Black Mountain

Lake Tomahawk July 24, 2024

Saturday, September 2, 2023

Some old views in western North Carolina mountains


George Vanderbilt's summer hunting lodge on 1920s postcard. Built in 1897 this property was part of the Biltmore estate near Asheville, NC.


The other side of the economic coin, a holler takes you home. Many people lived up in the hollers in these mountains. They had everything to meet their needs, and some didn't even know they'd be considered poor.


Chimney Rock, 1935 in Rutherford County. It's still a big tourist attraction.


In 2013 I visited Chimney Rock with visitors from out of state.

Another postcard, of the railroad coming to black mountain. I love that there's a little train in the forebround, going over a waterway, and then losing itself into a huge rendering of Andrews Geyser. There really are many twists and turns and tunnels on this stretch of the way. These days only freight trains go through these loops.

Sharing with Sepia Saturday this week. There is some relation between the train and the bus, and there were many old cars in the parking lot too! 



Today's quote:

"The fundamental job of the imagination in ordinary life, then, is to produce out of the society we have to live in, a vision of the society we want to live in."  Northrop Frye,


 

22 comments:

  1. ...thanks for the tour, I having been there in a number of years.

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    1. Welcome as always! I'm looking forward to the fall season, and at night it's coming soon.

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  2. Great photos, I have been to Chimney Rock. Take care, enjoy your weekend!

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  3. There are still a few houses like that back in the hollers. One man who'd lived through the Depression in just such a holler told me it hadn't made any difference to them--life just went on and they went on raising their food and getting by.

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    1. When a highway actually passes along some of the more rural areas in the mountains, I know the little roads going off into the hills will be having some homes like this. Actually, there are several cove roads close to me that look somewhat similar.

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  4. Lovely photos of the old views there.

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    1. Thanks. I'm so glad to live in the western North Carolina mountains.

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  5. All your choices are neat pictures. I have two favorites: The train loops, and your post opening with Flat Creek & a hint of a bridge over it in the background. It looks like a place where I'd love to just sit down and relax listening the creek gurggling along and feel the coolness of the creek & slight dampness around it.

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    1. Thanks for telling me which pictures spoke to you! The creek is definitely a fun place to relax.

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  6. Love the railway postcard, showing all those twists and turns! My dad was a railway enthusiast, I'm sure he'd have been impressed as well :)

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    1. I think my dad also liked trains. I love driving around the various tracks, on a dirt road so I don't go there often...between Old Fort and Black Mountain.

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  7. Thanks for the history. We are still learning about this state we have settled in. It is filled with so many beautiful views and so very peaceful to be somewhat isolated on my little homestead. Our back yard is national forest and will never be developed.

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    1. That is great that your property backs onto a national forest. Yes, a beautiful state, in which I'm always discovering something new and interesting!

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  8. Amazing photos! I was particularly taken with the contrast between the first two. This area is so beautiful that I always enjoy the many photos and perspectives that you post.

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    1. THanks Molly! Yes, I wanted to have that harsh contrast. But the people living in the holler really seemed often to be quite content with their lives. Some however might have had a still hidden up in the woods that they had to keep an eye out for the law. They sure didn't grow much of any crops.

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  9. Lovely views. A few years before we moved to Asheville from Savannah, my wife and I brought our son then age 6 up to Chimney Rock Park one winter to see real snow which he had never experienced before. There had been a snowstorm a few days before but the roads were clear. Somehow Chimney Rock was open and we managed to get onto a trail that had around 8" of snow and at times maybe 24" of drift. It was truly magical. Little did I know then that I'd see much more snow and that winter in WNC is not always a wonderland!

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    1. That was a lucky time to catch snow that deep yet the roads were clear! I remember driving through the Smokies to play in the snow on the heights, once roads were clear. My youngest son probably remembers sliding down hills on cardboard or plastic mattresses that weren't blown up. I sure do. And it was a winter wonderland driving through those evergreens covered with snow!

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  10. wow - I really enjoyed seeing these old postcards and the mountain views. Wonderful. Thankyou so much for sharing and taking us there and thankyou for visiting my blog this week. Stay safe and have a good week.

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So glad to have your comments...whatever they may be. I'm one who likes to reply sometime or another, so others will see that; or you might happen back sometime and see what conversation might have started.