The History Press

Henderson County is known for its country inns, houses of worship and picturesque landscapes.

Behind all the beautiful scenery is a colorful history that runs deeper than any creek or holler. Revel in the family and farming heritage of Edneyville, Clear Creek, Green River Township, Hoopers Creek and Fruitland. Relive the resort era when the region boomed as a tourist destination. Learn how the wee population center of Goodluck came by its name, and inhale the sweet fragrance of apple blossoms that bloom every springtime. Drawing from interviews, documents and a gallery of both contemporary and time-honored photography, author and researcher Terry Ruscin renders his adopted Henderson County in vivid detail.

Tragically, relatively little of this flourishing nation and its rich culture has survived. Its stories, however, live on today.

In this priceless and engaging collection, native Cherokee and professional storyteller Lloyd Arneach recounts tales such as how the bear lost his long bushy tail and how the first strawberry came to be.

A news media frenzy hurled the quiet resort community of Pinehurst into the national spotlight in 1935 when hotel magnate Ellsworth Statler's adopted daughter was discovered dead early one February morning, only weeks after her wedding day.

A politically charged coroner's inquest failed to determine a definitive cause of death, and the following civil action continued to expose sordid details of the couple's lives. More than half a century later, the story was all but forgotten when local resident Diane McLellan spied an old photograph at a yard sale and became obsessed with solving the mystery. Her enthusiastic sleuthing captured the attention of Southern Pines resident and journalist Steve Bouser, who takes readers back to those blustery winter days so long ago in the search to reveal what really happened to Elva Statler Davidson.

In this unique look at historic crimes of the Piedmont, Frances Casstevens offers readers a glimpse into the criminal mind and the consequences of criminal actions. No matter what piques your interest - be it Civil War stories or young love torn apart by tragedy - Casstevens provides sure-fire ammunition to keep the pages turning. Discover the true-life tales of the outlaw Jesse Dobbins, or of Daisy Hunt, a pregnant twenty-year-old who watches helplessly as her beloved bleeds to death in the snow. Read the story of the infamous Charles Lawson, a man who did the unthinkable - kill himself, his wife and his six children on Christmas Day, 1929. These are but a few examples of the featured tragedies that have shocked the North Carolina Piedmont in the last 150 years.

Frances Casstevens, historian, genealogist, and former professor at Wake Forest University, delivers facts in a spellbinding manner. Death in North Carolina's Piedmont: Tales of Murder, Suicide and Causes Unknown meticulously presents the details of each case and leaves it to you, the reader, to draw your own conclusions.

Amid the rocky crags and misty hollows of North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountainsgrew a generation of hardy, fascinating characters became the stuff of legend.

This entertaining collection of biographical portraits captures the essence of the historic figures of the Smokies. Discover the tale of the bold Captain Kennedy and his ragtag band of Mohican and British comrades, who became French and Indian Warheroes; how Henry Von Plott became a renowned bear hunter and breeder of the world's premier hunting dog; and the story of Yonaguska, considered to be the last truly great chief of the Cherokee Nation.

Join Von Plott's great-nephew and prolific local author Bob Plott as he weaves the lively stories of these vibrant characters and their lasting legacy on the people who will always call the area home.

Relive the days of Currituck, North Carolina when farming and hunting was what brought the world together.

In this insider account, Currituck native Travis Morris takes readers into the blind and regales them with stories of powerful men and their guns in a bygone era when duck hunting clubs flourished and featured prominently in local politics, neighbors feuded over duck hunters' rights and interloping men of industry swept in to build lodges. Senators, governors and presidents came, and these are the untold stories of their hunts. From the duck hunting vacation that John F. Kennedy planned but never took to Kerr Scott's apple-flavored tobacco, Morris and friends expose the guileless and the guilty alike in this lighthearted collection.

The Outer Banks is much more than an idyllic vacation destination. A day at a time through history, it has claimed its place as a colorful region of the Old North State.

Author and historian Sarah Downing offers a daily look at the quirky and fascinating stories from the region's four-hundred-year history. During a fierce hand-to-hand battle off Ocracoke Island on November 22, 1718, Lieutenant Robert Maynard killed the infamous pirate Blackbeard with five pistol shots and twenty sword cuts and slashes. On February 14, 1992, a sick seal caught a ride to safety on a Coast Guard patrol boat. Add a salty slice of history a day or a month at time with this celebration of Outer Banks heritage.

