Todd, North Carolina is one of the few places I haven’t managed to trek through in my western North Carolina mountain stomping grounds to be. I read about Todd before our first trip and it’s been on the short list of places to visit ever since. But for some reason, we just haven’t made the trip yet. A link on Fred’s Fragments From Floyd about a chance conversation with the author Lee Smith at Hindman Settlement School led to her Op-Ed at the NY Times.
WHEN we bought our mountain cabin here two decades ago, Todd was almost a ghost town. Only the General Store (established 1914) had stayed open since Todd’s heyday back in the early 1900s.
But this summer evening, I find a traffic jam when I head into town (population only 50, but 900-plus in the area) to hear some old-time music at the store’s Friday jam, and check out the dance at the old Mercantile building.
Source: Fiddling for Dollars – New York Times
A while back, Marie Freeman did a series of photos in Todd on her BlueRidge blog. You can find them here…Todd, North Carolina. I see Marie caught the latest news from New York also…
If you hurry down to Todd today, they are having their “Storytelling” at 6pm every Tuesday. This week (today, Aug 7) it’s Charlotte Ross; next week, Aug 14th has Orville Hicks on the schedule. You can check their calendar at the website Todd General Store.
On the second Saturday in October Todd hosts the New River Festival on the banks of the New River‚ which flows beside the town. Once a bustling railroad center‚ the town of Todd is now a quiet hamlet. This festival offers an old-fashioned gospel sing‚ a checkers playoff‚ a horseshoe toss‚ craft displays‚ storytelling‚ and bluegrass music all day.