More than a century ago, George W. Vanderbilt transformed the sleepy crossroads settlement known as Best, or Asheville Junction, on the Swannanoa River into an idyllic model village near the entrance to his vast Biltmore Estate near Asheville. The initial concepts and design for Biltmore Village were the collaborative efforts of Vanderbilt, architect Richard Morris Hunt, and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. The finished village included more than 40 residences, a business district, a church, a school, and a hospital. It was centrally located among the developing towns of Victoria, Kenilworth, South Biltmore, and later Biltmore Forest. It characterized the elegance and prosperity of the building booms that flourished in the south Asheville area before and after both world wars.

The beautiful and mountainous area of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, has a rich history dating back to the days when the Native Americans passed through on the Nickajack Trail, which led into Tennessee. The town derives its unique name from a rock outcropping near the town, where the winds defy gravity and have the ability to blow light objects thrown from the rock back to the rock. During the 1790s, several families settled the area, and by the mid-1850s, inhabitants of Blowing Rock along with summer visitors from Lenoir enjoyed the beauty and comfort of the mountainous area. The construction of the Lenoir-Blowing Rock Turnpike after 1845 provided easier access to "America's Switzerland," and visitors or "cottagers," as they were called, soon began building second homes in the area. The images contained within Blowing Rock provide readers with a glimpse into the small-town charm, friendly faces, and inspiring scenery that ensure the town's future as a destination for those who yearn for the comfort of mountain life.

For nearly a century and a half, police in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County have displayed tremendous courage and sacrifice in the execution of their duty, adapted to social and cultural changes within the American South, and increasingly embraced sophisticated methods and revolutionary advances in technology to meet the challenges posed by criminals and a violent culture. Images of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County Police highlights the rich history of two departments that consolidated in 1993 as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

The first gold discovery in the United States occurred in 1799 when young Conrad Reed went fishing in Little Meadow Creek in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. The 17-pound nugget he found was used by his family as a doorstop until they figured out what the strange rock was. This chance discovery set off the first gold rush in the nation's history. For more than a century, men extracted gold from the rolling hills and valleys of the North Carolina piedmont, as well as from the high peaks and rugged mountains of the western part of the state. Prior to the California Gold Rush of 1849, North Carolina led the nation in production of this precious metal and was the largest gold-producing state in the South well into the 20th century.