Local NAACP chapter pushes for Mooresville road to be renamed

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — A road named Morrison Plantation Parkway has been in Iredell County for decades. But the South Iredell NAACP chapter says the name is outdated and offensive.

“I try not to go on the parkway, to be honest with you,” said Curtis Johnson, the chapter president.

Johnson drives all around the town of Mooresville. But he avoids Morrison Plantation Parkway because of the painful reminder attached to the street’s name.

“When I think about plantation, I’m thinking about the horrors that took place,” Johnson said.

The parkway connects Highway 150 and Brawley School Road in Mooresville. He said for the last three years, he’s been fighting to rename the parkway, especially after 2020 when other local cities changed their street names tied to slavery.

Over the years, he’s sent letters to Iredell County and the Town of Mooresville.

“There should be pleasant-sounding names and to me, there’s nothing pleasant-sounding about plantation. Nothing,” Johnson said.

Channel 9′s Almiya White reached out to the Town of Mooresville and learned developers named Morrison Plantation Parkway 20 years ago with approval from Iredell County. In order to rename it, the town board said it would require a 100% buy-in from owners.

“If it has a lot of negative connotations, I mean, I’m sorry, this really just needs to be changed,” said neighbor Hilary Porta.

While Porta would support a new name, Mayor Chris Carney said recent phone calls to landowners indicate that 100% buy-in won’t happen.

“I don’t think that they’re taking into consideration the trauma that was involved with that,” Porta said.

White followed back up with the Town of Mooresville to get a breakdown of how many property owners are for or against renaming Morrison Plantation Parkway. She’s still waiting on a response.

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