New book chronicles African American history in WNC

An oral history project documenting African American history in the far western reaches of North Carolina is now a book, thanks to Waynesville’s Pigeon Community Multicultural Development Center.

“I guess the motivation was because Haywood County just doesn’t have very much documented history of African Americans,” said Lyn Forney, the director of the Pigeon Center.

‘It’s five past five and time to jive’: Moonlighting mailman’s star won’t fade

As the sun rises over Papertown one bright morning in 1958, a 30-year-old African-American by the name of Nathaniel Lowery wakes up and, like hundreds of others, heads for the mill.

Forgotten Pigeon Street school has historic roots

More than a century ago, the state of African-American education in the antebellum South was so utterly deplorable that it took the combined forces of a civil rights pioneer and a department store magnate to make lasting improvements that continue to reverberate across the region, including in Western North Carolina.

The tales the tombstones tell

High atop a knobby bald in central Haywood County sits lonely Dix Hill Cemetery, just yards from Jones Temple AME Zion Church in the heart of Waynesville’s historically African-American Pigeon Street community.

Finding your ‘shero’: Bryson City woman explores state of women

Which female pioneers have paved the way for you to be where you are today?

“Sojourner Truth,” Janice Inabinett answered without hesitation. “She’s my shero.”

Calvary Street lots to become Waynesville park

A new park in Waynesville’s Pigeon Street community can finally move forward thanks to an agreement reached between Haywood County and the town of Waynesville.

Reynolds Community Center to be a ‘safe haven’

Canton native William McDowell and his wife, celebrity songstress Gladys Knight, have big plans for McDowell’s old alma mater, Reynolds High School.

Gladys Knight, husband announce Canton community center

A dilapidated segregation-era high school in Canton purchased by a former student will become a $5 million community center by 2019 if the Reynolds High School Community Foundation meets its fundraising goals. 

SEE ALSO: Q&A: Reynolds Community Center to be a ‘safe haven’Reynolds Community Center to be a ‘safe haven’

Entrepreneur and Canton native William McDowell — married to Motown legend Gladys Knight since 2001 — purchased the 20,000 square-foot building and adjoining 6.5 acres at auction for $80,000 in 2013, and judging from what they want to do with it, they’ll need every inch.

National Register possible for Pigeon Street

Special recognition could be coming to an overlooked quarter of Waynesville if a recently submitted grant application receives funding.

Faces and places from Pigeon Street’s past

Standing in the parking lot of the Jones Temple AME Zion Church on Pigeon Street in Waynesville, Phillip Gibbs doesn’t look 71 years old.

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