Communities of the Catawba River: Where Industry Rose and Power Shifted

The Catawba River flows with the memory of work. For decades, it coursed through the engine room of western North Carolina, passing through towns that once stood at the center of industry, innovation, and regional momentum. Morganton, Hickory, and the Town of Catawba are not merely dots on a map—they are milestones in a journey that reveals how prosperity is won, and how influence is quietly lost.

 

Morganton: The Foundry of Foundation

Nestled near the South Mountains and Lake James, Morganton bears the weight of a longer history than most towns in North Carolina can claim. Long before European colonists arrived, this land was home to the Mississippian culture—a place called Joara, where Hernando de Soto’s men built Fort San Juan in 1567. It was the first European settlement in the interior of North America. But Morganton’s modern history was forged in factories. Incorporated in 1784 and eventually becoming the county seat of Burke County, Morganton built its reputation as a center of furniture manufacturing, textiles, and skilled labor.

Today, the echoes of that industrial era are still visible, though the economy has changed. Morganton has embraced revitalization, leaning into its cultural heritage and natural beauty to remain relevant. But the river still runs through it—feeding into a broader regional identity that ties it to Hickory and beyond. What the town now grapples with is not the memory of what it once was, but the uncertainty of what role it can play in a region whose power has shifted downstream.

 

Hickory: The Engine That Stalled

Further east, the City of Hickory stands as a symbol of what western North Carolina once promised. It was here that craft met commerce—where woodworking mastery fueled one of the nation’s most respected furniture industries. Hickory didn’t just grow; it led. With a metro population surpassing 365,000 today, it remains the economic anchor of the Unifour region.

But like many manufacturing towns, Hickory suffered under the weight of globalization and deindustrialization. Its once-bustling factories gave way to empty warehouses, and its skilled labor force faced an uncertain future. Yet, Hickory is nothing if not adaptive. The city invested in fiber-optic infrastructure, recruited data centers, and modernized its hospitals and universities. It launched the City Walk—a pedestrian corridor meant to reshape urban life and attract new investment.

Still, beneath the city’s aesthetic reinvention is a more sobering reality. When Charlotte requested a massive interbasin transfer from the Catawba River nearly two decades ago—33 million gallons a day—Hickory had the means to respond, but not the posture. It invested in image but not in influence. And when the decision passed without significant pushback, it became clear: the city that once defined the region’s economy had lost its regional leverage. The water flows on. So does the power.

 

Catawba: The Forgotten Fulcrum

At the edge of Lake Norman, the Town of Catawba carries a quieter legacy. Incorporated in 1893, this modest community once depended on agriculture and the railroad. Its population has never breached a thousand, and yet, it sits at a critical juncture—close to the river’s path and just west of where Charlotte begins to extend its reach.

Catawba’s story is not about dominance but proximity. As the Catawba River slows into Lake Norman, the conversation shifts from economic development to water politics. And though this town doesn’t drive the policy decisions that govern the basin, it is directly affected by them. The town’s access to natural resources is shaped by deals struck elsewhere. Its future is tied to voices it often cannot hear.

Catawba is not forgotten by geography. It’s forgotten by the dynamics of decision-making. And it shares that plight with Morganton and Hickory, even if the scale is different.

The River Remembers

The western section of the Catawba River—from the highlands near Morganton to the confluence near Catawba—is not just a series of tributaries. It is a continuum of culture, labor, and value. These communities helped build North Carolina’s industrial backbone. They trained generations of craftsmen, seeded public institutions, and created wealth for people far beyond their borders.

But in today’s policy environment, they are too often treated as peripheral. Decisions about water use, development incentives, and infrastructure investment are now made in Charlotte’s orbit. The river is still theirs—but the influence is not.

Conclusion: A Call for Rebalancing

If the communities of the western Catawba River are to reclaim their place in the regional dialogue, they must act as a bloc—not in nostalgia, but in clarity. They must assert their importance not just through history, but through vision. The river remembers what these cities built. Now they must remember what they’re still capable of.

They sit not at the edge of the story—but at its turning point.

