The Road to Peppers Creek

The Road to Peppers Creek

Ruth Lawrence, state supervisor of Negro Elementary Schools, reported, after a visit to Mitchell County in 1950, that she observed 7 boys and girls “learning their lessons” in a church at the foot of an unidentified mountain. She reported that this was the only black...
Cleaning Our Toes

Cleaning Our Toes

According to the Cherokee, a river is referred to as the Long Man with his head in the mountains and his feet in the sea. The North Toe River’s head is at Sugar Gap in the mountains of Avery County and the South Toe’s head is in the Black Mountains near the Blue Ridge...
Tragedy at Berry Gap

Tragedy at Berry Gap

The coming of the Clinchfield Railroad to the region in the early 1900s was a boon for the area and opened up the isolated mountain region to the outside world. The building of the railroad through the mountains was an arduous task and an engineering marvel that still...
J.J. Britt: Defender of Freedom

J.J. Britt: Defender of Freedom

On 19 October 1899, J.J. Britt, presiding over the North Carolina Republican Party meeting in Statesville opposing the suffrage amendment, the Campaign for Freedom In North Carolina, said: “We have entered upon a period of unparalleled prosperity in every line of...