Swannanoa’s multi-talented octogenarian resident, Billy Edd Wheeler, doesn’t let any moss grow under his feet. Billy Edd has had a hugely successful songwriting career, writing numerous hit songs (Jackson and Coward of the County, just to name a couple) that have been performed by the likes of Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers and Elvis Presley, among many others. But Billy Edd certainly isn’t one to rest on past laurels. In addition to his musical accomplishments, he’s an author, playwright, composer of musicals and a folk opera, and an artist. Seven Sisters Gallery, located at 117 Cherry Street in Black Mountain is currently showcasing Billy Edd’s paintings in its gallery exhibit. The show continues through August 28, 2016.
Archive for Swannanoa Stories
Now that springtime is upon us and baseball season is underway, we thought it would be a good time to share this historic photo of the 1940 Beacon Blanketeers championship baseball team. The Blanketeers played in the Industrial League, and fielded some very talented teams, with professional-quality athletes drawn from the ranks of Beacon’s mill employees. The Blanketeers home field was located in Beacon Village, on the site of what is now a Habitat for Humanity community. If you listen very carefully, you may still be able to hear the crack of the bats and the roar of the crowds . . . . Photo courtesy of Pack Library’s North Carolina collection.
To read a Rob Neufeld “Visiting Our Past” Asheville Citizen-Times article about the Beacon Blanketeers, click here.
An enthusiastic overflow crowd of approximately 200 people turned out for a November 20 presentation about the history of Swannanoa’s Beacon mill. The event, titled “Beacon Blankets: Portrait of a Swannanoa Textile Mill,” was held at Asheville’s Center for Craft, Creativity and Design. Participants were treated to an evening of film, music, and stories about the rise and fall of the Beacon Manufacturing Company, which was once the largest blanket manufacturer in the world, employing as many as 2,200 people.
The program began with mill-inspired music written and performed by Robert “Bert” Brown, a native of Swannanoa, whose grandparents worked at Beacon. Filmmaker Rebecca Williams showed clips from her ongoing documentary project, Blanket Town: The Rise and Fall of an American Mill Town, which uses the Beacon mill as the backdrop for examining the migration of the textile industry from England, to New England, to the American South, and, with the advent of globalization, overseas. The screening was followed by a lively panel discussion with former Beacon mill employees and local historian David Whisnant.
The Beacon mill program received significant pre-event coverage from the Asheville Citizen-Times. To read the AC-T’s article about the history and legacy of the mill, please click here.
If you’d like to learn more about the Blanket Town documentary, or make a tax deductible contribution to help support the film’s completion, please go to beaconmilldocumentary.blogspot.com.
This commemorative Beacon blanket was on display at the Beacon history event at Asheville’s
Center for Craft, Creativity and Design.
Many of the first formal schools in the Swannanoa Valley were funded by the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions in the mid- to late 1800s. Until the schools were consolidated in 1919, children who were able to attend school generally walked to the nearest one- or two-room schoolhouse. These small schools served communities throughout the Valley, including Bee Tree, Riceville and Christian Creek.
The consolidated school burned in the mid-1920s, and new schools were opened for students of different ages and grades. The above photo is the old Swannanoa High School, as it looked in 1953. Located on Old U.S. 70, the building still stands and is now home to Community High School, an alternative public school with students from all over Buncombe County.
In 1955, students from Swannanoa High School and Black Mountain High School began attending the new Charles D. Owen High School. Their mascot, the Warhorse, was created by combining Swannanoa’s mascot, the Warriors, with Black Mountain’s, the Dark Horses.
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Editor’s Note: With permission of the author, the above is excerpted in part from the book “Images of America, Swannanoa,” by Anne E. Chesky Smith. The book is available for purchase at the Swannanoa Valley Museum, 223 West State Street, in Black Mountain. Cost is $22 ($20 for museum members). Photo courtesy of the Swannanoa Valley Museum.