by mcncdmin | Oct 6, 2020 | Economics, Icons
Bradley Eugene Ragan was born 14 May 1915 in Coleman, Georgia, the son of W.E. and Lillian Brown Ragan. Ragan was the founder and Chairman of the Board of Brad Ragan, Inc., (BRI) the “largest tire retreading company in the world” and “parent company of Carolina Tire,...
by mcncdmin | Sep 16, 2020 | Economics, History
Indigenous people came through the area where Cane Creek meets the Toe River at least four thousand years ago on their way to their hunting camp up Cane Creek near Sandy Branch. In 1540, de Soto came close to the area on his way to his overnight camp at Webb then on...
by mcncdmin | Sep 16, 2020 | Economics
Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company opened a new exchange building on Walnut Avenue in Spruce Pine in May 1953. This new, larger structure replaced the old telephone office shown above. Calvin Hall recalls that the old office also sat on Walnut, but closer...
by mcncdmin | Aug 26, 2020 | Economics, History, Icons
Robert Blalock Phillips was born 10/30/1902 in the Snow Hill community of Mitchell County. He was the son of W.S. (Woodfin Squibb) Phillips (1874-1952) and Sophia Blalock Phillips (1876-1906). He had 4 older siblings, and his mother gave birth to another child prior...
by mcncdmin | Aug 3, 2020 | Economics, History, People, Places
Bill Masters is credited with bringing the first electric lights to Toecane and Bakersville from energy generated by his water wheel in a 3-story mill in Toecane. According to living relatives, Bill was a voracious reader with a table in his home piled with stacks of...
by mcncdmin | Jun 22, 2020 | Economics, Icons
Two of the oldest stores in Spruce Pine shared an intertwined history during their existence. Robert Shell (R.S.) along with his wife Annie McCall opened his first store in 1914, moving to several locations before settling downtown in the Peterson Building. In 1928,...
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