Oral history interview with Raymond Rapp, November 17, 2000
Subtitle: Interview K-0253. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Amberg, Rob, interviewer; Southern Oral History Program; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
Edition: Electronic ed.
Publisher: University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
Published: 2004
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Mayors; Social conditions; Community life; Social change; Social planning; Civic improvement; Rural development; Landscape protection; Mars Hill College
Other titles: Interview K-0253. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Raymond Rapp, November 17, 2000; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: In this interview, Mars Hill mayor Raymond Rapp outlines his vision for planned development in Mars Hill and Madison County. He is seeking balance -- between the desire for a small-town feel and a big-town economy; between the need for routes in and out of the area and the need to preserve the environment; and between the insularity of a small community and the need to bring in new residents. Rapp is an optimistic and active manager who started small -- with the construction of a gazebo -- but aims to make Mars Hill the gateway to a thriving, but still naturally beautiful, area. The interview provides a valuable look at the way a community faces the prospect of growth as well as at efforts toward responsible expansion. By making Mars Hill attractive, Rapp hopes to lure new businesses and residents as well as to maintain an atmosphere that will encourage community solidarity and a small-town feel. The interview emphasizes how important extensive planning is in preserving towns against aggressive, wasteful, and ugly development.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on Sept. 25, 2007).

Interview participants: Raymond Rapp, interviewee; Robert Amberg, interviewer.

Duration: 01:34:24

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digital library, Documenting the American South.  It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.

Text encoded by Apex Data Services, Inc. and Natalia Smith.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: 153 kilobytes, ca. 172.9 megabytes)

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series K. Southern Communities, interview K-0253, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by L. Altizer, March 28, 2001. Original transcript: 44 p.

Funding from the University of North Carolina Library supported the electronic publication of this interview.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements:  Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.