Statesville’s Biggest Fan: Steve Hill Moves Statesville Historical Collection to New Location


By Meredith Collins, Photos Courtesy of Steve Hill

As a child growing up on Millsaps Rd in Statesville, which was a dead-end dirt road at the time, young Steve Hill started collecting rocks and quartz. His childhood collections soon grew to stamps, postcards, coins and then baseball cards. He started finding postcards with Statesville on them and baseball cards of players from Statesville like Herm Starette. 

That’s where the fascination with finding items from Statesville and Iredell County began. Once he got his driver’s license, Steve went all over to trade shows, flea markets and antique shows. His collection continued to grow with all types of Statesville history and memorabilia.

Now Steve is the “proprietor of the Statesville Historical Collection, the world's largest emporium of photographic images, archaic documents, ephemeral antiques, natural oddities, supernatural legends, and trivial trinkets related to Statesville, NC.”
Captain Andy Gabriel donated his uniform to the collection.

Finding a Home for the Collection

When he retired from a career in education in 2009, Steve mentioned to Mayor Costi Kutteh, “I think I have enough stuff for a local history museum, do you know of an old building that I could use?” Costi connected Steve with Bill Stiles who owned a balloon factory warehouse on Salisbury Rd across from Black Pontiac. This was the first official “home” for the collection! He was there for around a year and then Marin Tomlin and the board of the Downtown Statesville Development Corporation connected him with a location at 212 South Center Street. 

Next, the collection moved to 212 North Center Street, into the Gordon building. “The Gordon family has been generous supporters and cheerleaders the whole way,” Steve said. After being at 212 North Center Street for the past 6-7 years, a new opportunity presented itself.
High School students often use the resources of the collection for their senior projects.

Moving on Up – The Collection’s New Space

Stamey Holland approached Steve with the opportunity to move into a new space downtown, FIVE times larger than the current space. The collection’s new location at 117 South Center Street has been undergoing renovations for the last year. Construction is nearing completion in August 2024. Then, Steve and volunteers will set up the displays and move the collection into the new space, hopefully by late fall 2024.

Stamey Holland is the fourth-generation owner of the old lot #30. Formerly an old hotel that took up the entire block that was burned in a fire in 1918. The Holland family rebuilt the space into the old Ramsey’s department store and then later it was home to Woolworth’s department store and Westmoreland’s Antiques. “Mr. Holland is transforming this building into a show place,” Steve said. “He has renovated the historic 1919 building into what will be for a long time, a jewel in Statesville’s crown.”

The excitement about the new space is contagious!

Jimmy Wilson had big plans for the Statesville Historical Collection before passing in 2022. This is the before-shot of the Holland Building. The after-shot is coming soon.

Special Supporters

Steve’s appreciation for those who have contributed to the collection and provided spaces overflows. “I will be forever grateful to all those who have exhibited their love for their hometown in such special ways,” Steve said. “There are so many other special people who have contributed to the project in special ways. Someday I hope to be able to adequately thank them.”

One of those special supporters is James Wilson. “And the man who dreamed that someday the collection would have such a special place was James D. "Jimmy" Wilson,” Steve said. “His vision is the reason the collection will be available for future generations. He and his wife Vicky provided the seed money to get the project started and his brother Tom has been involved too. The entire family of patriarch G. L. Wilson has jumped in to help at every turn.”

Emmy Award winner, John Haygood, retired international videographer for CBS News.

Historical Restoration

The new space is extremely impressive. The outside façade restoration includes replacing brick and having it stamped to look like the original. The spacious inside is separated by lit partitions. Each “cubby” will be set up with its own theme like Military, Haunted Statesville, Hot air ballooning, Sports, South Statesville, etc. 

Steve has a plan to create a Woolworth’s counter and remove part of a wall to reveal the original green tile from Woolworth’s. “Statesville had its own Woolworth sit in one month after the one in Greensboro,” Steve said. “Four teachers from the Unity Center came in and were kicked out. This started the Statesville Civil Rights Movement in 1960.”

Another section in the back left corner is being designed and built by Tom Wilson and Dr. Roger Roark. 240 trains from all before the 1950s have been donated to the collection. They will be set up on shelves and tracks along with furniture and memorabilia from the Statesville Depot. 

Tom Wilson building the shelving and tracks for the train section in the new building. (Photo by Meredith Collins)

Love for Statesville

“It’s amazing how many people love our little town,” Steve said. “People have been so kind to ask what can I do and how can I help? The move will take a lot of volunteers and we will want to keep it running and staffed after.” Steve welcomes new volunteers!

The Statesville Historical Collection is not only a beloved resource for locals, but it has attracted visitors from all over the world. “We have had visitors from every state and even other countries,” Steve said. “We had travelers passing through and at least one out of town visitor every day.”

In addition to managing the collection and finding new items, Steve Hill is also an author. One of his books, In the Shadow of the Clock: The History of the Square, Statesville, North Carolina, 1790-1990, documents the stories and images of downtown. The book is available for purchase at GG’s Art Frames Gifts downtown. His next book is nearing completion, Statesville After Dark, this book will tell the darkest secrets about Statesville.

More Info

Want to learn more about the Statesville Historical Collection? Visit their website at https://www.statesvillehistory.com/. Steve welcomes volunteers and donations of items for the collection. Contact him here: Contact Statesville Historical Collection (statesvillehistory.com)

Former Statesville Owls professional baseball players, Pau Brendle, left, and Bobby Stevenson.
Karen Abercrombie, award-winning actress, singer-songwriter, film writer, and movie producer.
Former professional baseball players, Max Davidson, left, and Chuck Raehse.
International Airline pilots Sam McDowell and Ronald Rayle.
Tom Dooley historians from as far away as Denmark meet yearly at the collection to compare recent research.
Jerome Henderson, right, 18-year veteran NFL player and coach, now with the NY Giants, and Bill Moose.
Michael McCall, right, voice of FOX NFL and CBS Sports, with his father Buddy.
International tenor opera singer Jeff Gwaltney.
Originally posted by DISCOVER Statesville, North Carolina via Locable
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