Integration at Black Mountain College
Images from NC State Archives, Western Regional Office by Anne Chesky Smith In the early- to mid-1900s, the Swannanoa Valley, like most places in the South, was segregated. …
A Murder on Bull Creek
by Anne Chesky Smith Recently sold to the developers of Sovereign Oaks, the nearly 160 acres of Craigsfield Farm in the Riceville community had been owned by the same family—descendants …
Social Justice at Blue Ridge Assembly
by Melanie English Educator, author and religious leader Willis Duke Weatherford surveyed surveyed the original boundary line of the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly conference center in 1906. As a student …
The Flood of 1916
Museum takes a look at devastating 1916 flood Staff reports2:06 p.m. EST November 9, 2016 After a week of rain, “the heavens opened with a deluge” on July 15 and 16, 1916, local …
From Depot to Mountain House, explore the trail intrepid travelers did
Black Mountain News2:04 p.m. EDT October 19, 2016 (Photo: Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center) by Anne Chesky Smith More than a century ago, travelers heading for the top of …
E.W. Grove’s Stone & Sand Quarry
The Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center will lead a hike overlooking the historic North Fork Valley on Saturday, October 8. This moderate, three-mile hike on Grove Stone and Sand …
Round Knob Lodge and Railroad History
Just a few hundred feet beyond where the man-made fountain, known as Andrews Geyser, shoots water 80 feet into the air lies the historic Round Knob Lodge. Built in the …
Finding Freedom at Roseland Gardens
Finding freedom at Roseland Gardens Anne Chesky Smith, Special to The Black Mountain News 1:44 p.m. EDT June 1, 2016 “Black Mountain Blues” I’m bound for Black Mountain, me and …
You Have to Start a Thing: The South’s First Female Legislator, Lillian Exum Clement
by Anne Chesky Smith The results of the July 3, 1920 Buncombe County Democratic primary were not just a victory for Lillian Exum Clement, but for thousands of women across …
The Alexander Farm and Inn
The Alexander Farm and Inn by Anne Chesky Smith Soon after the first …