{"title":"Donna Gayle Akers","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"blowing-rock-hardcover","title":"Blowing Rock - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51367395688671,"sku":"9781531611279","price":34.54,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/vRy0cGl8f99781531611279.webp?v=1789106194"},{"product_id":"boone-hardcover","title":"Boone - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt was the Old Buffalo Trail that led both Native Americans and Daniel Boone to the site of present-day Boone, North Carolina, at an elevation of 3,333 feet. Located among the scenic and cool mountains of the High Country, Boone was for a long time a seasonal hunting spot with only a few settled families. After the Civil War the community's population began growing, and in 1899, the tiny town of Boone included 150 residents. In the 1880s, the treacherous and steep Boone and Blowing Rock Turnpike began to bring commerce and visitors to the mountains. Although this remote town was an unlikely location for a school, Watauga Academy was established in 1899, and it would later become Appalachian State University, one of the top-ranked Southern public colleges.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51377956094175,"sku":"9781531610425","price":34.54,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/ms4OqfZzI99781531610425.webp?v=1789243675"},{"product_id":"abingdon-hardcover","title":"Abingdon - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eAccording to legend, in about 1760, Daniel Boone first named this hinterlands settlement Wolf Hills. Incorporated in 1778, the town of Abingdon became the leading trade, business, and legal center for Southwest Virginia from the late 1700s to mid-1800s. With a key location along the Great Wagon Road, the community blossomed during the 19th and 20th centuries due to trade, railroad commerce, banking, industry, and its natural resources, such as timber and salt from nearby Saltville. However, from the 1960s to 1980s, downtown lost several historic landmarks to fire and demolition. Businesses began to move to outlying shopping centers, and small, locally owned businesses were replaced by national chain stores. Railroad traffic decreased and no longer moved goods and passengers. Previously the locus for commerce, transportation, and entertainment, the historic downtown area transitioned to an arts and tourist destination and to a unique crossroads service area with government centers, restaurants, speciality stores, offices, banks, and hotels.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51378242781407,"sku":"9781540214263","price":34.54,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/omWRf-SBGN9781540214263.webp?v=1789250845"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/donna-gayle-akers.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}