 

Communities of the Catawba River: Where the River Begins

Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 25, 2025

Catawba River Crisis: Charlotte’s Water Demand and the 25-Year Strain on Catawba County - April 8, 2025

The Catawba River Crisis: A Foothills Fight for the Future - April 16, 2025

 

Can Hickory’s Youth Turn a River Crisis Into a Tech Revolution? - April 22, 2025

#HickoryNC #MogantonNC #CatawbaNC #CatawbaRiver #FoothillsCorridor  #RegionalVoice #TheHickoryHound #CommunitiesOfTheCatawba  #BurkeCounty #CatawbaCounty #WesternNC #NCWater #Deindustrialization #NAFTA #FoothillsCorridor #I40 #DukeEnergy  #WaterGovernance #MountainToMetro #RegionalPlanning #NCWater

Communities of the Catawba River: Where the River Begins

 

Old Fort and Marion 

In the quiet corners of western North Carolina, where the Blue Ridge Mountains give way to wooded ridges and rushing streams, the towns of Old Fort and Marion sit near the genesis of the Catawba River. Though small in size, these communities are foundational to the broader story of the Catawba—geographically, historically, and symbolically. 

Old Fort, with a population of just over 800, lies at the foot of the Swannanoa Gap. It's here, from the mist-laden trails leading to Catawba Falls, that the river begins its descent. This town was once a military outpost on the edge of Colonial civilization, trading ground between settlers and Native peoples, and later a rail town that hoped, but never quite managed, to become a major hub. The Catawba River runs through it in the form of Mill Creek, one of the headwater streams feeding the basin. Though often viewed as peripheral in modern planning, Old Fort is closer to the Catawba's origin than any other municipality. 

 

 

Marion, just down the road, serves as the county seat of McDowell County and a gateway between the mountains and the foothills. It boasts a richer population and a longer commercial lineage than Old Fort, but the two towns are linked by geography, infrastructure, and economic history. Marion has its own greenway that traces the river’s path, and its residents, like those in Old Fort, rely on the health and governance of that water—even as decisions about its allocation are increasingly made farther downstream. 

Both towns sit outside the centers of influence that now determine how the Catawba is distributed and who benefits from its flow. They are not fighting for control—but they are watching the conversation shift. As more people downstream seek access to the river’s limited capacity, towns like Old Fort and Marion are left to wonder how their place in that system will be acknowledged. 

Together, these communities mark the westernmost pulse of the Catawba’s journey. They don't claim control over the river, nor are they the source of its policy, but they represent its beginning—its physical and civic point of origin. As the first part in the Communities of the Catawba River series, this story isn’t about political struggle or environmental crisis. It’s about place. It’s about being at the beginning of something bigger, and wondering, as the river flows eastward: who will remember where it started?

Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 25, 2025

Catawba River Crisis: Charlotte’s Water Demand and the 25-Year Strain on Catawba County - April 8, 2025

The Catawba River Crisis: A Foothills Fight for the Future - April 16, 2025

Can Hickory’s Youth Turn a River Crisis Into a Tech Revolution? - April 22, 2025

#OldFortNC #CatawbaRiver #CatawbaFalls #FoothillsCorridor  #RegionalVoice #TheHickoryHound #CommunitiesOfTheCatawba  #Headwaters #WesternNC #NCWater #MarionNC #CatawbaRiver #FoothillsCorridor #I40Corridor  #WaterGovernance #MountainToMetro #RegionalPlanning #NCWater

Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 25, 2025

 

 

Hickory vs. Charlotte Contrasting Views on the Catawba River’s Challenges

The Catawba River, a vital lifeline for North Carolina’s Piedmont region, sustains both the bustling metropolis of Charlotte and the growing community of Hickory in Catawba County. Yet, these two cities view the river’s challenges—growth-driven water demand, water quality, infrastructure needs, and regional equity—through distinct lenses shaped by their unique realities. Charlotte, with its 2025 population of 935,017 and rapid urban expansion, grapples with escalating water consumption and infrastructure strain. Hickory, a smaller  hub community, faces similar pressures but with heightened concerns about downstream impacts and equitable access. By comparing and contrasting these perspectives, as detailed in “Charlotte’s Water Challenge - Balancing Growth with Sustainability” and “Hickory’s Water Woes: Balancing Growth, Drought, and Equity on the Catawba River,” we uncover the shared and divergent priorities of these communities and the urgent need for regional cooperation to secure the Catawba River’s future.

