Class Activity Ideas

This is an outline for an activity (or series of activities) that illustrates the diversity in development of Madison County in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It also illustrates the role that the railroad played in that diversity, as well as varying contemporary attitudes towards the railroad. Parts of the activity could also be used as a jumping off point to discuss tourism in Appalachia.

It can be tailored for different age groups and different lengths of time. It could take place over several class periods.

Part One
Have students free-write to the following prompt: Picture Madison County in the late 1800s-1900s. What do you see?

Part Two: Mars Hill

Step One
Show students this photograph of Mars Hill in 1905. What do you observe?

Step Two
Have students read excerpts from this memory from R.L. Moore, who became president of Mars Hill College in 1887. (Pull excerpts that describe Mars Hill during his first visit to the town.) Another alternative or addition would be to read the description of Mrs. Edna Moore’s early days at Mars Hill College.

Step Three
Have students respond to the question: Do the images described by President and Mrs. Moore match what you observed in the photograph? How or how not? If

Part Three: Hot Springs
Have students examine sources from the Mountain Park Hotel in Hot Springs, including this menu, this brochure, and this program for an orchestral performance.

Part Four: Reflection
Have students return to their free-write in Part One. Free-write again: Did what you see during this exercise match up with what you were expecting?

Part Five: Further Learning
Have students compose questions for further research that grapple with the difference between the two towns. Use these questions to guide next lessons.

Another option would be to examine the railroad schedule in the Mountain Park Hotel brochure, and and then read the description of Mars hill and its distance from the railroad in this brochure for the Mountain Summer School for Teachers in Mars Hill.