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Belk-Broome Store in Spruce Pine
The Belk store was a large part of the Spruce Pine community for nearly 75 years. Initially opening in 1928 in a building next to today’s Dellinger’s Christian Book Store, it was operated like many other Belk enterprises: the Charlotte-based company joined with...
Bakersville Cafes
Bakersville has had a fair share of eating establishments over the years. The first were probably the dining rooms of the two hotels in town. Among standalones in the 1940’s was Mike White’s Café, located where the Bakersville Town Hall is today. Wash Sparks’ Café was...
Mitchell County’s Sam Brinkley and His Famous Beard
Sam Brinkley just purely got tired of shaving. At 26 years old his beard grew so fast that he had to shave several times a day to be presentable. At that point he said enough was enough and was determined never to shave again – and he famously kept that promise....
Prized Possessions
Just as they are for many of us today, the latest technology gadgets were often prized possessions for folks in the past. Here is a family so pleased with their new-fangled contraptions they wanted their photograph made with them. The exact date is not known, but...
Miss Helen McBee, Gem of Mitchell County
Helen Elizabeth McBee (1909-2005) was born in Los Angeles, CA, daughter of Attorney John C. and Margaret Chambers McBee. Her father, a Mitchell County native, practiced law for over 50 years; the Mitchell County Historical Society’s museum is currently housed in her...
Scotty and Lulu Bell Wiseman & The Carolina Barn Dance
From September 1949, to November 1954, the Carolina Barn Dance was broadcast from coast to coast on the Liberty Broadcasting System. The program originated at the Carolina Theatre on Lower Street in Spruce Pine and was sent to the network’s Texas studios over a...
DOC GOUGE, BELOVED MITCHELL COUNTY PHYSICIAN
Born in 1892, Arthur Edward Gouge was the son of William and Minerva Sparks Gouge. His father was determined his son become a doctor, a daunting aspiration in those days, but through his own and his family’s hard work, A.E. Gouge graduated Bowman Academy in...