Kingdom of the Happy Land

I'd been wanting for a long time to write about the Kingdom of the Happy Land--a post Civil War settlement of freed slaves in Tuxedo, N.C.

Here is the story, which appeared in this morning's paper.

Ed Bell at the site of the Palace, on the South Carolina state line, and (below) with the remains of a Kingdom cabin's chimney. The trail in the first photo is probably part of the newly established Mountains to Sea Trail, through South Carolina.

Photos are by Patrick Sullivan, for the Hendersonville Times-News.