Books published by Arcadia Publishing Library Editions

The Great Smoky Mountains and Sevier County, in particular, have been major tourist destinations since the 1920s. Since then, many attractions, motels, restaurants, and other businesses have come and gone, including Jolly Golf, Magic World, Archie Campbell's Hee Haw Village, the Rebel Railroad, Goldrush Junction, and dozens more. This book collects and preserves the memories of these "lost attractions" that formed the foundation of today's Sevier County tourism economy.

With so many of its buildings and architectural phases still intact, Purcellville's strong visual links clearly show how a typical rural town in America evolved. On the main road from the port of Alexandria west to Winchester, Purcellville's midway location allowed it to grow from a simple drover's tavern to a turnpike stagecoach stop that was complete with hotel, livery, store, and blacksmith and wheelwright shops. The arrival of railroad technology in 1874 enabled Purcellville to become a mercantile hub for the fertile Loudoun Valley. Its growth blossomed around the train station, a block north and west of the original village. When divided highways replaced the railroad in 1968, Purcellville had a third surge of growth in businesses, schools, and homes on its fringes, now easily reached by automobile. Like rings on a tree, each of these growth layers represents the technology and society of the age.

Reynolda--with its family home and gardens, experimental farm, village, and woodland--is an excellent example of the Country Place era. This popular destination in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was created between 1906 and 1924 through the collaboration of three talented people: visionary Katharine Reynolds, architect Charles Barton Keen, and landscape architect Thomas W. Sears. With the financial backing of her husband, founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Katharine Reynolds transformed a patchwork of worn-out farmland into a landscape of great natural beauty that includes a formal garden, 16-acre lake, recreational facilities, and some of the finest cropland. The sparkling white cluster of village buildings and their occupants are also integral to this story.

It seems unlikely that a place as far off the beaten track as Aiken, South Carolina, would become the preferred wintering location for the denizens of New York society. But from the late 1800s, the most recognized names in America--the Vanderbilts, the Whitneys, and even the Roosevelts--began coming to this charming Southern city to escape the cold, relax among the oaks, and play. And play they did, establishing Aiken as an international polo capital and a premier place to ride, hunt, and golf. Aiken has so much history beyond the folks known as the winter colonists. Legends of the area's restorative powers date back to Native Americans. Aiken also boasts an amazing number of records, including the destination for the world's longest railroad in 1833 and the second-oldest 18-hole golf course in the United States, the Palmetto Golf Club, built in 1892.