FREE U.S. SHIPPING ON $65+ ORDERS.

FREE U.S. SHIPPING ON $65+ ORDERS.

Search

This section doesn’t currently include any content. Add content to this section using the sidebar.

Image caption appears here

Add your deal, information or promotional text

Read

Stories about Modern Appalachian Life

HISTORY+CULTURE
As a skeptical person, I don’t believe in a lot. I don’t believe in Bigfoot tiptoeing around the backcountry, in ghosts haunting attics, or in myths like throwing salt over your shoulder. (That just makes a mess.) But I sure as hell believe in the magic of mountain communities, especially after Hurricane Helene.
read more
HISTORY+CULTURE
Mining historians often focus on southern parts of Appalachia, like West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, but life was just as hard in Pennsylvania’s mountains, where mine owners resorted to lynchings, rapes, and beatings during the mine wars.
read more
HISTORY+CULTURE
In "King Coal" on PBS, two middle-school girls grapple with their identities inside a state that’s doing the same.
read more
HISTORY+CULTURE
Since 1944, Smokey Bear has taught us the importance of snuffing out campfires and never playing with matches. Now that we know some forest fires are good, experts are asking if Smokey is still “on message.”
read more
HISTORY+CULTURE
Since 1985, Apple Country Woodcrafters has donated 25,000 wooden toys in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Their workshop is straight out of the North Pole.
read more
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.
read more
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.
read more
HISTORY+CULTURE
Chasing big incentives, telecommuters and remote workers are moving to the mountains of West Virginia and Johnson City, Tennessee.
read more
HISTORY+CULTURE
Dolly Parton's charitable acts are legendary. With these eight acts of kindness, she proved she's the Patron Saint of Appalachia.
read more
HISTORY+CULTURE
The old Germanic tradition of Belsnickel's nighttime visit made Christmas in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley downright terrifying!
read more
HISTORY+CULTURE
I was raised to think single-wide trailers were for desperate people. Buying one showed me just how wrong I was.
read more
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.


LISTEN NOW


"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.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

A NEW DAY: RESTORING MY FAMILY HOMEPLACE

A ROCKY ROAD TO THE DEARING HOMEPLACE

COUSIN EDNA, AGE 101, SINGS THE TEXAS RANGERS

read more