Asheville Boom

Asheville Boom

Feverish economic development is not new to Western North Carolina. The arrival of the railroad in Asheville triggered a boom that resulted in the construction of over 65 new commercial buildings in the 1920s. . .

Hanging Dog

Hanging Dog

The Hanging Dog community in Cherokee County got its colorful name when a Cherokee Indian’s hunting dog barely escaped getting hung up in a mass of jammed logs and vines in a flooded creek. Nearby, European settlers found important deposits of iron. . .

Trail of Tears

Trail of Tears

In the 1830s, the United States government, with the approval of the United States Congress and President Andrew Jackson, forcibly removed Southeastern American Indian tribes to present day Oklahoma. This atrocious act has been infamously named the Trail of Tears. . .

Asheville Boom

Happy Land

In 1865, a band of former slaves newly freed in Mississippi began searching for a new home. They settled near Tuxedo in Henderson County, North Carolina. They eventually bought 200 acres of land that they declared to be “The Kingdom of the Happy Land”. . .

Asheville Boom

Personal Names

People receive their names according to a number of social conventions. Often those conventions reflect regional differences. . .

Asheville Boom

Old Christmas in Appalachia

Christmas in Appalachia was not always celebrated on December 25th. Whether because calendar reform in 1752 had removed 11 days, turning December 25th into January 6th, or because January 6th marked. . .