Demands for higher pay and a 40-hour workweek ignited the Loray Mill Strike in Gastonia, North Carolina, in 1929. We often like to think that we have come a long way with better working conditions, higher wages, and even a work-life balance, but have we? Despite what is currently taught in our educational systems across…
The Jackson Building and the Stock Market Crash of 1929
The Jackson Building in Asheville, North Carolina, built in 1924, at 22 South Pack Square, has a reported dark history attached to it. The building held the title of being the tallest building in the city for 41 years, and during the Stock Market Crash of 1929, a reported 17 people jumped to their deaths….
The 1987 Carowinds Wave Pool Shooting
On June 7, 1987, a horrible tragedy unfolded at the popular Carowinds amusement park on the North and South Carolina state border when two girls were struck by stray bullets while playing in the wave pool in the Ocean Island section. A 16-year-old from Rock Hill was killed in the incident, while a 6-year-old from…
Henry Gatling and his Flying Contraption
Many believe the Wright Brothers were the first to fly, but that is not entirely true, depending on how one defines flight. James Henry Gatling, also a North Carolina resident born in Hertford County, conducted numerous ground and air trials of his aeroplane in 1873. Gatling was able to achieve a 100-foot flight from a…
Frontier Land in Cherokee, North Carolina
The theme park boom in Western North Carolina during the 1960s helped usher a new generation of vacationers to the area. Overnight, the scenic landscape of the Blue Ridge Mountains transformed many towns like Cherokee into tourist destinations. Frontier Land opened in 1964 on a 140-acre plot of land along U.S. 19. An adult ticket…
The 1955 Cherokee Bridge Collapse
On July 3, 1955, a deadly accident occurred when a 150-foot bridge gave way in Cherokee, North Carolina. The incident happened just before noon when the cables supporting it jerked from the structure, hurling tourists to the rocks and waters below. It was first thought that overcrowding may have played a role in the bridge…
Land of Oz: No Place Like Home
Land of Oz in Beech Mountain, North Carolina, was/is a theme park based on L Frank Baum’s Land of Oz books. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz series comprises 14 books in total by Baum. Baum’s description of Kansas in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was based on his experiences in drought-ridden South Dakota in 1888….
1999 Hurricane Floyd
It is hard to believe it has been almost 26 years since Hurricane Floyd, then the worst hurricane in the state’s history, slammed into Eastern North Carolina. The storm crashed ashore on September 16, 1999, resulting in 51 fatalities, record flooding, and billions in damage. The monster hurricane’s storm surge amounted to 9-10 feet along…
2024 Hurricane Helene
Hurricane Helene is the deadliest hurricane to hit the contiguous United States since Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The storm caused at least 248 deaths, with 175 of those deaths directly related to this massive storm, whether by wind, flood, or other immediate impacts, and racked up almost $80 billion in damages. Helene has officially…
The North Carolina Coal Glen Mine Disaster
The most significant loss of life in a mining accident in the state of North Carolina occurred on May 27, 1925, when 53 miners were killed by explosions in the Coal Glen mine in Farmville, located in Chatham County. When we think of coal mining, West Virginia and Pennsylvania are typically the first states that…