When I was up by the Great Dismal Swamp a few days ago, Ms. Wanda Lassiter graciously introduced me to the history of Hobbsville, a rural community in Gates County, N.C. Wanda is the head curator at the Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City and a lifelong resident of Hobbsville. With the help of her mother and two of her former high school teachers, she brought Hobbsville's history to life.
Gates County N.C.
Logging in the Great Dismal Swamp
Today I want to highlight two historical photographs of loggers in the Great Dismal Swamp. In the foreground of one of the photographs, we can see a man named Willis Warren Powell. His great-grandson shared the photographs and his family's stories with me.
“White Supremacy is the Motto:” Gen. W. P. Roberts and the Gatesville Rally of 1900
On a summer day in 1900, an old Confederate general stood before a white supremacy rally of thousands in a hamlet on the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp.
