One of my earliest childhood memories is in a big, old house full of people gathered for Christmas dinner. In a dining room with a large table and wood floors, the chandelier lit with candles dripped down onto the table. At just five years old or so, it was a method of lighting I had … Continue reading Farming Family connections in Fairview: 52 Weeks, 52 Communities
Sometimes things just make you wonder, like the name "Chicken Hill." As a Buncombe County native, I remember asking my dad as we would cut through West Haywood to avoid (what we called then) the Westgate Bridge, "Why is that place called Chicken Hill?" and his response, always trying to teach me better observe my … Continue reading Where are All the Chickens on Chicken Hill? : 52 Weeks 52 Communities
It’s hard to say exactly where the Cane Creek community begins and ends. Maybe the area between the Limestone and Fairview fire districts? Is it a mile-wide corridor along the entire length of Cane Creek stretching plumb from South Asheville nearly to Gerton? It’s really hard to say, but however you want to describe the … Continue reading Catawba Grapes and Scenic Views of Old Charlotte Highway in Cane Creek: 52 Weeks 52 Communities
The voices of our community members are one way we learn about our past. Eleanor Newcomb Rice knew this, and made it her work to collect the voices of "Old Candlertown" for many years. Rice was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1924, but when she was young, her parents moved her and her three older … Continue reading Voices from Old Candlertown: 52 Weeks, 52 Communities
Fetching its name from Hezekiah Barnard, who owned stock stand and inn near the Forks of Ivy in the 19th century, Barnardsville is one of Buncombe County’s most rural communities. Things get a little fuzzy on where exactly Barnardsville ends and Democrat and Dillingham begin, but we'll get into that when we look at those … Continue reading 52 Weeks, 52 Communities: Barnardsville,What’s in the North Carolina Collection?
