Travel the National Register North Carolina
The National Register offers a list of locations that remain sites of memory, importance, and significance. Within North Carolina alone over 2,700 locations have met the specific criteria laid out by the National Park Service. Western North Carolina, a home to mountains, memories, and thriving communities holds some of the most beautiful and historic places open for people to visit and enjoy in many different ways. From Western Carolina University, a place with close ties to the cultures and environment of Western North Carolina (after all the university chose to take part of its name from its mountain home) the Southern Appalachian Culture class (anthropology 417) began to look at these sites with one interest in mind…Cultural heritage tourism.
The projects hope to show the historical and cultural significance of
the Western North Carolina National Register sites as well as the
viability of tourism to keep cultures thriving and let visitors see and
interact with the beautiful locations in a meaningful way. To fully
realize these ideals the students were asked to study different
locations (chosen by the students) and research them through the
national register and their own observations. The projects aim to show
travelers (and locals alike!) sites they should visit as well as
explain why they should visit them.
These locations are more than ‘sites’ on a list, they are places that
have touched lives through history and create a tangible link to the
very essence of Western North Carolina.
ANTH 417
Southern Appalachian Culture
This course examines Southern Appalachia from an anthropological perspective, addressing the various human cultures of the area through time. It also provides a background for understanding the cultural resource management of particular places in the region in terms of the National Register, our country’s primary guide for historical preservation and interpretation.
-Dr. Coyle Anth: 417 Spring 2014 Syllabus