On Sunday, a memorial plaque and boulder commemorating the lives of the incarcerated workers who labored and died to build the railroad over the mountains in the 1870s was unveiled during a special ceremony in Ridgecrest near the McDowell-Buncombe county line. Marion Mayor Steve Little, left side of the boulder, and Ray McKesson, right side of the boulder, stand in front of the memorial.
MIKE CONLEY photos, MCDOWELL NEWS
The memorial boulder has a plaque that states it is dedicated “to the incarcerated workers who died in the construction of the Mountain Division of the Western North Carolina Railroad between 1875 and 1879." The boulder came from the site of the construction of the tunnels.
MIKE CONLEY, MCDOWELL NEWS
Marion Mayor Steve Little, railroad historian and co-founder of The RAIL Project, talked about the history of the railroad line that was built by the state of North Carolina after the Civil War.
MIKE CONLEY, MCDOWELL NEWS
Ray McKesson, at podium, vice president of The RAIL Memorial Project, welcomed all those who attended in a clearing off Yates Avenue. He is also president of the NAACP of McDowell County. Dan Pierce, president and co-founder of The RAIL Memorial Project, acknowledged those who made the event possible. He is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
MIKE CONLEY, MCDOWELL NEWS
Greg Conley sang “Amazing Grace” near the conclusion of Sunday’s unveiling.
RIDGECREST — On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in October, a memorial plaque and boulder commemorating the lives of the incarcerated workers who labored and died to build the railroad over the mountains in the 1870s was unveiled during a special ceremony near the McDowell-Buncombe county line.
On Sunday, a memorial plaque and boulder commemorating the lives of the incarcerated workers who labored and died to build the railroad over the mountains in the 1870s was unveiled during a special ceremony in Ridgecrest near the McDowell-Buncombe county line. Marion Mayor Steve Little, left side of the boulder, and Ray McKesson, right side of the boulder, stand in front of the memorial.
The memorial boulder has a plaque that states it is dedicated “to the incarcerated workers who died in the construction of the Mountain Division of the Western North Carolina Railroad between 1875 and 1879." The boulder came from the site of the construction of the tunnels.
Marion Mayor Steve Little, railroad historian and co-founder of The RAIL Project, talked about the history of the railroad line that was built by the state of North Carolina after the Civil War.
Ray McKesson, at podium, vice president of The RAIL Memorial Project, welcomed all those who attended in a clearing off Yates Avenue. He is also president of the NAACP of McDowell County. Dan Pierce, president and co-founder of The RAIL Memorial Project, acknowledged those who made the event possible. He is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
