Talk:Morganton, North Carolina

Chemical plant explosion?
I've got reports of a chemical plant explosion in the past few minutes. Can't find a source, but if you have one, it's article updating time. Thanks! --bbatsell |  &laquo; give me a ring &raquo;  19:03, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Jules Verne Novel
Morganton is the setting for the Jules Verne novel "Master of the World." This is something that the town has never really acknowledged even though the book serves as an excellent 19th century description of the town when it was visited by the famous french novelist. As a resident of Morganton, I think this is something that has gone unrecognized for too long.

-Patrick Leger

In the Verne novel Morganton is the starting point of a number of sightings of the great machine that can travel four different ways (air, above water, below water, and land). The machine is first spotted over a mountain referred to as "Erie(sp?)" in Morganton. The mountain is described as a flat-topped mountain and is to most Morgantonians a description of Table Rock.

POV dispute
Regarding the additions made on 12/23/06 and the subsequent edits by "Seliga" (see history page):

Glorified
This article glorifies the city and only desribes places around it in the main page. I made a few changes to it to try and make it less biased but there is still alot of work that needs to be done on it. 70.148.69.92 21:02, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Nearby Cities
Is it wholly necessary to list San Francisco on the Nearby Cities bit? 71.70.239.4 (talk) 02:49, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Joara and little league
per wp:lead, the lead should have content that appears later in the article. The info about Joara only appears in the lead. Also shouldn't that be referred to in the past tense?

In addition, I am wondering about the inclusion of the little league team. Is that really important enough for an article about the city? Surely there has been more important events in its history that trumps this. They didn't even make the final. --Omarcheeseboro (talk) 03:24, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

NPOV Flag
It is very hard to image Morganton as a hot bed of Klan activity when these Klan idiots had to bus down their entire organization from Ohio and for the fact Morganton has had a Jewish mayor for the last 20+ years. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.119.217.47 (talk) 20:32, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

This section is for discussion of whether this page is a little too squeaky-clean. Other users have posted similar topics in the past, but those posts have had a giant digital eraser taken to them, so direct comments here. In brief, several of the most notable aspects of Morganton (i.e. Klan rallies, book bannings, and child molesters) have been glossed over or erased from the article, and replaced by PR-friendly fluff like recreation sites OUTSIDE Morganton. Are the overseers of this page ok with this, or should we paint a more complete picture of the city? Gene Ray Wisest Human (talk) 16:44, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Is this page being monitored by some Kindergarten teacher? Look, I'm sorry Morganton is a Klan hotbed, but it's newsworthy, I have photographic evidence that clearly shows the Klan getting jiggy in Morganton, and you can't just wipe it out like that!

The point has come up before that this page could be used to attract new residents to Morganton and that unhappy thoughts might drive them away. Well, white supremacists are people too, and would probably like to move somewhere sympathetic to their causes. The KKK section could end up being a boon for the Morganton real estate market! Gene Ray Wisest Human (talk) 15:40, 20 July 2009 (UTC)


 * If it's such a "hotbed", then you're welcome to find some reliable sources to verify. --Omarcheeseboro (talk) 15:45, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * A 2003 photo that may show a group of nutters there for 5 minutes is evidence of nothing. Dougweller (talk) 15:49, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Doug, I respectfully disagree:

See Image:Tank Man (Tiananmen Square protester).jpg - "One nutter there for 5 minutes"

Gene Ray Wisest Human (talk) 16:00, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Gene, you have perfectly proven Dougweller's point. Without a reliable source providing context for the above photo, it means absolutely nothing. What if the caption read "A production assistant staging prop vehicles on a motion picture set", or "An engineer inspects tanks coming off the assembly line"? — Satori Son 16:35, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Satori, you are correct. However, the photo was not posted without context. I cited a website connected to the event, which evidently the undo-happy mods declined to read. Gene Ray Wisest Human (talk) 16:44, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Of course, [ http://www.stormfront.org /forum/showthread.php?t=93416, that website] didn't meet any standards of a reliable source. Tan   &#124;   39  16:46, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Correct. If you read this project's official policies, you'll see that Wikipedia requires that "Articles should be based upon reliable, third-party published sources with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy", not some anonymous forum post on a fringe website. — Satori Son 16:56, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

As I said, you didn't read the reference. I conceded that [ http://www.stormfront.org /forum/showthread.php?t=93416, the original website] was not acceptable, so I found another one more in line with Wikipedia's policies. Some might call the National Socialist Movement an extremist group, but others might say the same thing about the Democratic National Convention or PETA, and I bet both of their websites are cited on Wikipedia.

