Rowan County has not always featured prominently on my personal or professional radar. Full disclosure: I am a career educator with 20 years’ experience delivering competitive pass rates in Advanced Placement United States History. Moreover, I quickly found that Salisbury and Rowan County residents actually care about their past, which is more than can be said about some of my previous domiciles. Fortunately for me, and fortunately more so for Rowan County, the Salisbury area appreciates historic preservation. Charles Dean is a touring creative non-fiction writer and comedian with ties to Rowan County.