Traveling US 25 through the Carolinas today is a much more pleasant experience than it was in the 1700s. Then, the road from the Tennessee Cherokee Towns to Augusta, Georgia, was a Cherokee trading path that followed a bison trace to the navigable port on the Savannah River. Drovers came from as far as Kentucky herding hogs, turkeys and mules. Lowcountry South Carolinians traveled by stagecoach and wagon to the foothills and mountains, staying for months. The Augusta Road, Saluda Gap and Buncombe Turnpike became the Dixie Highway Carolina Division and then US Route 25 by 1931. Authors Anne Peden and Jim Scott travel the trading path and concrete highway to explore this fascinating history.

This book was written to aid families with ancestors from Laurens County, South Carolina, to jumpstart their genealogical research. Although the focus is on sources of particular relevance to African Americans, the book also contains information relevant to slave-holding families. Also, the background information at the beginning of each section will be of general interest to those families from South Carolina who are researching their African ancestors. In addition to practical advice born from the authors genealogical research and formal studies, the book includes information and compilations regarding the following topics: Free Persons of Color in Antebellum Laurens Slaves in Will Transcripts (17821860) Legislative Papers (17821866) Comptroller General Tax Return Books (18661868) 1869 SC State Population Census 1860 US Census Slave Schedule and Matching African American Surnames in the 1870 US Census Excerpts of Freedmen Bureau Records Grave Markers at Five African American Churches

The Sunday drive. Mom, dad and the kids would head out to see the countryside. An ice cream treat usually waited at day's end. Back in the Burma-Shave days, mom-and-pop drive-ins and gas station biscuits fed folks. Cheap gas filled cars, and people made Sunday drives through a land where See Rock City barns, sawdust piles and trains and junkyards gave them plenty to see. Men in seersucker suits ran old stores with oscillating fans, and if the kids ate too much penny candy, grandma had a home remedy for them. It was a time for dinner on church grounds, yard art and old-fashioned petunias. Join author Tom Poland as he revisits disappearing traditions.

Ashe County is a photographer's treasure trove full of southern Appalachian gems sparkling in the northwest corner of North Carolina. Within these pages you will discover 388 photographs brought to you by 76 professional and amateur photographers who were inspired to capture all that is Ashe County. These thoughtful, creative, inquisitive, talented photographers have sought out every nook and cranny of Ashe County to bring you their pictoral insight. They have left no boulder unturned in their quest to chronicle the historical life, times, people, places and things in this magnificent blue ridge paradise.

In 1833, the Wilmington & Raleigh Rail Road Company set out to connect the port city of Wilmington to North Carolina's capital. When it was done in 1840, after changing its route, the company had completed 161 miles of track--the longest railroad in the world at the time--and provided continuous transportation from the town of Weldon on the Roanoke River to Wilmington and on to Charleston, South Carolina, by steamboat. A marvel of civil engineering by the standards of the day, the railroad constituted a tour de force of organization, finance and political will that risked the fortunes of individuals and the credit of the state. This study chronicles the project from its inception, exploring its impact on subsequent railroad development in North Carolina and its significance within the context of American railroad history as a whole.