Tanglewood is rich in history, beauty, and southern charm. Tanglewood’s story lies not only beneath the surface, but can be experienced as an ongoing living process. The property now known as Tanglewood Park was part of land claimed by Sr. Walter Raleigh for Queen Elizabeth on March 25, 1584. John Cartaret, 2nd Earl Granville acquired a sixty mile stretch of land in western North Carolina in the early 1700’s known as the Granville District, granting land to those who had established surveys. William Linville, who settled with his family from Virginia and Pennsylvania by 1747/1748, acquired seven grants along the Yadkin around the shallow ford. More European settlers arrived in the Yadkin River Valley, including William Johnson, an immigrant from Wales. In 1757, ten years after Linville built a cabin on it, and just four years after the Moravian settlement of the Wachovia Tract in the nearby communities of Bethabara and Salem, Johnson purchased the mile square central portion of what became Tanglewood from the William and Ellender Linville.
After obtaining the property, Johnson built a fort overlooking the Yadkin River to protect his family and neighbors from attacks during the French and Indian War. Currently, this spot is marked by a monument just south of the Manor House. In 1765 he died and is now buried on the highest hill in the area called Mount Pleasant. In 1809 a simple frame church was erected next to his grave and remains today as one of the park’s architectural attractions. Although services are no longer held there, many people are united in marriage at the Mount Pleasant Church each year.
