North Carolina's magnificent Blue Ridge Mountains have drawn people to the Swannanoa Valley since the beginning of time. Rivers and forests lured early hunters and gatherers; later inhabitants tilled the rich, fertile soil and logged the thick forests on the mountainsides. People also came to the mountains to enjoy the mystical beauty and enchantment of the area, the cool, crisp climate, and the sparkling waters of brooks and streams. Hiking, camping, and the tranquility of a woodland world provided escape from city life. The Swannanoa Valley is cradled between the Craggy Mountains to the north and the Swannanoa Mountains to the south. Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in America east of the Mississippi River, rises majestically nearby. Among the early visitors who decided to settle in the valley were those who purchased the land that later became the sites of the famous conference centers in the area-Montreat, YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly, and Ridgecrest-and businessmen, who brought industry to the area.

Provides English translations of selected passages from the expedition accounts of sixteenth-century explorer Juan Pardo in the Carolinas and Tennessee, and includes interpretations of Pardo's routes and encounters with native peoples.

Nineteen-year-old Cowney Sequoyah yearns to escape his hometown of Cherokee, North Carolina, in the heart of the Smoky Mountains. When a summer job at Asheville's luxurious Grove Park Inn and Resort brings him one step closer to escaping the hills that both cradle and suffocate him, he sees it as an opportunity. The experience introduces him to the beautiful and enigmatic Essie Stamper—a young Cherokee woman who is also working at the inn and dreaming of a better life. With World War II raging in Europe, the resort is the temporary home of Axis diplomats and their families, who are being held as prisoners of war. A secret room becomes a place where Cowney and Essie can escape the white world of the inn and imagine their futures free of the shadows of their families' pasts. Outside of this refuge, however, racism and prejudice are never far behind, and when the daughter of one of the residents goes missing, Cowney finds himself accused of abduction and murder. Even As We Breathe invokes the elements of bone, blood, and flesh as Cowney navigates difficult social, cultural, and ethnic divides. Betrayed by the friends he trusted, he begins to unearth deeper mysteries as he works to prove his innocence and clear his name. This richly written debut novel explores the immutable nature of the human spirit and the idea that physical existence, with all its strife and injustice, will not be humanity's lasting legacy.

The largest blanket manufacturer under one roof in the United States by 1920 was the Beacon Manufacturing Company, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and later of Swannanoa, North Carolina. Cotton, wool, and blended blankets came off their looms in plain, geometric, and Indian designs by the millions. They were sold at dry goods stores and large orders were filled for American troops in the World Wars. This book displays a large selection of Beacon blankets and color catalog pages from 1917 to 1957, together with original blanket designs, a history of the company, advertisements, and all the Beacon labels. There are special sections on crib blankets, bathrobes using Beacon fabric, related blankets, and Skookum Indian dolls dressed in Beacon remnants. These blankets are diligently searched for by collectors of folk art and textiles because they represent a nearly-lost chapter in textile history and bring a sparkle of color to interior decoration.

A post-apocalyptic thriller of the after effects in the United States after a terrifying terrorist attack using electromagnetic pulse weapons. New York Times best selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real...a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages...A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies. Months before publication, One Second After has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second. It is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. In the tradition of On the Beach, Fail Safe and Testament, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future...and our end. The John Matherson Series #1 One Second After #2 One Year After #3 The Final Day Other Books Pillar to the Sky 48 Hours At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.