1910

The population of Madison County reached 20,132

1914

(June 28th) The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by a Bosnian Serb student served as a pretext for aggressively addressing what were already stressed political relations

1914

(July 28th) World War I began following a quick series of events culminating with Austria-Hungary, supported by Germany, declaring war on Serbia, supported by Russia

1917

(April 6th) After nearly three years of actively avoiding conflict the United States entered World War I
Original Image from Documenting the American South

1918

(November 11th) A ceasefire was called, thus ending World War I

1920

(August 18th) The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, providing all citizens of the United States with the right to vote
Original Image from Documenting the American South

1920

Madison County had just over one hundred miles of what were then considered improved roads

1922

About one in sixty Madison County residents owned a car, much less than the national average of one in ten Americans
Original Image from the North Carolina Collection

1922

Madison's farmers were still producing much of their own food – almost every family raised a milk cow, pigs, chickens, and grew large vegetable gardens

1928

Madison County's forest shrank from almost 200,000 acres in 1912 to less than 150,000 acres
Original Image from the North Carolina Collection

1929

(October 29th) Black Tuesday's stock market crash marked the beginning of the Great Depression in the United States

1930

Of the 4,090 households in Madison County only 370 had electricity and only 154 had telephones

1935

(September 11th) Work began on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina near Cumberland Knob

1935

The farming population in Madison County increased nearly 17 percent in five years
Original Image from the North Carolina Collection

1937

Retail sales in Madison County had fallen nearly 50 percent in seven years

1937

(July 7th) China and Japan began fighting the Second Sino-Japanese War which later merged into the larger conflict of World War II

1939

(Spring) Britain, France, and Poland began preparing for war following the German annexation of Czechoslovakia and Italy's invasion of Albania

1939

(September 1st) World War II began with the German invasion of Poland
Original Image from the North Carolina Collection

1940

The population of Madison County grew to 22,522

1941

(December 7th) The Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the U.S. Pacific Fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, drawing the United States into World War II
Original Image from the North Carolina Collection

1945

(Early May) German forces surrender one by one throughout Europe

1945

(August) The Soviet Union invaded Japan, and the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

1945

(September 2nd) Japan surrendered, ending World War II