Economics
The First Volunteer Fire Department in Bakersville
This Volunteer Fire Department, the first in Bakersville, NC, was originally known as the Mars Volunteer Fire Department, as noted on the truck’s hood (MVFD). O.D. Calhoun, operator of the Mars Theater in Bakersville was instrumental in helping the group raise the...
Spruce Pine was Hockey Town, USA
In 1982, Robert Bailey and Alvin Barrier, owners of the Buck Stove Corporation, embarked on a bold plan to redevelop the old Harris School property as an entertainment, shopping, dining, and lodging complex. They decided that the bridge between downtown Spruce Pine...
The Pate Family – 107 Years of Postal Service in Tipton Hill
Three generations of Pates have carried the mail along the roads of Tipton Hill, beginning in 1917 with Uriah Pate. Mr. Pate first rode a horse and sometimes a mule to deliver mail. One cold winter day, his mule slipped on the ice and pinned him to the ground. He was...
Skillful Mountain Girl
Pictured at her loom is Mae Gouge Huskins (1911-1984), daughter of Rev. John Anderson and Hulda Thomas Gouge. This photo belongs to Mae’s daughter, Betty Conley; it also appears in Cabins in the Laurel by Muriel Earley Sheppard. That 1935 volume about Mitchell...
Buster Brown Comes To Town!
Turning out when a celebrity visits town has always been commonplace, and when Buster Brown and his dog Tige stopped by the new Spruce Pine Store building in the 1920s, the whole town turned out to say hello. “I’m Buster Brown, and I live in a shoe. That’s my dog,...
SUMMERTIME!
These days our summer recreation and relaxation might involve kayaking or canoeing on the river or cooking hamburgers and hotdogs on a gas grill. However, the 2 photos from the 1950s in this week’s Looking Back show that Mitchell County residents have long enjoyed...
Stacy Buchanan Grist Mill
Joseph Stacy Buchanan (1866-1950) ground wheat and corn for many around Mitchell County. He caught his right arm in a belt and had to have it amputated above the elbow. He continued to work at the mill even after he lost his arm. Stacy Buchanan was the son of...
ROBY BUCHANAN, TIFFANY OF THE HILLS
Late summer brings the annual gem festivals, so we look back at a Mitchell County gemologist who was one of the Mineral and Gen Festival’s early participants. Roby Milton Buchanan (1903-1974) has been judged the greatest jewel craftsman of the Blue Ridge Mountains,...
Chestnut Flats Mine
Initial mining in Mitchell County, in the 1880s, was for mica, dug in a few large operations but also in small family mines which brought in extra money when men were not busy farming. By the 20th century, however, the county was found to be rich in other minerals,...
Blacksmith Wilson Smith Jones
Blacksmiths were once an essential element in any community, manufacturing and repairing items which couldn’t be purchased – or if they could be, were too difficult or expensive to bring into the mountains. These skilled tradesmen produced axe heads, plowshares, pots...