Born in Asheville, North Carolina, author Thomas Wolfe’s final resting place is in Asheville’s Riverside Cemetery. His most notable work, Look Homeward, Angel, was a fictionalized version of his life. Wolfe died at the age of 37 of tuberculosis. He is buried next to his parents.
Coretta Scott King lived in the final King family home on Sunset Avenue until 2004. In 2018, the National Park Service acquired the property. In August 2024, they offered final tours of the home until it closed for restoration. It is scheduled to reopen in 2027.
The Kings moved here in 1965 with their children Martin Luther King III, Dexter, Yolanda, and Bernice. It was in the basement of the home that Mrs. King began The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center to memorialize the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Alex Haley was born in Ithaca, New York, in 1921. Very early, he moved with his family to his maternal grandparents’ house in Henning, Tennessee. This 1918 American Craftsman served as a home base for the family for the next five years. It is also where Haley would hear the stories of his ancestors and other relatives. These stories inspired him to write Roots
The home was initially known as the WE Palmer because his grandfather was a successful businessman in town, and he built the home. The home was fully restored, and the furniture used by the family is in the house. The house was put in the National Re
Pinkney “Pink” Anderson (1900-1974) was a blues artist born in Laurens County, South Carolina. By the age of 14, he joined Dr. William Kerr of the Indian Remedy Company to entertain crowds as part of the medicine show circuit. Medicine shows often consisted of musical acts, circus sideshows, ventriloquists, and magicians who enthralled crowds while “doctors” would sell magical elixirs.
Anderson became quite known in the medicine show circuit. He recorded an album in the 1960s. Unfortunately, he had a stroke that limited his abilities in the late 1960s. Anderson passed away in 1974.
Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd was inspired to create the band’s name by combining the first names of Pink and Floyd Council, another blues musician.
Until the last few years, Pink’s home still stood in Spartanburg.
Billy Carter (1937-1988) purchased the gas station in 1972. It became the town gathering place during Jimmy Carter’s campaigns. At its busiest, the service station sold more than 40,000 gallons of gas. Billy owned it for more than a decade. In 2008, the station was restored and reopened as The Billy Carter Museum.
The church was the spiritual home of Martin Luther King’s grandparents, Celia and James King. According to the church’s website, the church was founded in 1856. There’s a sign in the cemetery that gives the date if 1853, so I am gathering the cemetery predates the church. Either way, this is an early date for a Black church to be in existence.
The cemetery also has a handful of Eldren Bailey markers.
