Here is one of the newest additions to the Alleghany Historical Museum. It’s a single page (now in three parts due to its age) bearing a handwritten song lyric that fills both sides of the sheet. It is undated and unsigned except for the name W.B. Estep, which is written, upside-down, at the top of side one.
Side 1Side 2
I say “unsigned,” because, although Mr. Estep might have written it, I don’t think he was the author. Wilborn Berry Estep (1874-1941) lived at Whitehead, North Carolina. His granddaughter was Irene Richardson Wagner. Irene was a charter member of the Alleghany Historical – Genealogical Society, and she passed away in 2019. Her son, Ross Wagner, donated his great-grandfather’s manuscript to the museum.
AHGS hopes this little bit of history will help to highlight the tremendous danger of extreme weather that will sometimes even reach the Blue Ridge. We continue to pray for everyone who has been affected by this terrible storm, that they are comforted and healed and housed and clothed, as soon as possible.
Hurricane Helene hit Alleghany head on, almost exactly 35 years after Hugo’s disastrous visit. Here are the first two pages of the Blue Ridge Sun from 35 years ago, today.
Here are some detail photos of a 1914 counterpane (or countypin, as my own Grandmother called them) made by Jane Brumbaugh’s Grandma McKnight who lived in the Hooker Community. It is pieced together like an unfinished quilt top, but it’s been hemmed all around. The creativity, colors and craftsmanship of the hand work are stunning in this 110-year-old example.
Nickolas and Fannie Fidella Edwards McKnight, are the great-grandparents of Jane (Irwin) Brumbaugh.
Fannie Fidella Edwards (1875–1968) and Nickolas McKnight (1872–1952)Continue reading
THANK YOU to our sponsors, our volunteers and everyone who helped support the Saturday Afternoon Social! This year’s event raised over $5500 for the Museum.
We would ask that you patronize these businesses who give generously to benefit the Historical Museum. Without this community support, the Museum wouldn’t exist.
While the Blue Ridge Parkway might seem like any other road in the high country— roads that evolved from ancient, native American trails— it is, arguably, anything but.
The 469-mile long “Scenic” as it was called at the beginning, here in Alleghany, might possibly be the most designed, discussed and disputed drive ever to be constructed in America.
The parkway was first proposed in the 1930s to connect the new National Parks at Mammoth Cave, Kentucky; the Shenandoah in Virginia; and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee & North Carolina, but Kentucky was dropped from the plan at some point.
New Deal funding was approved by the Public Works Administration in November of 1933 for this “national parkway” that would connect two national parks.
We, who live equidistant to both parks— the midpoint of the parkway is right here in the county— might think of the Parkway’s location as obvious. Questioning it would be as absurd as that of the sites of the New River or Stone Mountain or the Sphinx.
But, let’s consider time before our beloved road… before any blasting or grading began; before the building of the bridges, the overlooks, the fences or the trails; before the meticulous landscaping— down to the installation of individual trees and shrubs (!)— even before any land was acquired, a route had to be determined and decided upon.
This formidable dilemma was to be resolved only at the highest levels of the federal government.
From the beginning, the route through Virginia was reasonably undisputed, but by early 1934, Tennessee and North Carolina had already initiated what would become a contentious battle for the southern half of the parkway.
Tennessee wanted it to veer to the west, near Lexington, Virginia, continue to Damascus, then head south to Unicoi, Tennessee, and finally on to Gatlinburg— Tennessee’s “western gateway” to the Smokies.
North Carolina, however, wanted it to follow the path that essentially exists, today.
While politics surely influenced the final decision of Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes (and Franklin Roosevelt. Conventional wisdom says Bob Doughton, powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, privately agreed to support the Social Security Act if Mr. Roosevelt gave NC the parkway) the very public battle for the parkway was one of oratory— a noble debate of economics and engineering and, of all the intangible and subjective things, “scenic beauty.”
Left to Right: Rep. Robert Doughton (D-NC); Sen. Robert Wagner (D-NY); Rep. John Dingell, Sr. (D-MI); [?]; Frances Perkins, the Secretary of Labor and first woman to hold a cabinet-level position; Sen. Byron Patton “Pat” Harrison (D-MS); and Rep. David J. Lewis (D-MD) -from the Prints and Photographs division of the Library of CongressContinue reading
We’d like to have you join us at our 3rd Annual Saturday Afternoon Social, for August 17, 11-2 at the Sparta VFW Hall. Make plans to come have food and fun while supporting the Museum – enjoy barbecue chicken sandwiches from Cookie’s Catering in Sparta NC, and enter to win. (If you’d like to donate an item to raffle, get in touch with us!)
Thank you to our corporate donors!
