Work Life

Work Life

Photo Credit: James Roberts, Skyland Hotel Cook, 1930
Courtesy of the Baker Barber Collection

Work Life

Black-owned Businesses

Henderson County’s Black middle class, through diligent efforts, made an independent living through their own enterprises and stand out for their ...
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Black-owned Businesses 1865-1900

Farming was by far the preferred way to gain financial stability for Blacks during the antebellum period. Only eight people prior ...
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Black-owned Businesses 1900-1950

By 1910, 46 Blacks owned at least 30 acres of land with three of these farmers owning 100 acres or ...
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Black-owned Businesses 1950-1970

The period from 1950 through 1965 brought change to Henderson County. The transition from the injustices of segregation to the equal ...
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Flat Rock Blacksmith

John Markley and his sons were well-known African-American blacksmiths in Flat Rock from 1877 until the early 1900’s.   https://www.blueridgenow.com/article/NC/20130217/News/606022456/HT ...
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Edneyville

Black families in Edneyville have farmed in the area since before the Civil War. http://hendersonheritage.com/black-history-in-edneyville/ ...
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An Early Electrician

Robert Quinn wired local theaters and churches in the 1930’s.  This interview with his wife was done in 1939 through ...
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Freed Slaves in Flat Rock

Many of the slaves owned by wealthy Charleston planters chose to remain in Flat Rock after the Civil War. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41446547?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents ...
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Greenbook Guest House

The Landina Guest House was one of many Black-owned businesses that served the Black community in the days of segregation ...
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Chauffeurs and Merry Garden Casino

Henderson County’s licensed chauffeurs included several African Americans like Fred Potts.  The Merry Garden Casino in Flat Rock attracted nationally ...
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