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
Cajun Culture in Lafayette Parish
By Kathleen WallsIn Southern Louisiana, French Canadian migrants settled and intermingled with the existing community to create a unique ethnic group, the Cajuns, whose culture continues to thrive today. Visitors can learn more about the Cajuns through a visit to Lafayette Parish, where they can explore their history, customs, music and food.
United States Experiences
The Rise and Fall of Goldsboro, Florida: An African American Town
By Kathleen WallsMany 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?
United States History
Japanese American Exclusion Memorial
By Kathleen WallsOn March 30, 1942, armed soldiers with rifles and bayonets marched 276 men, women, and children of Japanese descent aboard a ship to be sent to exclusion camps. Most of them were American citizens. This didn’t happen in Japan or some foreign country. It happened on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
United States History Humanity
Franklin, Tennessee’s Historic Trilogy
By Kathleen WallsThe battle of Franklin was a turning point in the Civil War. Most historians agree it was the beginning of the end for the Confederacy.
United States History
The Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond
By Kathleen WallsThe Holocaust Museum in Richmond, Virginia is a dramatic retelling of the events that occurred, focusing heavily on the experiences of the city’s Holocaust survivors.
United States History
The Two Sides of Mark Twain
By Kathleen WallsWith the arguments in schools about Critical Racial Theory and not teaching many facts about history because they might embarrass some people, some books are being banned. Mark Twain’s books have long been on the firing line for opposite reasons, i.e. his use of prejudicial language. Because Huck Finn helped … Read more
United States Literature & Music
Old Alabama Town Takes You Back In Time
By Kathleen WallsStep back in time as you walk through Old Alabama Town—a living history museum that reflects late 19th and early 20th century life along six-blocks of downtown Montgomery. Within the six-block radius of Old Alabama Town you can visit 50 recreated buildings that reflect the time and see the “residents … Read more
United States History
Exploring Niagara Falls
By Kathleen WallsNiagara Falls, one of America’s most scenic wonders, wasn’t always a pristine park open to the public. Comprised of three waterfalls that straddle the U.S.-Canadian border, the falls have a long history; not all of it pretty. Industrial factories once marred their astonishing grandeur and their spectacular views were restricted. … Read more
North America Family Travel Nature & Outdoors
St. Simons Museum Shows that War is Hell on the Home Front, Too.
By Kathleen WallsSt. Simons Island in Glynn County, Georgia is filled with history. Its newest museum, the World War II Home Front Museum, gives a different view of the war from typical accounts.
United States History
Huntsville before it Became Rocket City
By Kathleen WallsThe world knows Huntsville, Alabama as Rocket City. Sure, it’s fun to visit the Space and Rocket Center, but there is another older part of Huntsville that is well worth a visit. You can step back to the place where Alabama first became a state; its constitution was ratified in … Read more
United States History
Williamsburg Has a Darker History, Too
By Kathleen WallsWhen we think of Williamsburg, Virginia, usually we think of the fight for American independence and freedom from England. However, there’s an important element that hasn’t been acknowledged until recently: enslaved African Americans built most of Williamsburg. When I visited Williamsburg, I viewed some sites that tell a story about … Read more
United States History
Kinston, North Carolina: A Farming and Industrial City Turned Arts Hub
By Kathleen WallsThey say art is in the eye of the beholder. When you visit Kinston, North Carolina, art will be in your eyes, ears, and taste buds too.
United States The Arts
Ladies of Laura: A Southern Plantation Run by Women
By Kathleen WallsWe think of southern ladies of yore as deferring to their gentlemen about anything concerning business. Not so with the ladies of Laura Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana.
New Orleans History
Life Under Eight Flags: Amelia Island
By Kathleen WallsAmelia 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 … Read more
United States History
Jekyll Island Before It Was a Millionaires’ Playground
By Kathleen WallsJekyll Island today is well known as a Georgia State Park where we can view a preserved piece of the lifestyle of the elite during the time of the robber barons. But did you know it also has a piece of history that was a factor in the Civil War? … Read more
Montgomery’s Civil Rights Story
By Kathleen WallsMontgomery was the spark that lit the fuse on the long-simmering fight by African Americans for their civil rights. It began a movement that is still ongoing today.
