Andrews on the route

Motoring through the Mountains - 1930s: Andrews

Cherokee County
Altitude: 1,800 feet

A handwritten note on the reverse of this photograph of the “Whitaker Bros.” store in Andrews identifies the two men as (left to right) Harve Whitaker and Zeb Whitaker. The same notation guesses a date for the picture as about 1930. The advertisements around the counters, as on the left of the picture, feature women with the short hairstyles that became popular in the 1920s. The advertisements symbolize the changes taking place in western North Carolina, as had been reported by Ellen Engelmann Black in her 1928 thesis, “A Study of the Diffusion of Culture in a Relatively Isolated Mountain County,” about cultural change in neighboring Swain County. Black had noted that women’s apparel was increasingly purchased rather than homemade and there was a growing demand for merchandise manufactured outside of the region.

Andrews in the 1890s  |  Andrews in the 1910s

To the West: Regal

directions

To the East: Topton


Return to the Map for the 1930s



Sources & Readings

  • Black, Ellen Engelmann. “A Study of the Diffusion of Culture in a Relatively Isolated Mountain County.” M.A. thesis, University of Chicago, 1928.
  • Cherokee County Historical Museum. A Pictorial History of Cherokee County. Murphy, N.C.: Cherokee County Historical Museum, 1995.
  • Freel, Margaret Walker. Our Heritage, The People of Cherokee County, North Carolina, 1540 – 1955. Asheville, N.C.: Miller Print. Co., 1956 [c1957].
  • White, Alice, D., ed., and White, Nell A., associate ed. The Heritage of Cherokee County, North Carolina. Winston-Salem, N.C.: Cherokee County Historical Museum in cooperation with the History Division of Hunter Pub. Co., 1987.
  • Williams, Michael Ann, essay, inventory, and photography; Dockery, Carl, ed. Marble & Log: The History & Architecture of Cherokee County, North Carolina. Murphy, N.C.: Cherokee County Historical Museum Council, Division of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, 1984.