Discover the story behind the potent partnership between High Point University and the furniture industry.

High Point University was founded in 1924 as a small liberal arts college. The High Point Furniture Market was founded in 1921 and has since grown to be the largest wholesale furniture market in the world. Over the last century industry and university have developed an ongoing, mutually beneficial partnership that has resulted in industry-specific programs being offered to students at the school. Discover the history of this relationship and the impact that real-world exposure has had on both the furniture business and the students. Read the stories of several High Point University graduates who are successfully employed in various positions throughout the industry.

High Point professor and furniture industry veteran Richard Bennington unearths the history of a dynamic partnership.

Civil War scholar Michael Hardy delves into the story of North Carolina's Confederate past, from civilians to soldiers, as these Tar Heels proved they were a force to be reckoned with.

"First at Bethel, farthest at Gettysburg and Chickamauga and last at Appomattox" is a phrase that is often used to encapsulate the role of North Carolina's Confederate soldiers. Tar Heels witnessed the pitched battles of New Bern, Averysboro and Bentonville, as well as incursions like Sherman's March and Stoneman's Raid. The state was one of the last to leave the Union but contributed more men and sustained more dead than any other Southern state. This inclusive history of the Old North State is a must-read for any Civil War buff!

Join author Lewis Bowling as he recounts the history of the Duke University Men's Basketball program through the lens of over 200 vintage images.

The Duke University men's basketball program is certainly one such tradition, and Lewis Bowling has assembled more than two hundred brilliant photographs spanning the entire history of the program to show it. Enjoy a front-row view as this distinctive collection recounts Blue Devil glory, from the first teams of Trinity College through Eddie Cameron's masterful guidance and, of course, the unrivaled success under the watch of Coach K. Featuring forewords from the legendary Voice of the Blue Devils Bob Harris and former head coach Bucky Waters, Cameron Crazies far and wide will hail this celebration of Duke's greatest moments and some of basketball's most legendary coaches and players.

Down-home sayings, turns of phrase and expressions that have stood the test of time and tell the story of Eastern North Carolina word by word.

Growing up on a farm in the heart of eastern North Carolina's tobacco country, author Phil Beaman has been surrounded by country folk and their colorful language his entire life. Though these communities continue to change, the bond of their phrases, expressions, colloquialisms and just plain talk has remained within the hearts and minds of their people. Beaman chronicles this language in a humorous and fascinating collection of eastern North Carolina's most down-home sayings. Everything from the weather to drunken sayings to gobbledygook is presented straight from the horse's mouth. You may not know how to pronounce some of the words, but you will surely enjoy a trip back to the halcyon days of livin' off the land and chewin' the fat..

Run into the history of the Bull City!

There is much history in the Bull City, and some of it can be found within these pages. How Bull Durham smoking tobacco put Durham, North Carolina, on the map. How a plastic cow and an oversized flag cut the city council down to size. How it felt to travel back in time at the Duke Homestead. How sportsman Al Mann and "Mom" Ruby Planck left indelible marks on their hometown. Journalist and local historian Jim Wise shows you that while Durham's stories are its own, readers may find the people, places and truths in them resonate with hometowns everywhere.

This intriguing collection of essays results from writer George Ellison's thirty-year fascination with Western North Carolina and its Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains.

These essays offer a window onto the rich heritage of this stunning and oft-misunderstood region. Hear stories in a distinctly Appalachian tone and glimpse into the mountain life and lore through a diverse cast of characters. Develop a new language fit for mountain life, and begin to understand the roots of the names Crooked Arm, Deeplow Gap and the Boogerman Trail. See the world through the eyes of the ancient Cherokees, for whom the Nantahala Gorge, was a "chasm of horrors" associated with the "uktena," a mythic serpent from the dreaded Under World.

The Mountains-to-Sea Trail shows off the most spectacular, historic and quirky elements of the North Carolina landscape.

Stretching one thousand miles from Clingmans Dome in the Smokies to Jockey's Ridge State Park in the Outer Banks, the route takes in Fraser fir trees and pelicans, old grist and textile mills, working cotton and tobacco farms, Revolutionary War sites and two British cemeteries complete with Union Jacks. The trail is half on footpaths and half on back roads, offering experiences not only in nature but also in small towns, at historic monuments, in family cemeteries and in local shops. Author Danny Bernstein has taken it all in and shares her knowledge for those who might follow in her footsteps.