Digital Heritage Moment
Before motels and restaurants became widespread in Appalachia, most towns had at least one boarding house. They were usually operated by women, providing important earning opportunities in an age when women suffered discrimination in the job market.
Some boarders were single men who worked in the mills or for the railroad. A few were married men who worked away from home, but returned to their families on weekends. Tourist boarders increased dramatically in numbers as the railroad spread throughout Appalachia from the 1880s on. Boarding houses also acted as restaurants, serving meals to local people.
The most famous Appalachian boarding house was the Old Kentucky Home in Asheville. It was operated by the mother of author Thomas Wolfe, who immortalized it as Dixieland in his autobiographical fiction.
Digital Heritage Moments are produced at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. To learn more, visit DigitalHeritage.org. You may also hear Digital Heritage Moments each weekday on radio stations WKSF-FM, WWCU-FM, WMXF-AM, WPEK-AM and WWNC-AM.