Bracey at a Glance — A Short History
From ferry landing to rail stop to lake community, Bracey has always been a crossroads—of people, trade, and today, year-round lake life.
1762: A ferry across the Roanoke River (now Lake Gaston) sparks a small riverside community.
Original Photo: Early 1900s
Experience It Animated
1792: The landing becomes Saint Tammany, the first incorporated town in Mecklenburg County. (Photo is actually of Smith’s Ferry, as representation of the time.)
1798: Post office established at St. Tammany.
One of the last remaining photos of the St. Tammany Post Office standing.
1885: Altamont Hart “Mont” Bracey develops the St. Tammany property and moves commerce up toward today’s Hwy 903 area.
1900: With the railroad’s arrival, the station took the shorter name Bracey—easier to telegraph than “St. Tammany” and tied to the Bracey family land at the site. The Bracey post office opens July 24, 1900.
Early 1900s: Waller Bracey builds the brick Bracey & Co. store on today’s Bracey Drive—selling dry goods, groceries, hardware (even coffins), with a soda fountain and, in the early years, the post office.
Waller Bracey (left), pictured with fellow Bracey store owners John Ridout and Ed Lambert (and a mule).
1911–1926: Local schools grow; by 1926 high schoolers ride buses to La Crosse.
The Bracey School (circa, early 2000s)
1916: The old St. Tammany ferry shuts down.
1923: A Tornado claims the Bracey Baptist Church, a tobacco pack house, and other structures.
Remains of church, present day location of the Bracey Community Center
Tobacco pack house fainted
1939: J. Miles Cole opens his store (relocated in 1995; now home to WinternetWeb).
Building prepared for move
Building in place at current location
1959: Bracey Community Center is built.
1963: Gaston Dam is completed; Lake Gaston is formed.
Mabel “Lady” Bracey Sims Hite fishing with her son W. Randolph Hite near the Buggs Island Dam.
1964: In January, W. Randolph Hite threw a snowball; Seaboard Air Line No. 27 derailed in “The Cut” of downtown Bracey near the station. IYKYK.
(Wiley M. Bryan photo)
1965: I-85 opens, reshaping travel and growth through Bracey.
1970s: Mail-by-train service ends.
Photos are property of the Bracey family unless otherwise attributed.