Land Archive

  • As undeveloped land shrank in the East, the desire to preserve a wilderness experience intensified. In 1925 a forester, Benton […]

    Appalachian Trail

    Posted on October 20, 2010 | No Comments
    As undeveloped land shrank in the East, the desire to preserve a wilderness experience intensified. In 1925 a forester, Benton […]

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  • Wilma Dykeman of Asheville, North Carolina, was a major Appalachian author. Her novels “The Tall Woman,” “The Far Family,” and “Return the Innocent Earth” vividly evoke life in the region as it experienced rapid change between the Civil War and the 20th century.

    Wilma Dykeman

    Posted on August 30, 2010 | No Comments
    Wilma Dykeman of Asheville, North Carolina, was a major Appalachian author. Her novels “The Tall Woman,” “The Far Family,” and “Return the Innocent Earth” vividly evoke life in the region as it experienced rapid change between the Civil War and the 20th century.

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  •   Essay By Timothy N. Osment History, M.A. WCU 2008 The Blue Ridge Parkway, stretching 469 miles between the Shenandoah […]

    Blue Ridge Parkway

    Posted on August 30, 2010 | No Comments
      Essay By Timothy N. Osment History, M.A. WCU 2008 The Blue Ridge Parkway, stretching 469 miles between the Shenandoah […]

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  • Industrial logging came to Appalachia with the railroad in the late 19th century. As timber supplies in the Northeast and the Great Lakes regions dwindled, National Lumber Corporation shifted to the vast hardwood forests of the Southern mountains.

    Logging

    Posted on August 30, 2010 | No Comments
    Industrial logging came to Appalachia with the railroad in the late 19th century. As timber supplies in the Northeast and the Great Lakes regions dwindled, National Lumber Corporation shifted to the vast hardwood forests of the Southern mountains.

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  • Towns do not survive forever. Western North Carolina has a number of its own lost towns. They disappeared for a number of reasons.

    Ghost Towns

    Posted on August 17, 2010 | No Comments
    Towns do not survive forever. Western North Carolina has a number of its own lost towns. They disappeared for a number of reasons.

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  • Over 700 million years ago two gigantic plates within the earth’s crust slammed together. Among the results was the creation of one of the highest peaks in the Blue Ridge Mountain range, Grandfather Mountain. At 5,964 feet, the mountain is one of Appalachia’s most visited attractions and one of its most unique natural wonders.

    Grandfather Mountain

    Posted on August 17, 2010 | No Comments
    Over 700 million years ago two gigantic plates within the earth’s crust slammed together. Among the results was the creation of one of the highest peaks in the Blue Ridge Mountain range, Grandfather Mountain. At 5,964 feet, the mountain is one of Appalachia’s most visited attractions and one of its most unique natural wonders.

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  • America’s first National Parks were created out West.  By the early 20th century, Easterners who feared the loss of nature […]

    Great Smoky Mountains National Park

    Posted on August 17, 2010 | No Comments
    America’s first National Parks were created out West.  By the early 20th century, Easterners who feared the loss of nature […]

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  • Thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers, Native Americans, particularly the Cherokees, inhabited the mountain region now known as Appalachia. Within the boundaries of present-day Haywood County, the Cherokee were scattered throughout several villages.

    Lake Logan

    Posted on August 17, 2010 | No Comments
    Thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers, Native Americans, particularly the Cherokees, inhabited the mountain region now known as Appalachia. Within the boundaries of present-day Haywood County, the Cherokee were scattered throughout several villages.

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  • The Grassy Mountain area of Mitchell and McDowell counties was long a traditional settlement of Scotch-Irish families. In the summer of 1909, Charlotte lawyer Heriot Clarkson discovered the Alpine-like setting and laid plans for a resort colony.

    Little Switzerland

    Posted on August 17, 2010 | No Comments
    The Grassy Mountain area of Mitchell and McDowell counties was long a traditional settlement of Scotch-Irish families. In the summer of 1909, Charlotte lawyer Heriot Clarkson discovered the Alpine-like setting and laid plans for a resort colony.

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  • Of the ten highest mountains in the eastern United States, six are in the Black Mountain Range of western North Carolina. The most famous of these is Mount Mitchell, which at 6684 feet is the tallest peak east of the Mississippi River.

    Mount Mitchell

    Posted on August 17, 2010 | No Comments
    Of the ten highest mountains in the eastern United States, six are in the Black Mountain Range of western North Carolina. The most famous of these is Mount Mitchell, which at 6684 feet is the tallest peak east of the Mississippi River.

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  • The Southern Appalachian Mountains are not high enough to have a natural tree line or Alpine zone, yet the region has hundreds of treeless areas called balds. Their origins- whether or man-made or the product of climatic changes- still remain a mystery.

    Mountain Balds

    Posted on August 17, 2010 | No Comments
    The Southern Appalachian Mountains are not high enough to have a natural tree line or Alpine zone, yet the region has hundreds of treeless areas called balds. Their origins- whether or man-made or the product of climatic changes- still remain a mystery.

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  • Old-Growth forests conjures up visions of the great forests that once covered most of eastern north America, and of towering trees undisturbed by logging and human settlement. They provide a vital link to our environmental past and are the preferred and sometime only habitat of a number of species.

    Old Growth Forests

    Posted on August 17, 2010 | No Comments
    Old-Growth forests conjures up visions of the great forests that once covered most of eastern north America, and of towering trees undisturbed by logging and human settlement. They provide a vital link to our environmental past and are the preferred and sometime only habitat of a number of species.

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  • In 1885 Chimney Rock began its long history as a tourist attraction when the first stairway to its 315-foot granite summit was completed. Missouri native Lucius Moore purchased the spectacular rock outcropping overlooking Hickory Nut Gorge in 1902.

    Chimney Rock

    Posted on August 17, 2010 | No Comments
    In 1885 Chimney Rock began its long history as a tourist attraction when the first stairway to its 315-foot granite summit was completed. Missouri native Lucius Moore purchased the spectacular rock outcropping overlooking Hickory Nut Gorge in 1902.

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  • Charles Frazier’s acclaimed novel Cold Mountain presents geography as symbolic of human conditions. To his central character Inman, the mountains represent healing and salvation and are the goal of his trek homeward.

    Cold Mountain

    Posted on August 17, 2010 | No Comments
    Charles Frazier’s acclaimed novel Cold Mountain presents geography as symbolic of human conditions. To his central character Inman, the mountains represent healing and salvation and are the goal of his trek homeward.

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  • In the long history of invasive species in Appalachia, no story is more striking that that of the European wild boar. Often called Russian boars. . .

    European Wild Boars

    Posted on August 17, 2010 | No Comments
    In the long history of invasive species in Appalachia, no story is more striking that that of the European wild boar. Often called Russian boars. . .

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