Population Growth and Water Demand: Scale vs. Sustainability

Charlotte’s booming population, projected at 935,017 in 2025 with a 1.28% annual growth rate, drives a massive water demand that strains the Catawba River; Charlotte withdraws 120 million gallons daily (MGD) of water for treatment (possibly up to 160mgd per sources). The city’s growth, fueled by economic opportunities in hospitality and construction, amplifies both domestic and commercial water use. A single-family home in Mecklenburg County can consume up to 200 gallons daily, and commercial sectors like hotels and construction sites add millions more gallons to the tally. This scale of demand, aligned with national per capita trends of 80-100 gallons daily, poses a sustainability challenge, with the Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group (CWWMG) projecting a 20% demand increase by 2050 if trends persist.

Hickory, by contrast, faces a more modest but still significant growth trajectory. Catawba County’s population has grown by 1.2% annually, with Hickory’s urban core driving economic expansion through projects like Apple’s data center in Maiden. The city’s water demand, averaging 12 MGD, is a fraction of Charlotte’s but critical for its residential, commercial, and industrial needs. Hickory’s concerns center on sustainability rather than sheer scale. Local planners worry that water shortages could limit new housing and business permits, stalling economic progress. As one X user noted, “We can’t keep building without ensuring our water supply,” reflecting a community anxious about growth outpacing the river’s capacity.

The contrast is clear: Charlotte’s view is dominated by managing an overwhelming demand driven by its size, while Hickory’s focus is on ensuring growth doesn’t compromise its more limited resources. Both cities rely on the Catawba River, but Hickory’s upstream position makes it particularly vulnerable to Charlotte’s downstream withdrawals, amplifying concerns about equitable access.

Water Quality: Public Perception and Local Impacts

Water quality, particularly algae blooms and sediment pollution, is a shared concern, but the cities’ perspectives differ due to their positions in the river basin and community priorities. In Charlotte, public sentiment on X highlights frustration with algae blooms in the Catawba River, with posts about “green water” or “funny-tasting tap water” signaling distrust in water safety. These blooms, fueled by nutrient runoff and warm temperatures, prompt Charlotte Water to deploy advanced treatments like activated carbon filtration. However, public discourse often focuses on immediate symptoms—taste and odor—rather than systemic issues like infrastructure upgrades. This gap suggests a need for better public education to connect quality concerns to long-term solutions.

Hickory, upstream from Charlotte, faces compounded water quality challenges. Sediment pollution from rapid development, including housing and industrial projects, clouds the Catawba River and Lake Hickory, the city’s primary water source. The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation reports that sediment runoff, exacerbated by construction, increases turbidity and treatment costs, directly impacting Hickory’s residents through potential utility rate hikes. Additionally, the foundation’s 2024 State of the River report notes 460 permitted wastewater discharges across the basin, with upstream pollutants flowing into Hickory’s water supply. Local X posts echo these concerns, with residents decrying muddy creeks and worrying about long-term impacts on drinking water and ecosystems.

While both cities grapple with water quality, Charlotte’s focus is on managing public perception and treatment costs for a large urban population, whereas Hickory’s view is shaped by the tangible downstream effects of upstream pollution and development. Hickory’s residents feel the brunt of regional activities, fostering a sense of urgency to address pollution sources beyond their control.

Infrastructure and Innovation: Investment vs. Constraint

Both cities rely on innovative infrastructure to manage water challenges, but their approaches reflect their differing resources and priorities. Charlotte Water has implemented standout programs like biosolids management, using kenaf to transform wastewater byproducts into fertilizer, and advanced algae control to ensure safe drinking water. These initiatives address the pressures of a growing population but face significant hurdles, including a $2 billion funding gap for regional water projects through 2050 and aging pipes leaking millions of gallons annually. Charlotte’s scale allows for ambitious programs, but the pace of upgrades lags behind its rapid growth.

