Avery County Great: Michael Hardy
Matthew Hundley / (matthew.hundley@averyjournal.com)
What makes Avery County great?
Most Avery County residents know that our county is a great place. The people, the landscape, the serenity and much more make Avery County a great place to live, work, learn and play. At The Avery Journal-Times, we believe that a big part of what makes Avery County great is the people, businesses and organizations that work throughout the county to keep our communities vibrant, engaging, wholesome and safe. Every two weeks, The Avery Journal-Times will feature one such exceptional group or person to spread the word on the good work being done throughout Avery County.
Michael Hardy moved to Avery County 11 years ago, and has been making inestimable contributions to the preservation of history, not only in Avery County, but the in region and state as well. The author of 15 books and even more articles featuring the history of Avery County, Western North Carolina and Civil War regimental history, Hardy’s presence in Avery County makes it a destination for those looking to learn more about the history of their family, their community or the Civil War.
“I have always been into history. I went to my first Civil War reenactment when I was 10 years-old,” said Hardy, explaining the origin of his love for historical research. “I love recording what people in the past have done; where we came from.”
Hardy’s enthusiasm for history is not limited to his own research. Rather, he devotes extensive time and energy into supporting Avery County Historical Society and Museum.
“Michael has been on the board of the Avery County historical society for six or seven years,” said Cindy Peters, the historical society’s chairperson. “He is a historian. Any time there is a question about a Civil War soldier, Michael has the answers. He knows where they are buried. He knows their ranks. He knows where their families are from, so he is tremendously knowledgeable about the history of Avery County, the history of the Toe River Valley. He has some incredible sites on Facebook.”
The Facebook pages that Peters describes are easy to access through the website by searching for the group names, which include “Avery County History and Genealogy” and “CS/US Soldiers of the Toe River Valley.” Hardy has also created similar history pages for Mitchell and Yancey counties.
According to Peters, one of the best things about having Hardy in the local community is the opportunity to access his wealth of knowledge without exhaustive research.
“He’s accessible. If we have a question about something from the past, we can call him or email him and he is accessible. So often, if you have a question about something, it can take weeks to get a response,” said Peters.
How is Hardy available to devote so much time to studying history, local or otherwise? Put simply, it is his job.
“I am what you would call a professional historian. I research and write about local history, especially Civil War history. I do a lot of lectures. I travel around. I do consulting work,” explained Hardy, who explained that the consulting is often for the benefit of other writers. “I also help fiction writers like Sharyn McCrumb and Charles Price. When they are researching Civil War related stuff or things that pertain to the High Country or Toe River Valley, a lot of times, I am the person they call.”
When asked what drew him to Avery County to do his research, Hardy explained that there were numerous factors involved.
“There are hundreds of reasons, but the first would be that I have family from the High Country. The second reason would probably be that there are so many great stories and people that either came from our region or settled in our region that had such an impact on local history, state history or national history. Just in Avery County alone: The guy who designed the car that won the first Indy 500 lived here, the most popular radio entertainer in the U.S. in 1936 lived here and tons of great stories like that come from here,” said Hardy. “I really believe that folks should be involved in their local community, wherever that is. There is so much history.”
Do you know of a business or group that makes Avery County great?
If you know of a business or organization that does its part to help make Avery County great, and would like to see it featured in a future edition of this section, send an email to (matthew.hundley@averyjournal.com) with the name of the business or organization and an explanation of 100 words or less that describes what that group is doing to help make Avery County the wonderful place it is.
Most Avery County residents know that our county is a great place. The people, the landscape, the serenity and much more make Avery County a great place to live, work, learn and play. At The Avery Journal-Times, we believe that a big part of what makes Avery County great is the people, businesses and organizations that work throughout the county to keep our communities vibrant, engaging, wholesome and safe. Every two weeks, The Avery Journal-Times will feature one such exceptional group or person to spread the word on the good work being done throughout Avery County.
Michael Hardy moved to Avery County 11 years ago, and has been making inestimable contributions to the preservation of history, not only in Avery County, but the in region and state as well. The author of 15 books and even more articles featuring the history of Avery County, Western North Carolina and Civil War regimental history, Hardy’s presence in Avery County makes it a destination for those looking to learn more about the history of their family, their community or the Civil War.
“I have always been into history. I went to my first Civil War reenactment when I was 10 years-old,” said Hardy, explaining the origin of his love for historical research. “I love recording what people in the past have done; where we came from.”
Hardy’s enthusiasm for history is not limited to his own research. Rather, he devotes extensive time and energy into supporting Avery County Historical Society and Museum.
“Michael has been on the board of the Avery County historical society for six or seven years,” said Cindy Peters, the historical society’s chairperson. “He is a historian. Any time there is a question about a Civil War soldier, Michael has the answers. He knows where they are buried. He knows their ranks. He knows where their families are from, so he is tremendously knowledgeable about the history of Avery County, the history of the Toe River Valley. He has some incredible sites on Facebook.”
The Facebook pages that Peters describes are easy to access through the website by searching for the group names, which include “Avery County History and Genealogy” and “CS/US Soldiers of the Toe River Valley.” Hardy has also created similar history pages for Mitchell and Yancey counties.
According to Peters, one of the best things about having Hardy in the local community is the opportunity to access his wealth of knowledge without exhaustive research.
“He’s accessible. If we have a question about something from the past, we can call him or email him and he is accessible. So often, if you have a question about something, it can take weeks to get a response,” said Peters.
How is Hardy available to devote so much time to studying history, local or otherwise? Put simply, it is his job.
“I am what you would call a professional historian. I research and write about local history, especially Civil War history. I do a lot of lectures. I travel around. I do consulting work,” explained Hardy, who explained that the consulting is often for the benefit of other writers. “I also help fiction writers like Sharyn McCrumb and Charles Price. When they are researching Civil War related stuff or things that pertain to the High Country or Toe River Valley, a lot of times, I am the person they call.”
When asked what drew him to Avery County to do his research, Hardy explained that there were numerous factors involved.
“There are hundreds of reasons, but the first would be that I have family from the High Country. The second reason would probably be that there are so many great stories and people that either came from our region or settled in our region that had such an impact on local history, state history or national history. Just in Avery County alone: The guy who designed the car that won the first Indy 500 lived here, the most popular radio entertainer in the U.S. in 1936 lived here and tons of great stories like that come from here,” said Hardy. “I really believe that folks should be involved in their local community, wherever that is. There is so much history.”
Do you know of a business or group that makes Avery County great?
If you know of a business or organization that does its part to help make Avery County great, and would like to see it featured in a future edition of this section, send an email to (matthew.hundley@averyjournal.com) with the name of the business or organization and an explanation of 100 words or less that describes what that group is doing to help make Avery County the wonderful place it is.