Thanks to funding from the State Library of North Carolina’s LSTA Grant and our partners, Highlands Historical Society and Fontana Regional Library, a batch containing 283 issues of The Highlander are now available on our website. The paper was published weekly beginning August 6, 1937 in Highlands, North Carolina and continues to be published today under the same title in Highlands, North Carolina.
The paper’s original aim was to “give unstintingly to the best interested of the community and city. To publicize Highlands as much as possible. To make our city [Highlands, N.C.] more attractive to our many and pleasant summer visitors.” Following their aim, these issues of The Highlander cover general community news topics such as fun events, big announcements for community members, town meetings, construction information, vaccine reminders, and more.
A prominent feature in The Highlander is photographs and articles highlighting the beauty of the region. Many of the photographs included in the newspaper focus on the waterfalls, mountain scenes, and native flowers such as the rhododendron. An article from the January 20, 1966 issue of The Highlander discusses the North Carolina mountain’s infamous “peak week” which occurs every autumn. During this week, the mountains are transformed from their summer green to a beautiful array of reds, oranges, and yellows as the leaves of the trees change as a result of the cooler weather. As the article notes, many people from all over come to experience peak week, resulting in bumper to bumper traffic and increased business for local merchants.
To learn more about the Highlands Historical Society, please visit their website.
To learn more about the Fontana Regional Library, please visit their website.
To view more newspapers from across North Carolina, please click here.
