Having Faith In A Place

When traveling through Valdese, North Carolina, visitors may be struck by an attitude—in the architecture, the history, the personal stories—of a much older community.

That sense isn’t misplaced; Valdese, located between Morganton and Hickory—just off Interstate 40—began as a place of respite, a destination in the late 1800s for Christians who had faced persecution in the Cottian Alps, which form the border between Italy and France.

“We still have full-blooded Waldensians in the community. The Waldensian flavor of the community is very much alive,” said Edyth Pruitt, former minister of the Waldensian Presbyterian Church and general manager of the Old Colony Players, a local theater group founded to tell the story of the Waldenses and the founding of Valdese.

“They are very specific about keeping the story alive. It’s in our architecture, in the way we treat people,” she said. “Valdese is a very unique little town; it’s a beautiful little town. It’s a very welcoming little town. We’ve got some good little restaurants and hot spots to find. The Waldensian history is evident all around, but there’s lots going on,” she said.

Peter Skelton, an expat Brit living in Valdese, opened the Levee Brewery and Pub in downtown two years ago with his wife.

“The people here are pretty passionate about making this a good place to live. It’s a good, friendly little place. The schools are excellent, and it’s close to a lot of stuff while not being too close. You’re never far away from anything you might possibly need,” he said.

Skelton said the brewery and pub is “a people-focused business. We live and die by people coming through the door.”

In regular times, “we have a pretty full schedule of music, we have trivia, open mic nights,” he said. “It’s very much a family friendly establishment. It’s not a late-night, hard-drinking crowd. It’s a community place,” he said.

Pruitt said the Old Colony Players theatrical organization, originally formed in the 1930s but disbanded with the onset of World War II, came back to life in the 1960s for the 75th anniversary of Valdese. “People were kind of losing track of their history, and the performances of the outdoor drama From this Day Forward allows people to retain their roots,” she said.

The intent of the outdoor drama is “to preserve Waldensian heritage,” Pruitt said. “The rest of the time we are a community theater, celebrating the artistic expression we have in our area.”

The theater has kept up its performance schedule this year, limited to an audience of 25. “I’m planning on doing The Crucible in October in an outdoor amphitheater, which is very nice space.”

A comforting downtown

Downtown Valdese boasts an array of small stores fashioned to attract window shoppers indoors to check out antiques, jewelry, gifts, handmade crafts and consignments.

The town hosts a variety of national hotels, as well as the Belle at Avery, a bed and breakfast, and estates and farms reconfigured for rest and relaxation.

Old World Baking Company on Main Street West offers freshly baked goods, made from scratch soups, salads, sandwiches and dinner, while Myra’s is a 50s style restaurant with old-fashioned burgers and ice cream.

Skelton, at the Levee Brewery and Pub, said 11 years as a pharmaceutical scientist gave him an education fine-tuned for making beer. “Having that background means I have a much better handle on quality control of the products,” he said. His chemistry background has “a very direct correlation” with the science of making beer. “We take great pride in saying what we’re going to do, and doing it,” he said.

“We’ve got a little bit of everything. Being British, we focus towards the ‘beer-flavored beer,’” he said wryly. 

Asked if he leans towards known imports like Guinness, he said, “we have a stout of our own” with variations. “We go pretty heavy with chocolate and dark chocolate flavors,” he said.

Nature on the edge of town

Downtown Valdese is bordered by a lakeside park that has been established from former Duke Power property.

“Within five minutes of downtown you feel like you’re in some other world,” said Beth Heile, president of the Friends of the Valdese Rec. The local organization was formed five years ago to help the town acquire the land that is now Valdese Lakeside Park. “Right now it’s just 300 acres,” she said. With state parks closed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, “people have been coming in droves,” she said.

Manmade Lake Rhodhiss is part of the Catawba River, and improvements planned in the park include “a parking lot, bathrooms, kayak launch, dog park, a greenway, an overlook where you can have long views of the lake, and a picnic area,” Heile said. “Those things are set to go in this year. The money is in, they’re getting the permits.”

The organization is busy raising funds for a 150-foot suspension bridge to span a creek in order to extend the walking path from Valdese Lakeside Park to McGalliard Falls, also owned by the town.

The picturesque falls are easily accessed from downtown, but Heile says adding the bridge will create a two-mile walkway along the river, and the association has applied for a grant to build mountain biking trails. They also want to install steps to ease access to the falls and to construct a wedding venue.

Completion of the walking path will create a loop on the Wilderness Gateway State Trail, which will connect Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail and South Mountains State Park with Valdese and nearby Hickory.

The park property never really faced the threat of residential growth because an underground sewer easement runs right along the lake, “so it wasn’t developed,” Heile said. “It’s just a beautiful property. I grew up in Valdese, and I never knew the town had access on the lake. I didn’t realize there was property the public could have access to.”

Rocking at The Rock

In the 1980s, the town purchased the historic Old Rock School and began renovations to create a multi-use facility. “The Old Rock School is now the home of a 500-seat auditorium, four classrooms, four private businesses, three non-profits, an art studio, the Town of Valdese Community Affairs & Tourism Department, and a large event space that is rented by the public year-round,” said Morrissa W. Angi, director of Community Affairs & Tourism. 

“In a normal year, the Old Rock School averages two events per day. The auditorium has seen many talents, from Bluegrass favorite Alison Krauss to Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle. The memories in this building can still be felt by the grooves worn into the original staircase, from the thousands of feet that have traveled them,” she said.

The Rock hosts bluegrass shows, and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver are scheduled to appear on November 7.

The Trail of Faith

A popular highlight in and around Valdese is The Trail of Faith. Guided or personal tours illustrate the global path taken by the Waldensians.

“Their story is parallel to the story of millions of immigrants who left their homeland in search of freedoms and a better life for their families,” notes educational material offered for use in schools.

“Once visitors hear a little bit about who the Waldensians were, they are interested,” Pruitt said. “They were a pre-reformation group. They were excommunicated long before Martin Luther,” she said.

Coming to America and being dropped off a train in what looked like wilderness in the North Carolina piedmont, “they didn’t want to be alone in this new world,” Pruitt said. “They wanted to be part of the new world but keep their own traditions, as well.” Those traditions and the trials these people of faith faced over the centuries, both in Europe and the new world, are detailed along the Trail of Faith.