlotte area, so we have, I think, better of both worlds here in Waxhaw.

People should come to Waxhaw if they want the friendly atmosphere, the small town feel.

You meet friendly people.

We are always going to smile.

Hello.

How you doing?

And they'll say, oh, did you know that person?

No, you may not know that person.

That's just how it is here.

We are in Union County entrepreneurs space that we started two and a half years ago, and it's now the Mill Bar Mercantile.

It was actually a mule barn in 1932 at Burn on Main Street, and they relocated it here.

And after they renovated it, all the wood and everything came back in.

So it is the original barn, the floors of the original floors.

And basically what we do is help small businesses get a foothold, develop their businesses.

We have over 85 small entrepreneurs that are trying to make a business for themselves.

They define their own brand and they and it works out the things we do for the crafters in our space.

We really reach out to the veterans.

We have, I think five in here now and we do not charge them anything.

I have a family of veterans, my brothers, a World War Two veteran, my dad, a World War one veteran, and in 2003, I guess it was we decided to build the military Wall of Honor.

We didn't want to do a memorial, although there's a lot of people on there that are memorialized, but it's one that we honor them.

Every conflict that was ever in the United States and abroad was is on that wall somewhere, somehow.

We've just added statues up there.

This last, Veterans Day.

Peter Rubino, who's an internationally known, sculptor, he did this, three of the sculptures up there.

And the cool thing is the letters that I get from the families, they call and they say, you know, my dad got to see his name on that wall.

We brought the grandkids.

He talked about military issues that he would have never talked about before.

So that's the cool thing, that it is a wall of honor.

We're owners of Stewart's Village Gallery here because the last 31 years, our most.

Have a very wide customer base, and people come every time they come to visit their family.

They make sure that they come in here again, which is always very heartwarming for us.

Yes.

A lot of them will come and say we had to come to our favorite store.

That's right.

You know, in North Carolina, Potter is, tradition.

Pottery is beautiful and it's functional.

And also it brings joy to people.

Yeah.

Each piece pottery has its own individuality about it.

I would entice people to come to Waxhaw just for, the experience.

very friendly.

no matter what business you visit, it's small, but it's big, because you can try out different foods.

there's definitely different bars, tons of shops.

it's a really neat experience for really the whole family.

Anybody can find something here.

Stuff that I'd like to tell you about.

Cork & Ale.

Just the selection of stuff we have.

A lot of people don't even realize we have a full menu open six days a week.

We do a brunch on Sundays.

we do live music three days a week.

We have big wide events that we do from wine dinners every month to wine tastings every Wednesday.

Yeah, it's fun introducing people to to new wines and beers that they haven't tried before.

We have such a wide selection.

Our beer selection changes almost daily.

We want to give everybody an experience when they come in.

People make everything happened around here.

The shop owners know everybody.

They help each other out when they can't.

It's really a nice small town.

It's a great, thriving community.

So just a lot of activities to do around town that draw out the families, the draw, the couples that just like to get out and be around town.

And it's just such a cute, charming town to do it in.

I think people fall in love with that as soon as they see it.

It's what happened to me when I came here, and I think it happens to everyone else too.

This is our town, Waxhaw.

This is our, Waxhaw.

This is our town, Waxhaw.

This is our town, the Waxhaw, North Carolina.