Alleghany Inn $100
B & T Tire and Automotive $100
Bottomley Evergreens and Farms $100
Carquest $100
The Cellar on Evergreen $100 plus three $50 Gift Certificates
Evan’s Sheds & More $50
First Community Bank $100
Foxfire Realty $100
The Gathering Place $100 plus $50 gift card.
Grandview Memorial Funeral Home $100
James Caldwell Construction $100
Skyline National Bank $100
Sparta Florist $20
Thomas Family Funeral Service $50
Donna & Edwin Edwards $100
We’ve already received several generous donations – some of the items to be raffled are:
This is a petition signed by Sparta’s residents to (re)incorporate The Town of Sparta, in June of 1924. It includes both, “a majority of the resident free holders, and a majority of the resident qualified electors.”
Evidently, in 1924 “resident free holders” would be owners of land that was unencumbered by any financial obligation. And “resident qualified electors” would have been any other registered voters.
Sparta was originally incorporated in 1879, but in 1924 North Carolina changed its rules, so that the process for municipalities was handled through the Secretary of State’s office.
So Sparta, like many other NC towns had to go through the motions again. The paperwork submitted to the state, says, “the assessed valuation of the real estate in said territory is $253,650 according to the assessment for Taxes 1923.”
We found the original document at the NC Secretary of State’s website, here:
A few years ago, our then mayor, John Miller, wanted a list of all the past mayors of the Town of Sparta. To his surprise and dismay, there wasn’t one. Not at the town office, not at the county office and not in any state record he could find.
He asked us about it. The Historical Society had less information than he did. So John mentioned it to his grandson, and Micah made it into a Senior Project. Last month, Mayor Wes Brinegar brought a copy of Micah’s research to us, and it was so interesting we used it as a base for the article in our Spring 2024 Newsletter.
The new list isn’t complete. There are still holes in the timeline, and we would welcome corrections and additions as we build this and other important records for our archive. Working as a community on projects like this, will make the information available for the next person who needs it.
Have you always wanted to see Basin Cove and the Caudill Cabin up close but weren’t able to make the (8.2 miles round trip) trek ? Well, here is an excellent way to see the park, courtesy of Lenny and Phil Caudill. The Historical Society didn’t help with this project, (but we sure wish we had!) These videos are narrated by Lenny and Phill, great-grandsons of Alford Martin and Jannie Blevins Caudill. The historical information and cultural background presented is a result of decades of research and service work within Doughton Park and Basin Creek.
CAUDILL CABIN, Doughton Park, Basin Creek: PART 1: Historical Sketch of a Cultural LandscapeContinue reading
Well, here are just four of many in a collection of nutcrackers donated to Alleghany Historical Museum this fall by Delta Peterson. We are grateful and very happy to be able to display Mrs. Peterson’s collection of decorative, holiday nutcrackers and incense “smoker” figures.
In 1997, Steinbach nutcrackers premiered a new series to honor the beloved tale, “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens. These four design production-runs were limited to just 7,500 pieces, each.
Part of Alleghany Historical Museum’s 2023 Exhibit, “Ghosts of Christmas Past”
Here’s one you might like- a photo of the Children’s Choir, ready for Christmas, at the old Piney Creek Methodist Church…
I can see Sara (Halsey) McMillan (right end, front row) and Lenna (Halsey Edwards) Hobson (left end, front row) and their mother, Sarah Parsons Halsey right end, back row)
This building was built in 1910. Construction on the new church began in 1959 and the building was dedicated Feb. 9, 1964.
Beginning before 1911, Home Demonstration Clubs were a program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension Service.
From the North Carolina State University Libraries website:“Home demonstration clubs throughout the state had for many years provided farm women with instruction on topics such as canning, cooking, house beautification, sewing, and more.
“These clubs were an outgrowth of agricultural extension and outreach programs that later became known as North Carolina Cooperative Extension, which today is operated jointly by the state’s land-grant institutions: NC State University and NC A&T State University.”
The New Hope Club was the first one organized in Alleghany County, with Sparta, Vox, Laurel Springs, Whitehead, Roaring Gap, Piney Creek and others following in succession.
This Christmas Card holder was a project made by Clara Lyons Halsey who was a member at New Hope.
Festive Christmas card holder, cut and stitched by hand. – on loan for the Holiday display by the Halsey family.
This editor would recognize that stitching anywhere, as he has retreated under layers of Mrs. Halsey’s handwork for over 6 decades.
–Clipping from the November 27, 1941, Alleghany News.
–From the May 8, 1941, edition of the Alleghany Star Times
— News of help in January 29, 1942 edition of the Alleghany News.
AHGS appreciates the support of the North Carolina Humanities, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by the Society, do not necessarily represent those of North Carolina Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
