Note
(Contributed by David Beard) Early settlers named the community after the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland. Rufus Reid (1787-1854) built the Mount Mourne Plantation in Mount Mourne in 1836. Reid worked as a merchant and plantation owner in Rowan County, North Carolina. He moved to Iredell County, North Carolina, and commissioned the construction of a mansion on his property. On 10 March 1828, Reid purchased the property for the plantation. He began with 50 acres, for which he paid $250. By the time Rufus Reid died, he had a total of about 3625 acres of land and his home. At one point, more than 80 slaves worked Mount Mourne, which grew cotton, wheat and corn. In 1850, the plantation was one of the largest in the area and the second largest in Iredell County. This made Rufus Reid one of the wealthiest and most prosperous planters in the area and the state as a whole. As early as 1831, he served as the postmaster of Mount Mourne. He was still serving in this capacity in 1841. He was elected as a member of the Iredell County Court. Additionally, he was elected to the North Carolina House of Commons in 1842 and 1844.
