Avery County

Images of America: North Carolina

by Michael C. Hardy

Established in 1911, Avery County is the youngest North Carolina county. Despite its recent formation, Avery has an intriguing history and rich Appalachian culture. Over the years, photographers have been eager to capture Grandfather Mountain, majestic Linville Falls, church groups, families, mighty steam engines, and many other diverse aspects of mountain culture. James "Lenoir" Franklin from the Linville Falls community photographed the southern portions of the county in the early 1900s. Operating during the same time, Willie R. Trivett lived and photographed in the Beech Mountain area. Drs. Mary and Eustace Sloop, founders of the Crossnore School, also took numerous photographs of Appalachian life. In more recent times, Grandfather Mountain's Hugh Morton has captured endearing images of the people and places of Avery County.

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2005

Reviews

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been looking forward to this book so much ~ maybe I expected too much from it. I was eager to see photos of the area from the days my family lived there. What I got was a scrapbook for a very few families in the area. I can't believe that finding a wider range of historic photos of the area was that difficult. Now I'm wondering if the other books in this series I used to think was awesome are similarly narrow in scope...I just don't recognize the deficiency for the areas I'm unfamiliar with.

Anyone interested in old photos of this area would be better served by the History of Avery County Facebook page.