Edited & Multimedia by Jeremy Giovanni
The Mountain Heritage Center sponsored a series of free tours through Western Carolina’s campus. The “Historic Walking Tours” featured a one-mile walk through nine different locations filled with western’s rich history.
“I feel so connected to so many people by looking at these buildings by looking at the physically evidence at what’s gone on at the campus all these years,” said the director of the Mountain Heritage Center, Pamela A. Meister.
Tour host T.J. Peck showing photos of 19th century Cullowhee Photo by: Austin Page
The tours were hosted by T. J. Peck, a WCU graduate student with a bachelor’s degree in history and social science education. After teaching high school history for a year, he came back to Western and is now working on his master’s degree in higher education in student affairs.
There were nine specific locations for the history walk, however the walk stopped a total of sixteen times, this is the map for the locations. When you click on the markers you’d be able to see photos of before and now and additional inforamtion for each stop.
Mountain heritage center exhibit on former WCU sporting attire Photo by: Austin Page
“The idea that this school is 129 years old this year is an interesting thing, and from that to actually physically see the building because those first building are long gone but to see the earliest building and what they look like and how the campus had changed and develop overtime really to me makes me feel like I’m a part of something much larger and has so much behind it,” said Meister.
Peck will continue the tours throughout the semester and train other tour guides to take his place when he eventually graduates. He is hoping to start other walking tours such as Cherokee history in Cullowhee and Ghost tours.
