John Preston Arthur 
Western North Carolina: a History from 1730 to 1913 
a history from 1730 to 1913

‘John Preston Arthur, author of the first complete history of Western North Carolina…immediately recognized by historians for its scholarly, patient research…the author had visited every county in the mountain region. He gathered facts, traditions…recollections, written records, old letters, legal documents.’ -Asheville Citizen Times

‘Western North Carolina: a history from 1730 to 1913…is a history of colonial times to the present day of the section of the state that lies between the Blue Ridge and the Tennessee line, and contains…description of the manners and customs of the period with interesting anecdotes.’ -Charlotte News, November 15, 1914

In 1914, John Preston Arthur published the first complete history of Western North Carolina after touring all of those counties and getting local history from the residents. It is this book titled ‘Western North Carolina: A History (1730-1913)’ that has been republished here for the convenience of the interested reader.

In introducing his book, Arthur writes: 

‘Lying between the Blue Ridge on the East and the Iron, Great Smoky and Unaka mountains on the West, is, in North Carolina, a lordly domain. It varies in width from about forty miles at the Virginia line to about seventy-five when it reaches Georgia on the Southerly side. Running Northeast and Southwest it borders the State of Tennessee on the West for about two hundred and thirty miles, following the meanderings of the mountain tops, and embraces approximately eight thousand square miles. Nowhere within that entire area is there a tract of level land one thousand acres in extent; for the mountains are everywhere…’