Woolly Worms

Not too many generations ago, before snow plows, central heat, and supermarkets, winters in Appalachia were a much different experience than they are today. Many basic necessities such as mobility, heat, and food were not taken for granted. . .

Cornhusk Crafts

A Corn husk Family from Allenstand, part of the John Parris Collection Appalachian people, of Cherokee, European, and African origin, all share a long history of making useful and decorative items from the outer leaves of ears of corn, known as cornhusks, or corn...

Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual

Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, located on the Cherokee Indian reservation in North Carolina, was founded in 1946. Its goal is to preserve Cherokee arts and crafts, and provide Cherokee people with a means to sell their crafts year-round. Today, Qualla Arts and Crafts...

Horace Kephart

In 1934, the United States Congress officially established what is today the most popular National Park in the country, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As a result, over 500,000 acres of scenic. . .

Junior Johnson

Back in the 1930s and 1940s, when moonshining was a means of survival in the mountains of Western North Carolina, a young man emerged who would go on to become one of NASCAR’s founding fathers. He reinforced the romanticized, cultural stereotype of a “noble rogue.” His name was Junior Johnson.

Culture

Woolly Worms

Woolly Worms

Not too many generations ago, before snow plows, central heat, and supermarkets, winters in Appalachia were a much different experience than they are today. Many basic necessities such as mobility, heat, and food were not taken for granted. . .

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Economy

Butter and Egg Money

Butter and Egg Money

Appalachian farm wives contributed to their family’s income through the butter and egg money they earned by taking their extra eggs and butter to the general store. . .

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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. . .

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Land

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

America’s first National Parks were created out West.  By the early 20th century, Easterners who feared the loss of nature in their rapidly industrializing region wanted their own park.  Businessmen and outdoorsmen in Eastern Tennessee and...

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Lake Logan

Lake Logan

Thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers, Native Americans, particularly the Cherokees, inhabited the mountain region now known as Appalachia. Within the boundaries of present-day Haywood County, the Cherokee were scattered throughout several villages.

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People

Arvil Freeman, 2007

Above: Renowned Western North Carolina fiddler Arvil Freeman of Weaverville (left) received WCU’s Mountain Heritage Award. The award was presented by Scott Philyaw, director of WCU’s Mountain Heritage Center and chairman of Mountain Heritage Day. Mountain Heritage...

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Mars Hill College, 1988

Mars Hill College Receives Mountain Heritage Award The Sylva herald Sept. 29/1988   Western Carolina University presented its 1988 Mountain Heritage Award to Mars Hill College for the institution’s “unique place in the education, civic and spiritual life of Western...

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Institutions

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