Hickory, with fewer financial resources, focuses on practical, incremental solutions. The city has leveraged a recent NCDEQ grant for leak detection programs and collaborates with the CWWMG and USGS for enhanced streamflow monitoring to manage drought risks. The Low Inflow Protocol (LIP), activated during the 2023 drought, reduced Hickory’s water use by 10%, showcasing effective regional coordination with Duke Energy and other utilities. However, Hickory’s infrastructure challenges mirror Charlotte’s on a smaller scale, with aging systems and budget constraints limiting progress. The city’s proactive measures, like advocating for erosion control on construction sites, aim to mitigate sediment pollution but struggle against inconsistent enforcement.

Charlotte’s infrastructure view is one of large-scale innovation tempered by funding gaps, while Hickory’s is defined by resource constraints and a reliance on regional data and cooperation. Both cities face the challenge of modernizing aging systems, but Hickory’s smaller tax base heightens the urgency of cost-effective solutions.

Regional Equity: Cooperation vs. Competition

The most striking contrast lies in the cities’ views on regional water management, particularly regarding Charlotte’s proposed interbasin transfer of 30 MGD to the Yadkin-Pee Dee Basin. Charlotte sees the transfer as essential to support its population and industrial growth, arguing that its economic contributions benefit the region. However, this proposal has sparked fierce opposition in Hickory, where residents and officials, backed by the Catawba Riverkeeper, view it as a threat to upstream water security. Removing 30 MGD—equivalent to a quarter of the basin’s flow during droughts—could lower Lake Hickory’s levels, impacting drinking water, recreation, and hydropower. A Hickory resident’s X post captured the sentiment: “Why should Hickory sacrifice water so Charlotte can grow?”

This tension underscores a broader divide: Charlotte’s urban-centric perspective prioritizes its own growth, while Hickory’s upstream view emphasizes equity and regional fairness. The CWWMG offers a framework for cooperation, but Hickory’s opposition to the transfer highlights a lack of trust in equitable resource allocation. Hickory advocates for alternatives, like Charlotte investing in water recycling, to reduce basin-wide strain, reflecting a community fighting to protect its share of a shared resource.

A Shared Path Forward

Despite their differences, Charlotte and Hickory share a dependence on the Catawba River and face similar pressures from growth, water quality, and infrastructure needs. Charlotte’s challenges—massive demand, public distrust, and funding gaps—require large-scale solutions and public engagement. Hickory’s realities—vulnerability to upstream pollution, limited resources, and concerns over regional water equity—demand proactive advocacy and collaboration. Both cities can learn from each other: Charlotte’s innovative programs, like biosolids management, could inspire Hickory, while Hickory’s focus on conservation and monitoring offers lessons for sustainable growth.

For Hickory Hound readers, the Catawba River’s future hinges on unity. Residents can support conservation, advocate for stricter pollution controls, and push for fair water policies through platforms like the NCDEQ’s public hearings. Charlotte’s residents, meanwhile, must recognize their upstream impact and support regional solutions like the CWWMG. As one X user in Hickory aptly stated, “The Catawba River is our future—let’s protect it.” By bridging their perspectives, Charlotte and Hickory can ensure the river remains a lifeline for all.

•  “Charlotte’s Water Challenge - Balancing Growth with Sustainability” (worldpopulationreview.com, USGS 2015 report, cltwaterblog.org, nchstats.com, X posts, Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group)
• “Hickory’s Water Woes: Balancing Growth, Drought, and Equity on the Catawba River” (NC Office of State Budget and Management, NCDEQ Catawba River Basin Plan, Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation 2024 report, WCNC, X posts)

 

 

https://thehoundssignal.substack.com/

 

 

The Index of Hickory Hound Stories from 2025 onward

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 8 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 7 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 6 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 5 -  The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Fri May 16, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 4 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Wed May 14, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 3 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Thu, May 8, 2025 

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 2 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Tue, May 6, 2025 

Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 4, 2025 - Includes Vol. 1 of this series

🎭 Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 8 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

 

Theme: Fallout, Fracture, and the Edges of Survival

Not everyone makes it. Some fall through. Some get pushed. Others find ways to survive on margins the system refuses to acknowledge. Volume 8 closes the series by confronting the aftermath—the raw edge of American decline.