Also, I'm not using the site as a reference to say "Jews R an inferior race LOL," I'm merely using it to confirm that an event took place, and for its photos which prove it. I'm not taking the picture out of context; nobody is saying the picture is photoshopped, or that it was simply a get-together for area re-enactors of WWII/The Civil War/A Typical Tuesday in Morganton. All everyone is doing is whipping out the rulebook so you can find a technicality that allows you to wipe out something you don't like. It's like Dick Cheney is watching this article.

At least post the right article if you're going to can my edits. Gene Ray Wisest Human (talk) 18:48, 20 July 2009 (UTC)


 * This is the text in your edit with the photo:


 * Perhaps as a remnant of its Confederate period, Morganton remains a hotbed for Ku Klux Klan functions, particularly marches. The parades are typically a cause of great festivity, and are embraced by the city's planners. The Cleveland Knights branch of the Klan is particularly fond of Morganton


 * Do you really believe that the image supports the text? --Omarcheeseboro (talk) 18:54, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * It doesn't matter, because we aren't going to use that source anyway. Clearly fails WP:RS. Dougweller (talk) 19:09, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Right. And I'm trying to assume good faith, but I'm beginning to think we are being trolled. No reasonable person could read our policies and honestly think those edits are even remotely appropriate. — Satori Son 19:13, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

is now indef-blocked per this ANI thread.  Sandstein  21:08, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Joann Denton
She is probably one of the most famous or notorious people in Morganton history. I can't understand why she and several other famous people from Morganton have been taken off WIKI when you editors let Paige Summers stay on the site and she is little more than a prostitute and certainly less famous than many of the others. Paige summers was only a playmate Joann was in Playboy and in Time Magazine and the front page of almost every newspaper in the country when she was arrested.


 * Welcome to Wikipedia! My suggestion is to first create a separate article for the subject.  That is not to say that the subject cannot be included in a list of famous residents (see wp:redlink), but any questions of notability would most likely be answered if she had her own established article.  --Omarcheeseboro (talk) 22:11, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

Frankie Silver
She was not the first woman hanged in NC. She likely was not even the first white woman hanged in NC. An article published by UNC and referenced in this very page contains argument that at least nine women, blacks and whites, died by either hanging or being burned at the stake prior to Frankie's execution. 24.176.93.130 (talk) 15:39, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Misleading Reader's Digest mention
That Morganton should currently be regarded as the 10th best place in the country to raise a family is an atrocious distortion. And that is putting it gently. This report from Reader's Digest was based on the results of a parent poll they conducted in the mid-eighties, if my memory serves. The respondents were asked not to name towns they believed were excellent places to raise a family, but to scale the importance of certain circumstances they believed would make for an ideal place to do so. From there, RD found correlating statistical data from selected metropolitan areas across the country and produced a list ranked by percent match. I wish I could tell you the exact volume in which their list first included Morganton, or even the most recent occurrence, for that matter; Morganton might have even been in that list across multiple years. I don't know. But it is apparent that the contributor of this information also did not know, as there is no reference given in the Morganton article. The Catawba County Economic Development Commission still keeps a scan of the article to share through their website, and local EDCs and Chambers of Commerce cannot seem to cease touting some perceived once-greatness of the area based on this single, magnificent mention.

The area has become heavily deindustrialized over the last 20 years, during which time the unemployment rate in Burke County has doubled. Enrollment in Burke County public schools is declining. I'd have you take note of a current poll conducted by the Hickory Daily Record, which shows that more than a third of its 400+ respondents indicated that they would simply up and leave the area, if they were able, because they believe there is nothing here for them. Another 28 percent of the respondents said the area would be ok if only there were more jobs.

I am removing this little Reader's Digest tidbit from the Morganton article, and will continue to monitor the article for its reintroduction - as I'm quite certain is likely - unless another user can show that some reputable organization has, within the last decade, placed Burke County back on a map of places folks should believe their children will be able to succeed and thrive. 24.176.93.130 (talk) 15:39, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

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External links modified (February 2018)
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