Join us for the NEW monthly McDowell 250 Speaker Series!! Beginning on August 7th, the McDowell 250 Committee will host a Speaker Series at the Historic Depot in Downtown Marion! This series will take place on the first Thursday of every month at 7 pm, leading up to the big day, July 4, 2026 ✨America's 250th ✨
Kicking off the series will be McDowell County Historian and local author Anne Swann.
Anne Swann has worked extensively on making McDowell County History accessible to the public. She has worked with the Carson House, the Mountain Gateway Museum, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, the McDowell Public Library, McDowell County Tourism, McDowell County Historic Preservation Committee, and many other organizations. Her project involvements have included an oral history project with the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, an exhibit on the Marion Mill Strike of 1929, and two books published, Heart Pine: Memories of Mountain Valley, North Carolina and The Other Side of the River: The Struggle for the McDowell County Frontier. Anne has continually been of service to documenting and preserving McDowell County History.