Appalachian History

The Gassaway Mansion in Greenville, SC is still the largest house in the Upstate at 22,000 square feet. Here’s a profile of its owners, Walter & Minnie Gassaway, taken from  “History of South Carolina, Volume 4,” from 1920: “Walter L. Gassaway is one of the very well known bankers and financiers of Upper South Carolina, [...]

It probably started out as All-ee, all-ee, outs in free, a call from the person who was it letting those hiding children (the outs) know it was safe to come back to base in the children’s game of hide-and-seek. The phrase can also be used to coordinate hidden players in the game kick the can, [...]

We post a new episode of Appalachian History weekly podcast every Sunday. You can start listening right away by clicking the podcast icon over on the right side of your screen. If you’d rather grab the show off itunes for later listening, click here: We open today’s show with a guest segment from author David [...]

Originally published at Hillbilly Savants by John Kerns The entrance to Old Gray Cemetery in Knoxville, Tenn. The historical marker reads: “Old Gray Cemetery, incorporated in 1850, is the resting place of William G. Brownlow, Tennessee Governor and U.S. Senator, as well as two other U.S. Senators, eight U.S. Congressmen, 26 mayors of Knoxville, and [...]

Please welcome guest blogger David Biddix. Biddix and co-author Chris Hollifield are set to release “Images of America: Little Switzerland” (Arcadia Publishing) on June 14th. In the summer of 1910, The Switzerland Company began development, dividing their purchase into lots and drawing up common community rules such as outlawing alcohol sales, establishing a one house [...]