Disappearing Appalachia in Tennessee: A Picture of a Vanished Land and Its People

by Harry Moore, Fred Brown

Stepping through time to past and present communities, settled in deep hollows and surrounded by ridges and mountains in Tennessee's Appalachia, is to confront a different and disappearing realm. Travel along Hogskin and Richland Valleys. Visit Frenches Mill and Dulaney General Store while passing cantilever barns, one-room school buildings and steepled churches. Listen as octogenarians Robert, Charles, Glenn and others explain life without electricity. Former Cades Cove residents Lois and Inez tell stories of living in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park before it was a national park. Authors Fred Brown, retired journalist, and Harry Moore, retired geologist, explore Tennessee's Appalachian region, recalling its culture, land and people before it vanishes into the abyss of time.

Genres: Nonfiction, Research, History

243 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 16, 2021

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have lived in East Tennessee for more than 30 years and love this part of the country. It’s lush and beautiful and the people are generally very friendly and helpful. So, I thoroughly enjoyed the photos in the book.the writing, not so much. It’s off-putting when the authors’ suggestion is that the Appalachian way of life is hands-down the most fulfilling, most honorable, and just generally the most superior way to live. I mean, come on. Also, the book skipped around ink an odd way and was repetitive. And weirdly, there was a chapter thrown in about a modern farmer in West Tennessee who uses computerized tractors and other technology. What’s that got to do with old ways in Appalachia?

[Mark Reagen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I moved to Tennessee 5 years ago and think that Eastern TN is spectacular country. I was interested in learning more about the history of that area. The book presents some interesting information and perspectives, but many of the interviews felt pretty much the same. Perhaps there isn't that much variety to the stories but it seemed to be repeating the same perspectives. The photos were helpful and generally enjoyed the book, but was hoping for more depth. Overall a pretty light read.

[Mahala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appalachia is my home. I've never been all that interested in the history of it, but recently I've started to become curious about the heritage I used to be embarrassed by. I decided to seek out written works of the history of Appalachia in hopes of learning more about what was unfortunately not passed down to me generationally.

Let's start with the good. I started out hopeful with this book, and I did find many portions of it informative. I enjoyed reading the interviews and Appalachian life stories.

Unfortunately, that's about it. I guess the authors thought we didn't need the female perspective, because they interviewed many people, but very very few women. It started out with interesting notes about culture and history that were fading in modern day Tennessee. But then it seemed like they ran out of things to talk about, because they started romanticizing things that have clearly seen improvements like wooden bridges. They even talked about how frightening and dangerous they were to cross, but then said "those were the fun days." Older does not always equate to better. There were a lot of reaches like this in the 2nd half of the book.

And then there was this: "Here lurked danger in natural abundance and in Indian tribes who viewed the intrusion of Europeans as a dark and dangerous time in their existence." First of all, Native Americans. They were here first. And they didn't just "view" it as a dark and dangerous time, it WAS.

Anyway, I learned a little, but was disappointed by a lot.

[Joel Kramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some interesting stories here, but there isn't really a narrative thread that groups things together. If you're interested in East Tennessee history, then this is a somewhat informative book, but some of the photo captions are very repetitive and there's a generally romanticized tone toward "the way things used to be" in the writing. Everything was not automatically better in the old days, and this book spends a lot of time highlighting the things people miss while glossing over all of the unpleasant things that were also part of that time in history.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

waste of time

Overly simplistic; repetitive; shallow. This book doesn’t do justice to its intent. We learned nothing of significance or interest by reading it. A colossal waste of time.