Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Everyday life’ Category

The View From Graphite

Posted in Depression Years, Everyday life, Flood of 1916, Trains, _Interviewee: Mildred Kelly, tagged , , , on September 12, 2009 | Comments Off

The McDowell community of Graphite, or Graphiteville, is located just down the mountain from Ridgecrest and takes its name from the mining activity that took place there around 1900. Mildred Kelly has lived in Graphite her entire life,  as did her mother and grandmother before her. Her home is located just across the yard from [...]

Read Full Post »

Lake Tahoma Steak House: Bear Suppers, $1.50 Buffet, and Cornflakes for Tommy Dorsey

Posted in Everyday life, _Interviewee: Pete Gibbs, tagged , , on September 12, 2009 | Comments Off

For decades, a major draw for visitors to McDowell County was the Lake Tahoma Steak House and adjacent cabins. Before the interstate was built, this spot at the junction of Highways 70 and 80 was a hot spot for locals and tourists alike. The restaurant offered one of the first buffets around and the cabins were considered [...]

Read Full Post »

Women’s Work

Posted in Arts & Crafts, Carsons/Carson House, Everyday life, _Interviewee: James Haney, tagged , , on September 12, 2009 | Comments Off

We’ve all heard the old saying “A woman’s work is never done”, and that was especially true on a farm or plantation in the old days. Dr. James Haney of the historic Carson House takes us on a tour of an exhibit in one of the upper rooms of the home devoted to “women’s work”.  [...]

Read Full Post »

Growing Up on Crooked Creek

Posted in Depression Years, Everyday life, Farming, World War II, _Interviewee: Willard Burgin, tagged , , on September 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Willard Burgin makes his home on land originally cleared by his great-grandfather in the upper reaches  of the Crooked Creek community, barely this side of the Buncombe County line.  He’s just up the road from the old Mount Hebron Bible Institute where his parents met and where he briefly went to school himself.  Nestled peacefully at the foot of [...]

Read Full Post »

Depression Era Programs Benefit McDowell: The WPA and CCC

Posted in Depression Years, Everyday life, _Interviewee: Terrell Finley, tagged , , on September 11, 2009 | Comments Off

When Franklin Roosevelt became President in 1933, nearly one-fourth of Americans were unemployed. FDR set about immediately establishing the programs of the “New Deal” to address this critical problem. Two of the most successful were the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). The WPA put men to work constructing public buildings, [...]

Read Full Post »

North Cove Conversation

Posted in Civil War, Depression Years, Everyday life, Farming, North Cove, Trains, _Interviewee: Clara McCall, _Interviewee: Freddie Brown, tagged , , on September 1, 2009 | Comments Off

The view from Freddie Brown’s front porch Due to the rugged terrain and distance from the closest towns, the North Cove and Ashford communities in the northern tip of McDowell County remained relatively isolated until the mid- twentieth century. Electricity didn’t arrive until 1947, and telephones were rare until about 1960.  Nearly everyone farmed and the community was [...]

Read Full Post »

Sheriff John Laughridge Remembered

Posted in Everyday life, _Interviewee: Jeanette Harris, tagged , on August 31, 2009 | Comments Off

John A. Laughridge was sheriff of McDowell County from 1910 to 1918. He is a legendary figure,  both for the way he discharged his duties as well as for his kindness and fairness to everyone he met. In this clip, his granddaughter Jeanette Harris shares some of her favorite stories about her grandfather. Plus, we’ll hear from Sheriff [...]

Read Full Post »

Old Fort Resident Remembers the Self-Reliant Life, a Cross-Country Adventure, and the Friendship of a Lifetime

Posted in Depression Years, Everyday life, Farming, Old Fort, _Interviewee: Binkie Adams (transcript), _Interviewee: Jessica Gibbs, tagged , on August 15, 2009 | Comments Off

Jessica “Jep” Gibbs was born in 1913.  The majority of her life has been lived in the Old Fort area, and she currently resides just minutes from where she grew up. In addition to her other stories, in this clip she talks quite a bit about her friend Binkie Adams, daughter of the visionary Col. Daniel W. [...]

Read Full Post »

Life in the Clinchfield Mill Village

Posted in Everyday life, Marion, Mill Village, Textiles, _Interviewee: Glenys Gilbert, tagged , , on August 13, 2009 | Comments Off

Like many small southern towns, Marion was home to several textile mill villages beginning in the second decade of the 1900s. Labor unrest led to strikes and eventually to a bloody confrontation in East Marion in 1929. That violent episode has overshadowed much of the rest of McDowell County textile mill history, but the mill village [...]

Read Full Post »

Harold McCurry of Montford Cove Reminisces on the Front Porch of the Albertus Ledbetter House

Posted in Everyday life, Farming, Montford Cove, Spring House Farm (Ledbetter House), _Interviewee: Harold McCurry, tagged , on August 12, 2009 | Comments Off

Stepping through the front door of the Albertus Ledbetter House could be the closest thing to stepping back in time you’ll ever experience. Lovingly restored by Arthur and Zee Campbell, the house  has all its original doors with the original locks and hinges.  The 1826 spring house, with rock retaining wall and sluice, has been brought back [...]

Read Full Post »

Special Delivery- No Cash Needed

Posted in Everyday life, _Interviewee: Dean Branch, tagged , on August 11, 2009 | Comments Off

Dean Branch now lives in Marion and spent much of his youth in the mountains of Mitchell, Yancey, and McDowell counties. He’s a collector of historical oddities and a great spinner of stories. Here, he tells us about “Little Tom”, a mountain midwife who rendered his services in exchange for some “refreshment.”   Listen to Dean [...]

Read Full Post »

Daughter of Former Sheriff Remembers Roller Skating in the Courthouse, a Jailbreak Thwarted by an Older Sister, and More

Posted in Everyday life, Marion, _Interviewee: Betty Gibbs, tagged , on August 11, 2009 | Comments Off

Back in the 1930s, being sheriff of McDowell County meant that your entire family became part of the process.  Betty Adkins Gibbs, daughter of Sheriff Oscar Adkins, remembers how living in the courthouse just steps away from the jail cells and the court room got everyone in the family involved in some way (willingly or not).  In [...]

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.