United States History
Florida’s Little Melting Pot, Ybor City
By Kathleen WallsDon Vicente Martinez Ybor, a Spaniard, came to Florida from Cuba. He first set up his cigar-making factory in Key West but found his mostly Cuban workers often left to return home.
United States History
Dade Battlefield: Small Park, Big Story
By Kathleen WallsDade Battlefield is a small state park in Bushnell, Florida that tells a big story of one of America’s most forgotten wars. The Second
United States History
Three Stops on the Trail of Tears
By Kathleen WallsThe rich culture and heritage of the Cherokee people and the story of their forced removal from their homeland is sometimes lost amid undifferentiated accounts of indigenous people in the United States. Three stops along the Georgia section of the Trail of Tears, a National Park Service site that documents … Read more
United States History
Enterprise Alabama: Thank the Boll Weevil
By Kathleen WallsSometimes tiny towns are overlooked. Enterprise, Alabama is just such a spot. I was on my way to Columbus, GA, when I decided to stop briefly to see the iconic Boll Weevil Monument in Enterprise and was captivated by its perfect small-town Main Street.
United States Off the Beaten Path
The Heidelberg Project: A Detroit Artist’s Political Protest
By Kathleen WallsAward-winning artist and sculptor Tyree Guyton started The Heidelberg Project in 1986 as a political protest after he returned to his old Detroit neighborhood, the Heidelberg area in the McDougall-Hunt Neighborhood, and found dereliction and debris.
United States Insights The Arts Preservation
Is It Still Midnight in Savannah?
By Kathleen WallsSince its founding in 1733, Savannah, Georgia has drawn visitors both temporal and spiritual, and the spooky occurrences noted throughout its history make for a thrilling experience. Here is a glimpse into the haunted history of Savannah. The Story of Jim Williams Savannah came to the attention of tourists in … Read more
United States Family Travel Architecture History
Gangsters, Monkeys and Mines: Exploring the Diverse History of a Florida County
By Kathleen WallsWhat once was old is now new in Florida’s Marion County. One of the “newest” attractions in the city of Ocala, has roots going back nearly 100 years, commemorating an epic FBI shootout with a notorious gang that ended the era of gangsters in the United States.
United States Adventure Off the Beaten Path History
Ellijay, Georgia: Extraordinarily out of the Ordinary
By Kathleen WallsSet in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Ellijay, a city in Gilmer County Georgia, is very different from the urbanized America that most visitors picture.
United States Backpacking & Camping History
Music Made for All in The Shoals
By Kathleen WallsPerhaps no place in America has merged music from artists of all races more than The Shoals area, which consists of Florence, Sheffield, Tuscumbia, and Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
United States History Literature & Music
Early American History in Harmony, Pennsylvania
By Kathleen WallsA half hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh, the tiny Western Pennsylvania town of Harmony, with a population of fewer than 1,000 people, has an unusual history that makes for a fascinating visit.
United States Religious Travel History
Have a high time in Albuquerque
By Kathleen WallsA major highlight in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a hot air balloon ride at daybreak.
United States Off the Beaten Path Food & Drink
Civil War History at a Crossroads
By Kathleen WallsLocated within the Shiloh National Military Park, the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center tells the story of the railroads that crossed in Corinth and led to two Civil War battles for control that were some of the bloodiest ever fought.
United States Family Travel History
Western New York’s New Onöhsagwëde’ Cultural Center
By Kathleen WallsThe Enchanted Mountains of Cattaraugus County, New York are the homeland of The Seneca Nation, one of six Native American tribes that formed a confederacy in the region. The largest of the six tribes, The Seneca, who lived in the Western part of the Confederacy, called themselves the Onöndowa’ga,’ or … Read more
United States Experiences Indigenous Preservation