History

In politics you often have the boss, the one who works behind the scenes, to pull the levers of power. Furnifold McLendel Simmons was the big boss of North Carolina politics early in the 20th century.

It’s the eternal home for the rich and famous, and for the poor and unknown. Located in Asheville, the Riverside Cemetery sits quietly and is often overlooked by residents and visitors.

Robert Babington was reading his newspaper in Gastonia in 1909, when he came across a disturbing article about a young crippled child who was refused admission to an orphanage because he was handicapped. Robert then realized that North Carolina had no hospital for handicapped children.

What’s unique about Rutherford College, North Carolina? Well, for one thing there is no college there. The small Burke County town built up around the college Robert Abernathy started in 1853; the town was later incorporated.

When outnumbered, a little ruse can work wonders.

Although the town he grew up in was – and still is – often called “Little Washington” to distinguish it from the nation’s capital, there was nothing little about Cecil’s imagination.

Most people think we have always received personal mail by going out to the mailbox. That has not always been the case.

James Kenan was a leader.

We’ve admired the basket weaver’s talent, as well as that of the wood carver and the folk dancer. And then we wonder, “Where did they learn to do that?”

No one goes to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill without hearing about the old Davie Poplar. It’s right there for all to see, right in the middle of campus.

North Carolina has long been associated with what many call the Bible Belt, and North Carolina Baptists have been a part of that fabric since it was a new colony.

Everyone loves a good show.

There is a difference. For those of us living in North Carolina, our state is different than South Carolina. Just like we are different than Virginia. So when newscasters refer to the “Carolinas” we know they are mistakenly lumping us together.

Asheville’s Habitat for Humanity ReStore will soon be selling Guatemalan roast coffee from Dynamite Roasting Co., a Black Mountain, NC-based artisan roaster of 100 percent certified-organic and fair-trade coffee.

Evan Jones’ faith was not fleeting, but it was movable.

Nothing is more American than New Year’s Day football, and the highlight is playing the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Right? Wrong.

William Lenoir had a defiant attitude.

George Warren was just looking for stones for his slingshot. He took some of the “greenish-colored rocks” to his home in Alexander County.

They were the Iron Dukes for a reason. The 1938 Duke regular season football team was both undefeated and unscored upon. Not a single point.

The wheels of government have always moved at a snail’s pace.

They were free. They didn’t know what to do.

Raleigh didn’t just happen … it was planned. The Revolutionary War was over. The North Carolina colony turned state wanted a fresh beginning, and what could be more new than a new state capital?

“We’re all Kituwah.”

Ben grew up wanting to be a soldier.

Hugh Hammond Bennett enjoyed playing in the dirt when growing up near Wadesboro in the 1880s, and that soil connection may have saved the nation.

Art was like most children born in 1923 – active and inquisitive. That is until he was three and an eye infection left him blind. He could’ve pitied himself, but his parents encouraged him to rise above his disability.

Eastern North Carolina was once like the wild, wild west.

Since 1870 the Cape Hatteras lighthouse has stood guard on the North Carolina coast; like a mother hen shielding her chicks, the lighthouse has warned ships of the ocean’s many perils.

Those are fighting words!

During the Great Depression, life was hard for everyone, and Vernon Rudolph was no exception. But at least he had a job helping his Kentucky uncle run his store.