Quick Take on the Early Years: Incorporation, De-/Re-incorporation, Annexation, and Mini-Boom, 1889-1925 When West Asheville–already on the way toward development and modernization–was incorporated on February 9, 1889, the language of…
Read moreCotton Mill Colic vs. the Land of the Sky: From Gastonia to Asheville
The nearly two dozen posts I have published so far have focused on the Whisnant family, the first of whom entered the North Carolina Piedmont in the 1750s. My Whisnant grandparents,…
Read moreHow’s That Again?: Some New Angles on Asheville and Western North Carolina History
Perennial Problems with “Land of the Sky” History Since it first appeared in 1875, the “Land of the Sky” descriptor for Asheville has been perennially present, enticing and marketable.…
Read moreHow Did 1900 Asheville Happen?: A Retrospective in Four Parts–1850-1900
This post is a Table of Contents guide to what–from time to time over the next while–will become a series of four retrospective posts, each focusing on a topic central to…
Read more“The Land of the Sky”: How a Phrase Went So Far, So Fast, and Lasted So Long
One of a three-part series, best read in order: 1. Asheville as “The Land of the Sky”: The Novel, and a Phrase That Stuck 2. “The Land of the Sky”:…
Read more“The Land of the Sky”: A Brief Guide to the Novel and Its Moment
One of a three-part series, best read in order: 1. Asheville as “The Land of the Sky”: The Novel, and a Phrase That Stuck 2. “The Land of the Sky”:…
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