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Stories about Modern Appalachian Life

HISTORY+CULTURE
Dr. Daniel B. Caton once saw things in the sky he couldn't explain, the Brown Mountain Lights. He has spent decades trying to figure out this Burke County, N.C. mystery.
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HISTORY+CULTURE
For over two decades, Mildred — a soda-sipping, selfie-loving bear — charmed visitors at Grandfather Mountain, the highest peak in the Blue Ridge.
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HISTORY+CULTURE
Chasing big incentives, telecommuters and remote workers are moving to the mountains of West Virginia and Johnson City, Tennessee.
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HISTORY+CULTURE
Dolly Parton's charitable acts are legendary. With these eight acts of kindness, she proved she's the Patron Saint of Appalachia.
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HISTORY+CULTURE
The old Germanic tradition of Belsnickel's nighttime visit made Christmas in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley downright terrifying!
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HISTORY+CULTURE
I was raised to think single-wide trailers were for desperate people. Buying one showed me just how wrong I was.
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HISTORY+CULTURE

"Under my basement stairs, there’s a toilet, and that toilet was for the help. They had to go to the bathroom in the basement because white people did not want them using their restroom." 


If you've spent time in older Southern homes, there's a good chance you've encountered a toilet like mine. Tucked under the basement stairs of our 1927 foursquare in Roanoke, Virginia, it's where the help used the bathroom, and the help, back then, was almost always Black. 

I wince whenever I walk by it, on the way to our basement fridge or getting Christmas decorations. It's a grim reminder of a mean-spirited era, one none of us created but we all inherited. The folks at Practical Preservation podcast recently invited me to talk about how we can face the full histories of our homes — the good stuff and the grim stuff.


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"The trend I see in preservation is to acknowledge all the history," Danielle Groshong-Keperling said during our interview. She's the host of this weekly preservationpalooza, which covers everything from old smokehouses to historic gardens. It's been named as a great podcast for historic preservation fans by The National Trust for Historic Preservation. 

We also chatted about my family homeplace and tough choices we make to save money during the restoration process. When replacing long-gone steel casement windows, I once replicated the originals using wood rather than steel. 

"We took it as close as we could," I said, "without going broke and having to sell our cars!"

If you've ever restored an historic home, we'd love to hear about your trials, joys, and discoveries. Please be sure to leave a comment below.

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A NEW DAY: RESTORING MY FAMILY HOMEPLACE

A ROCKY ROAD TO THE DEARING HOMEPLACE

COUSIN EDNA, AGE 101, SINGS THE TEXAS RANGERS

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HISTORY+CULTURE
Texas Rangers, Company D, 1894

I didn't even know I had a cousin Edna until my mid-thirties. As my interest in (perhaps obsession with) our old family farm grew, my grandma said I had to meet Edna and her twin sister Elma. They were raised in Stewartsville, Virginia, near the farm my husband and I now own

When I first visited the twins in 2008, they regaled me with old stories for three hours — who was kind, who was difficult, who plowed their land stark nekkid in the height of summer!

These ladies remembered it all. 

Sadly, Elma has since passed, but Edna is going strong and on tech's cutting edge. At age 101, she began making TikTok-worthy videos, in which she sings tunes learned from older relatives. This one — "The Texas Rangers" — was taught to her when my great, great grandfather William Byrd Ferguson visited.


"That night after supper, we sat by the fireplace, and Byrd Ferguson sang this song and patted his foot to keep time." 


This man came of age during the Civil War and remembered hiding his daddy — a soldier who deserted his post more than once to help his destitute family. When the military came looking for Byrd's father, the family would spirit him off to the woods until the search party gave up and moved on.

To have a first-person account of Byrd's life is downright remarkable, and to have Edna alive, kicking, and recording her memories is a true gift. Please consider sharing her video because this lovely lady deserves to be internet famous!



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ONE SONG: THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE

NPR: MOTHER MABEL CARTER'S LIFETIME OF LABOR

THE ROANOKE TIMES: 89-YEAR-OLD BUILDS HER FIRST BANJO

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HISTORY+CULTURE
Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash.

"We as humans need to address and acknowledge that our actions are changing bear behavior and causing conflicts. Managing our habits, understanding how they impact bears and adjusting our activities will solve bear-human conflicts, not hunting." 

Change.org petition with over 8,000 signatures

After a decades-long ban on black bear hunting in North Carolina's bear sanctuaries, residents there will be permitted to hunt in three different bear sanctuaries later this year.  

North Carolina’s Wildlife Resources Commission voted tooverturn the state’s bear hunting ban in designated sanctuaries that was first enacted in 1971 when the black bear population was fewer than 1,000. Since then, the species’ numbers skyrocketed, and the black bear population is now estimated to be at 15,000. TheUniversity of North Carolina Charlotte Urban Institute said that over the last 30 years the population has expanded at an estimated rate of 6 percent per year. 

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Story by Shirin Ali
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HISTORY+CULTURE
An artist's rendering of what Telosa might look like. Courtesy of Telosa.

Lore’s proposed new city would generate its own power through renewable energy – its central power would have a photovoltaic roof. It would grow at least some of its own food through aeroponic farms. It would be designed so that almost everything – work, school, amenities – would be no more than 15 minutes away.

Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson have been to space (maybe). Elon Musk wants to go to Mars.

Another billionaire has more earthbound ideas. Marc Lore wants to build a new city, a $400 billion eco-friendly metropolis that makes use of all the latest technology and would be the “most open, most fair and most inclusive city in the world.”

He also might build it somewhere in Appalachia.

Now do I have your attention?

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Story by Dwayne Yancey
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HISTORY+CULTURE
Photo by Dawn Gaddis on Unsplash.

“It’s where I made a living, where I raised four girls...How quiet it was at night, and the stars that’s another thing that stood out to me, you didn’t have no street lights, didn’t have no people.”

— Rex Caughron, among the last people to live in Cades Cove, a popular destination within Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Cades Cove is a national treasure, a jewel of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but Rex Caughron doesn’t bother much with going anymore.
“Very seldom do I go through the Cove,” he said. “It don’t look like Cades Cove to me.”

In another life, Cades Cove – or at least a hefty piece of it – would have been Caughron’s birthright.

The son of Kermit and Lois Caughron, Rex is a fifth generation descendant of the Shields that first settled the area, carved out a life among the mountains’ natural beauty.

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Story by John Gullion
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HISTORY+CULTURE

We've never posted a joint message like this, but as a same-sex couple, we wanted to say thank you for the tremendous warmth and support we’ve found in our mountain valley.


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People from other places too often assume the worst about Appalachian folk, but our neighbors in Roanoke, where we write this blog and sell mountain-made goods, buck every stereotype. In fact, our whole region is more diverse and welcoming than outsiders imagine.

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So thank you to all our allies and happy Pride Month to all our LGBTQ+ friends, family, and customers!

Alex & Mark

Co-leads, The Revivalist &

the Roanoke-based shop

Appalachian Revival

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