Editor’s note: This week, the Courier takes a closer look at the growth in this area with our first-ever Progress Edition where we explore what makes these two communities so special and stories about businesses and a number of people who are making an impact in different ways.

By Jim Buice

Peter Clemmons and Lewis Laugenour wouldn’t believe what has happened over the years with the two communities named after them.
According to the “Images of America — Clemmons” publication, the roots of settlement go back to 1802 with the arrival of Clemmons, a farmer from Delaware and also a merchant who built a home (still standing at 3736 Clemmons Road) and has been a boarding house, general store, tavern and much more that attracted travelers.
Actually, Clemmons was first known as Clemmonsville around 1816, making it one of the oldest established communities in the Triad.
The year 1859 is the earliest date that can be found as the first use of Lewisville, according to “Images of America — Lewisville,” named in honor of Laugenour, a “big man with a big heart.” He was a community benefactor who donated land for development in the central area of town, which came to be when Moravian settlers blazed a wagon trail through the area.
Merrikay Brown, the longtime librarian and president of the Historical Society, said: “He was the founder. He gave his first name to the town, not the last. Can you imagine Laugenourville instead of Lewisville?”
Of course, both communities have experienced lots of changes over the years, especially since being incorporated (Clemmons in 1986 and Lewisville in 1991).
Mayors Mike Rogers of Clemmons and Mike Horn of Lewisville talked about the tremendous growth inside and around their borders in the recent Lewisville-Clemmons Chamber of Commerce Economic Forum.
Horn, the longtime mayor who first was on the Lewisville council in 1993, said: “Lewisville and Clemmons are truly the drivers in Forsyth County on the western side with Kernersville on the other side.”
Rogers, who previously served on the council in Clemmons before becoming mayor in 2021, said that business is booming — with the steady development of Village Point and the most recent completion of five stores filling out the redeveloped former Kmart location — and added that 2,300 homes in and around Clemmons are now approved or under construction.
“In five years, our population is going to grow 7,000 in our area,” Rogers said.
Horn always has been on the record about Lewisville having a different philosophy in its approach to growth.
“We recognized a long time ago that wanted to maintain a friendly small-town community that is going to be primarily residential,” he said. “Our development goals are very deliberate, so we don’t see the big boxes and chains. We don’t see a lot of growth that occurs in Clemmons. We tell our residents the tradeoff is residential is not as lucrative from a property tax standpoint as commercialism.”
Certainly, both Clemmons and Lewisville are popular destinations for people looking for a place call home.