Editor's Recommended Reading:Western North Carolina: A History from 1730 to 1913
(Hardcover: 679 pages). Description: From
the introduction to the appendix, this volume is filled with interesting information. Covering seventeen counties—Alleghany,
Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Swain, Transylvania,
Watauga, and Yancey—the author conducted about ten years searching and gathering materials. Continued below...
About the Author: John Preston Arthur was born in
1851 in Columbia, South Carolina. After relocating to Asheville, North Carolina, in 1887, he was appointed Secretary of the
Street Railway Company, and subsequently the Manager and Superintendent until 1894. Later, after becoming a lawyer, he
was encouraged by the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) to write a history of western North Carolina.
Recommended
Reading: Touring the Western North Carolina
Backroads (Touring the Backroads). Editorial
Review: This guidebook, unlike most, is so
encyclopedic in scope that I give it as a gift to newcomers to the area. It is also an invaluable reference for the visitor
who wants to see more than the fabulous Biltmore Estate. Even though I am a native of the area, I learned nearly everything
I know about Western North Carolina from this book alone and it is my primary reference.
I am still amazed at how much fact, history and folklore [just enough to bring alive the curve of the road, the odd landmark,
the abandoned building] is packed in its 300 pages. The author, who must have collapsed from exhaustion when she finished
it, takes you on a detailed tour, laid out by the tenth of the mile, of carefully drawn sections of backroads that you can
follow leisurely without getting lost. Continued below...
The author
is completely absent from the text. The lucid style will please readers who want the facts, not editorial comment. This book,
as well as the others in this publisher's backroads series, makes an excellent gift for anyone, especially the many seniors
who have relocated, or are considering relocating to this fascinating region. It is also a valuable reference for natives,
like me, who didn't know how much they didn't know.
NEW! Highly Recommended Viewing:Hillbilly:
The Real Story (2008) (The History
Channel). Description: Join host Billy Ray Cyrus on a journey into the hollers and runs
of Appalachia to discover the proud legacy of the region's mountain folk. Learn how hillbillies, long
misunderstood and maligned as isolated and backward, actually have a 300-year history of achievement and success that has
contributed significantly to our national identity. In this two-hour special you'll meet outcast immigrants, war heroes, isolated
backwoodsmen, hard working miners, fast moving moon shiners, religious warriors, musicians and statesmen. Continued below...
You'll learn
of their contributions, which include establishing the first labor unions, battling the British, and spawning some of the
most popular aspects of American culture today, like NASCAR and country music. And you'll see them in a whole new light. “The numerous candid interviews highlight this outstanding addition.”
Below is a list of additional 'must-read picks' for Western North Carolina and Southern Appalachia:
Western North Carolina
History Timeline, North Carolina Mountains Photos, Photographs, Pictures, Maps, Photo, Detailed North Carolina Mountain History
Facts, Historical Events of North Carolina Mountains, Essays
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