Historic Henderson County: Tales from Along the Ridges

Beloved storyteller and chronicler of Henderson County heritage Louise Howe Bailey (1915, 2009) lives on through her edifying anecdotes. This new collection of Bailey's ruminations maintains her work of preserving earlier Henderson County history with its abundant assortment of characters, landmarks and natural wonders. Discover why Hendersonville was called the "dancingest" town in America and how a troop of young rapscallions rubbed a bar of Octagon soap on the railroad tracks so trains couldn't climb from Melrose to Saluda. Bring your pickaxe up to the top of Glassy Mountain to unearth the buried treasure hidden during the Civil War, and experience the hummingbirds, katydids, Carolina wrens and bullfrogs of the North Carolina countryside as you meander through Bailey's magnetic prose.

Louise Howe Bailey was an award-winning local author, storyteller and historian and lifelong resident of Henderson County. For forty-two years, she wrote the column Along the Ridges for the Hendersonville Times-News. Bailey authored nine books, gave nearly five hundred talks on local history and heritage and led countless tours of her home church, St. John in the Wilderness in Flat Rock. Bailey s awards include the Western North Carolina Historian of the Year Award, the North Carolina Society of Historians Religious Book Award and the Order of the Longleaf Pine the highest honor bestowed by the State of North Carolina.