Revere, North Carolina

Coordinates: 35°54′09″N 82°42′12″W / 35.90250°N 82.70333°W

Revere is an unincorporated community in Madison County, North Carolina, United States. It is also known as Sodom and Sodom Laurel.[1][2]

Geography

Revere is located at 35°54′09″N 82°42′12″W / 35.90250°N 82.70333°W (35.9026053, -82.7031949). It has an elevation of 2,182 feet (665 m).[3]

Name origin

The community was originally named Sodom. During the Civil War, a Baptist preacher travelling through the area commented on a group of prostitutes and compared it to Sodom in the Bible.[4]

Presbyterian missionaries disliked this name, and officially changed the name to Revere. However, natives of the area continued to use the name Sodom.[5]

Music

Revere is particularly rich in ballad singers, and noted folklorist Cecil Sharp transcribed several "Old World" ballads sung to him in 1916.[6] In 2001, Rob Amberg published a book Sodom Laurel Album that chronicles the traditions and lifestyle in Revere. Residents and folk singers Dellie Norton, Doug Wallin, and Sheila Kay Adams are featured in the book.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Sodom Laurel Album". Publishers Weekly. 2002. Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  2. ↑ Smith, Betty (1998). Jane Hicks Gentry: a singer among singers. University Press of Kentucky. p. 72. ISBN 0-8131-0936-1.
  3. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Revere, North Carolina
  4. ↑ Adams, Sheila Kay (1995). Come Go Home With Me. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-4536-1.
  5. ↑ Jones, Loyal (2008). Country Music Humorists and Comedians. University of Illinois Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-252-03369-8.
  6. ↑ Sharp, Cecil (1917). English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. New York and London: Putnam.
  7. ↑ "Sodom Laurel Album Explores North Carolina Mountain Community". Library of Congress. April 17, 2003. Retrieved 2009-07-13.