Abstract:
The first shocks of an earthquake shook Bald Mountain in North Carolina on February 10, 1874. For weeks following, area residents were convinced that Bald Mountain was in fact a volcano, spurring a plethora of newspaper accounts, and eventually bringing forth an engineer from South Carolina to investigate. Relieving the fears of local residents, the engineer stated positively the event was an earthquake, and the \"Old Baldy,\" would do little more than rumble and was not a volcano.