These final archetypes don’t fit the redemption story. They’re not rebuilding. They’re still in it. What they reveal is not hopelessness, but consequence: of policy, abandonment, and public silence.

This volume is about reckoning—not with who we failed to become, but with who we refused to see.

---

🧱 Archetype #22: The Witness

 

 

“He remembers what they’d rather forget.”

He’s worked the hardest jobs. Paid the highest prices. And watched as the stories of his labor—and his community—were erased from the mainstream narrative.

The Witness is the Black working-class moral anchor who saw the same decline others did, but without the cushion. He knows collapse. He lived it under different names, in different eras.

He stays because leaving would mean surrendering history. His presence demands recognition—not just of injustice, but of endurance.

---

💊 Archetype #23: The Addicted

 

 

“It started with pain. It ended with a label.”

He didn’t set out to ruin his life. He set out to treat something: a back injury, anxiety, a void. What followed was prescription, addiction, and exile.

The Junkie is not a caricature. He is a reflection of regional despair—the human cost of economic collapse, medical predation, and cultural denial. His name is never said aloud, but everyone knows someone like him.

This archetype asks us to look at the wreckage we criminalized instead of healed.

---

🏚️ Archetype #24: The Evicted / Displaced Tenant

 

 

“She did everything right—and still got pushed out.”

She worked. Paid rent. Played by the rules. But the rules changed. A rent hike. A building sale. A no-fault eviction notice. And suddenly, she was out.

The Evicted Tenant represents the brittle housing ecosystem of post-industrial towns: where wages stagnate, landlords consolidate, and stability disappears. Her story isn’t about poor choices—it’s about a rigged system.

This archetype closes the series with a hard truth: the American dream now has an entry fee—and she couldn’t afford it.

---

📌 Final Note for This Drop—and the Series

The Witness. The Addicted. The Displaced Tenant.

They are not metaphors. They are the consequence.
The ones who held the line. The ones who got lost. The ones who never made the cut.

This is Volume 8—and the final chapter of Faces of the Shrinking Center.
We end where truth lives: on the edge of survival.

 

The Index of Hickory Hound Stories from 2025 onward

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 7 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 6 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 5 -  The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Fri May 16, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 4 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Wed May 14, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 3 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Thu, May 8, 2025 

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 2 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Tue, May 6, 2025 

Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 4, 2025 - Includes Vol. 1 of this series

🎭 Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 7 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Theme: Legacy, Loss, and the Systems We Inherit

Collapse doesn’t just fall on the living. It haunts the landscape through legacy—through what was built, what was broken, and what remains embedded in the bones of a place. Volume 7 is about inherited consequence. These archetypes didn’t just live through change—they embody it.

This trio captures a regional trajectory in three acts: the pride of what once was, the managerial class who facilitated decline under a different name, and the forgotten lives reshaped by disability and chronic illness—left to navigate a system that forgot them in its push for efficiency.

Together, they don’t just show what happened. They explain how.

---

🔨 Archetype #19: The Builders

 

 

“They raised the town with callused hands—and watched it be sold off with clean ones.”

They weren’t CEOs. They were foremen, craftspeople, small-time entrepreneurs, and proud laborers who laid the physical and cultural foundations of their towns. Roads, churches, schools, factories—they built it all.

But the Builders didn’t just shape infrastructure. They shaped identity. Theirs was an era when work meant community stature, and local legacy had currency.

Now, their names are on plaques while their descendants are priced out of the neighborhoods they once constructed. This archetype is about origin—and how easily origin stories get rewritten when power changes hands.

---

👔 Archetype #20: The Outsourced Executive

 

 

“He stayed behind—but the jobs didn’t.”

