A writer eager to explore the world feels the pull of his family homeplace in the pages of mountain authors’ words.
Forging a Family Tree
A writer discovers connections to his Appalachian past in the pages of a forgotten diary and among the headstones of a local cemetery, but deeper ties to past generations require a little more digging.
Houses of the Holy
Churches have played many roles in western North Carolina. During the week, they once drew children from miles around to attend school. On Saturdays, they became community centers for potlucks and dances. And on Sundays, parishioners still gather to worship, answering the call of the church bell’s peal.
Catching Up in Cataloochee
A hundred years ago, families called this lush valley in Haywood County home. Today, their descendants return each August to celebrate their roots and reconnect with neighbors that could’ve been.
Wilderness Refined in the Southern Mountains
Among the stone and pine in our southern mountains, monied gentry built their summer homes and established towns that helped define the area.
Lessons Learned on One-Lane Bridges
Across North Carolina, bridges connect us. And when those connections are a single lane wide, we learn more than just how to get from Point A to Point B.
O Little Town of Steam Engines
For members of a model railroad club in Hendersonville, a love of toy trains that started with a simple track beneath the Christmas tree now stretches across western North Carolina.
The Spirit of the Mountains in Hendersonville
An artist with a taste for brandy has transformed an abandoned building into The Brandy Bar, a space where complex fruit flavors mingle with colorful art.
Mountain Ripples
On a farm in a cove in the Smokies, a biologist turned cheesemaker is bringing a slice of woods back to life. Like a pebble tossed into a pond, every careful decision she makes, every creature she cares for, has a lasting effect on the forest she’s trying to save.
