Sunday, August 29, 2010

Drhumor Building (Asheville, NC)

Drhumor Building
(click on photograph for larger image)
The Drhumor (pronounced "drummer") Building purportedly is the oldest standing commercial building in downtown Asheville. It was built in 1895 by William J. Cocke, an attorney who studied at the University of North Carolina and at Harvard. The building was named for the ancestral Irish island of Cocke's Scots-Irish grandfather and rests on the land where Mr. Cocke's childhood home and birthplace once stood. Architect Allen L. Melton designed the grand Romanesque Revival building, and Biltmore Estate English stone carver Frederic Miles was commissioned to carve the limestone frieze above the first floor exterior.
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USS Asheville

USS Asheville
(click on photograph for larger image)
USS Asheville (PG-21) (Photo #: NH 91411): At Hong Kong, 1924, while serving as flagship of Commander, South China Patrol. The donor served as a radioman in this ship at the time, and has written her radio call letters, "NELV", on the print. Collection of Henry J. Poy. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

USS Asheville (PG-21) was a gunboat that served in the United States Navy during the early days of America's participation in World War II. She was sunk by Japanese forces on 3 March 1942, south of the island of Java, in what was then the Netherlands East Indies.

Monday, August 23, 2010

OBCGS Annual Fall Genealogy Workshop

Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society
2010 Fall Genealogy Workshop


Family History in Your Pajamas: Genealogy on the Internet

Date

September 18, 2010 (Saturday)

Time

Registration and Socializing: 9:00 - 9:30AM
Morning Workshop: 9:30 - 12 Noon
Lunch: 12 Noon - 1:00 PM
Afternoon Workshop: 1:00 PM - 3 PM

Biltmore House Christmas (Asheville, NC)

The television station WRAL-TV (Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville, NC) produced a video segment called "Tar Heel Traveler." Below is a link to the piece done on the Biltmore House Christmas decorations:


Biltmore House: Christmas
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The Conquest of Canaan

Released by Paramount Pictures in August of 1921, this 35 mm black and white silent film is based on the Booth Tarkington (1869-1946) novel The Conquest of Canaan, written in 1905. The story follows the life of a small-town lawyer, Joe Louden, who endures alcholism and social exclusion, and public ridicule, only to prevail after he earns a law degree, inherits a fortune, and takes on corrupt city officials. [Also based loosely on the John Martin moral treatise, The Conquest of Canaan, (1811), which explores the natural and moral state of individuals in a small town who are both conquerors and conquered in a series of letters from a father to his son.]

The story was filmed in downtown Asheville, N.C., in and around Pack Square, the old Courthouse facing College Street and near the First Baptist Church at the corner of Spruce and College Streets. The old Swannanoa-Berkeley Hotel, later the Earle Hotel, was used as a backdrop and renamed the "Canaan City Hotel" for the film. Streetcars, signs, and other landmarks were re-named for the film and hundreds of extras were hired for the large scenes, particularly the mob-scene on Pack Square.

Tar Heel Traveler (WRAL-TV): Buncombe County, NC

The television station WRAL-TV (Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville, NC) produced a video segment called "Tar Heel Traveler." Set forth below are links to those installments relevant to Buncombe County, North Carolina. Note that at times the WRAL video database may be unavailable, perhaps for maintenance purposes. Just check back later.
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1. Biltmore House: Christmas









2. Ella Swain

ABC Weblog: New Appearance and Functions

 
Please note the changes made to the appearance and functionality of the Asheville and Buncombe County Weblog.

In addition to the freshened appearance, functional modifications are:

(1) "Read more" button.
(2) Ability easily to email a link to an article.
(3) Ability to send an item to your own blog.
(4) Ability to share via Facebook and Twitter.
(5) Expanded comment capability.