He never left the region. But his decisions did. The Outsourced Executive was the loyal insider—the one who signed the memo, approved the cuts, hosted the farewell party, and stayed on while the factory shut down.

He tells himself it was strategy, not sabotage. That market trends, not morality, made the calls. But behind his local investments and civic awards lies a deep complicity: he was part of the chain that severed his community’s future.

This archetype is a reminder that decline isn’t always imposed from outside. Sometimes it’s executed from the inside—with a handshake and a bonus.

---

♿ Archetype #21: The Chronically Ill / Disabled

 

 

“The system broke—and then told her to wait in line.”

She didn’t get a diagnosis. She got disqualified. In a country obsessed with productivity, her worth is measured by what she can no longer do. She navigates paperwork instead of treatment, skepticism instead of support.

This archetype represents the quiet majority that our institutions pretend aren’t there. She’s not just a patient. She’s a survivor of bureaucratic indifference, economic abandonment, and social erasure.

She’s not invisible because she’s ill. She’s invisible because we made her that way.

---

📌 Final Note for This Drop

The Builders. The Outsourced Executive. The Chronically Ill.
One gave us roots. One gave us away. One reminds us what we ignore.

This is Volume 7 of The Shrinking Center—and it’s not about nostalgia.
It’s about unfinished business.

🎭 Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 6 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Theme: Resilience, Rebuilding, and Regional Stakes

Not all resilience is visible—and not all rebuilding is welcome. Volume 6 explores the fault lines between recovery and control, between reinvention and consolidation. It features three archetypes locked in a regional tug-of-war over identity, power, and future ownership.

One is a quiet innovator—a Gen-X bridge between analog grit and digital grind. One is a returner, trying to breathe life back into the place that raised them. And one is already in control—an oligarch who profited from the vacuum others couldn’t fill.

This is a volume about stakes: who stays, who comes back, and who builds the future in their own image.

---

🧠 Archetype #16: The Creative Gen-Xer

 

 

“Too young to quit. Too old to pretend.”

They came up through mixtapes and modem speeds. Now they work in Canva, Zoom, and burnout. The Creative Gen-Xer doesn’t fit any box. They’re not hip enough to trend, but not old enough to retire.

They adapt by necessity, create out of habit, and endure without applause. They’re the ones still showing up—with skills no one wants to pay for, and insight everyone seems to ignore.

This archetype captures the tension of a generation stretched thin: sandwiched between fading industries and digital disruption, still trying to matter in a world they helped build.

---

🏡 Archetype #17: The Young Returner

 

 

“He left to find a future—and came back to build one.”

He didn’t return because he failed. He returned because he saw something worth saving. The Young Returner could’ve stayed gone—but chose to bring energy home. He plants roots where others uproot.

But coming back isn’t easy. The jobs aren’t always there. The networks are old. The skepticism is real.

This archetype represents a new form of rural hope: not nostalgia, but intentional revival. His presence asks a bold question—what if home isn’t what you escaped, but what you create?

---

🏦 Archetype #18: The Local Oligarch

 

 

“He didn’t save the town. He acquired it.”

While others grieved, he brokered. While others left, he bought. The Local Oligarch isn’t flashy—he’s strategic. He owns the buildings, funds the events, shapes the narrative.

He tells himself he’s preserving heritage. Others see a monopoly on memory.

This archetype isn’t about cartoon villains. It’s about soft power in plain sight—the quiet consolidation that defines who gets a voice, who gets a lease, and who gets left out.

---

📌 Final Note for This Drop

The Creative Gen-Xer. The Young Returner. The Local Oligarch.
Three faces of recovery. One builds. One returns. One controls.

This is Volume 6 of The Shrinking Center.
And the future they shape isn’t neutral—it’s negotiated.

 

The Index of Hickory Hound Stories from 2025 onward

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 7 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 5 -  The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Fri May 16, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 4 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Wed May 14, 2025

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 3 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Thu, May 8, 2025 

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 2 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class - Tue, May 6, 2025 

Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 4, 2025 - Includes Vol. 1 of this series