There may be no one left who remembers a time when automobiles were rare sights on Haywood County highways. Read more

There has never been a presidential election like that of 2020. But, then again, no two presidential elections have ever been alike. Throughout the 20th century, presidential elections have included their share of party loyalties, scandal, hu… Read more

Haywood County was carved out of the western portion of Buncombe County in 1808, and in 1828, the western part of Haywood County became Macon County. Yet another county was formed in 1851, when parts of Haywood and Macon counties were combine… Read more

This is the story of a fragment of history, lost under one of Waynesville’s oldest downtown buildings for more than half a century. That relic, a ledger of the Hyatt and Bramlett livery stable, reflects the transition from horses to automobil… Read more

Big gatherings, and the group pictures, are for the most part missing from 2020. Someday our grandchildren may appreciate the loss, the gap in our thread of history. Read more

For dairy and beef cattle farm families, late summer and early fall is corn chopping time, filled with noise from tractors and choppers, the sweet smell of corn, wisps of corn leaves and stalks swirling in the air. Read more

The second in a series of videos relating the history of diseases that had catastrophic effects on the residents of Haywood County has been completed. Read more

How many people realize what was lost with demolition of the white frame house behind Chick Fil-A this summer? Read more

It was a great blessing each summer, when my family traveled from our home and the hot weather in South Carolina to the cool mountains of North Carolina. Read more

Thinking about the Cataloochee Reunion brings back many childhood memories of cousins’ visits corresponding with the reunion, time spent on my grandparent’s farm in Iron Duff preparing for the reunion and the excitement of the day itself. Read more

For the first time since World War II, Cataloochee natives and descendants will not gather at Palmer’s Chapel for their annual reunion this weekend, a cancellation due to the worldwide COVID-19 virus, and something they could hardly have imag… Read more

The Canton Area Historical Museum and Haywood County Public Library have partnered to produce a video recalling two of the most horrific disease epidemics to ever plague the area. Read more

As dates go, Aug. 6 is especially important in the 75th anniversary commemoration of the end of World War II. On that day in 1945, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, thus setting in motion the steps that… Read more

A local group has launched a project to identify all veterans buried in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Read more

Sometimes the mysteries of history are big ones, but sometimes they are not so intense. History is also in the details, and sometimes, the mysteries are small ones. Read more

Mountaintop picnics, baseball games, wolf-whistling, bean-picking, fireworks, twice-round parades and sermons: Haywood County people have celebrated July Fourth in a multitude of ways. Read more

Farming is key to Haywood County’s culture and heritage, but that doesn’t mean it is stagnant. What strikes me when looking at hundreds of old farm pictures in The Mountaineer’s archives or in Haywood County history collections is how much ch… Read more

For a brief time, less than two months, Charles Prince brought services involving snake handling to Haywood County in 1985, an effort cut short by his death from a rattlesnake bite. His effort focused attention on a practice centered in Appal… Read more