Kathleen Walls
Kathleen Walls, former reporter for Union Sentinel in Blairsville, GA, is publisher/writer for American Roads and Global Highways. She is the author of several travel books including Georgia’s Ghostly Getaways, Finding Florida’s Phantoms, Hosts With Ghosts, and Wild About Florida series. Kathleen’s articles have appeared in Family Motor Coaching Association Magazine, Food Wine Travel Magazine, Weekender Extended, Travel World International, Tours4Mobile and others. She is a photographer with many of her original photographs appearing in her travel ezine, American Roads, as well as other publications. Her fiction includes Last Step, which was made into a feature movie of the same name by Forbes Productions, Kudzu, Under A Bloody Flag and Under A Black Flag.
PODCAST FEATURE
Listen to Kathleen’s interview talking about the American south.
Articles by Kathleen Walls
In the United States, the population exploded in the late 1800s and early 1900s due to massive immigration, especially in Boston and New York City. Much of the population at the time consisted of impoverished families. If one parent died, the other often could not care for the children. As a result, many of these children were put on orphan trains and sent away to be adopted or sometimes indentured by families across the country.
Just outside the small town of Murfreesboro, Arkansas, a sign near the entrance of Ka Do Ha proclaims it as the “home of the world’s largest diamond.” I think the village itself is a precious gem. Ka Do Ha is a beautiful mix of authentic scientific knowledge and tourist attraction fun you do not want to miss.
Little Rock began making history dating back to August 24, 1818, when the Quapaw Line was drawn, creating the boundary between the Quapaw tribal lands and lands available for settlement by westward-moving Americans. The treaty referred to La Petite Roche, an outcropping of rock on the Arkansas River, by its American name, “Little Rock,” believed to be the first official use in a government document of the name. It continued to rock history into the future.
Many people know the story of the African American town Rosewood from the movie about the massacre, but how many of us have heard of Goldsboro, Florida, the second black incorporated city in the United States, which also thrived and was subsequently destroyed?
Amelia Island is a blend of cultures that lived under eight flags. It was a haven for pirates, con men, and hardworking settlers from many countries. From the Timucuans who met the first French and later Spanish settlers, to the Jim Crow era and the founding of American Beach, where African Americans could frolic freely, it has a unique history and offers a perfect vacation spot with fewer crowds than better known Florida beach towns.
