The Minish Axe Murder

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”-Jeremiah 17:9 1883 was a bloody year in Iredell county. It’s another one of those spots in history where unseen forces conspired to display mankind’s depravity in uniquely awful ways. In addition to the story we’re going to look at today, thatContinue reading “The Minish Axe Murder”

Olive Branch Church

The little hill in Davie County where Olive Branch Methodist Church once stood has been in use for over 200 years in one way or another.The church was organized on paper in 1804, but before that met in an old log schoolhouse building in roughly the same area. It may have been in use forContinue reading “Olive Branch Church”

September, 1975 in Statesville. Murders, rape, and a John Doe.

Humans seemed naturally wired to look for patterns in life. Sometimes coincidences have meaning and sometimes they are statistical improbabilities. Either way, the mind naturally wants to create order from chaos, and the more we do that, the more likely we are to refute the randomness of events that share the same space and timeContinue reading “September, 1975 in Statesville. Murders, rape, and a John Doe.”

Petrichor Farm

This small family farm began as a log cabin sometime in the mid to late 1800’s and has been altered and added onto from those early days all the way into the mid to late 1990’s when it was properly abandoned and it’s former residents built a new house and moved away.The long, previously wellContinue reading “Petrichor Farm”

A quick word on safety while exploring.

Being older and somewhat wiser you can look back at exploring indiscretions and see all the bad choices you’ve made and unnecessary risks you’ve taken.Today I want to give a few tips about minimizing risk. I believe these tips will be useful for old houses, industrial areas, and even rural hikes to distant forgotten spots.Continue reading “A quick word on safety while exploring.”