Browse Oral Histories by State | Interactive Map | More Trails
Rather than establish origins, the Southern BBQ Trail seeks to collect
stories about barbecue—the meat, the 
wood,
the smoke, and the people who have dedicated their lives to the craft
of ‘cue.
We share tales of pulled pork, barbecued brisket, homemade sausage, lamb ribs, and even a few secrets about the sauce.
For every different slab of ribs or handful of meat piled on a bun, there is a different story. Oral history interviews with pitmasters and purveyors across the South reveal the various ways in which barbecue traditions have evolved and how styles emerged, helping to explain the importance—and persistence—of the South’s barbecue tradition.
Click on any state to get to the stories, or start planning your trip by using our interactive map.
Our interactive map of the Southern BBQ Trail can be used to plan your own road trip to visit the places we've documented. Grab a napkin and go!
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Browse by State ALABAMA BBQ INTRODUCTION It is only by cartography, law, and convention that Alabama is a state. From within, it reads like a perverse anthology in which the Appalachians give us a taste of the Carolinas, the Tennessee River guides a northern influence, the pine barrens continue the work of Georgia, the Black Belt gestures toward Mississippi, the coast combines Florida and Mississippi, and the Wiregrass gives you a sense of another world entirely. Go to the Alabama Oral Histories»
Mississippi barbecue has a few elements found in other states. The earliest extant commercial establishments such as Abe’s in Clarksdale are from the 1920s, when good roads and inexpensive cars catalyzed American automobile culture. Mississippi barbecue is ethnically diverse—Abe’s was and is Lebanese owned, and Old Timer’s in Richland has a Greek proprietor. Go to the Mississippi Oral Histories»
NORTH CAROLINA BBQ INTRODUCTION When George Washington “went in to Alexandria to a Barbecue and stayed all Night,” as he wrote in his diary for May 27, 1769, he won eight shillings playing cards and probably ate meat from a whole hog, cooked for hours over hardwood coals, then chopped or “pulled.” By the early nineteenth century at the latest, a sauce of vinegar and cayenne pepper (originally West Indian) was being sprinkled on the finished product. This ur-barbecue can be found to this day in eastern North Carolina and the adjoining regions of South Carolina and Virginia, virtually unchanged. Go to the North Carolina Oral Histories»
TENNESSEE BBQ INTRODUCTION In 1923 Calvin Coolidge assumed the Presidency of the United States, Hank Williams was born in Alabama, and Thomas Jefferson “Bozo” Williams opened Bozo's Hot Pit Bar-B-Q in Mason, Tennessee. Many years later, in the 1980s, Bozo's the barbecue joint was engaged in a decade-long trademark battle with Bozo the Clown. The restaurant ultimately won, but only after the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. Barbecue in Tennessee is serious business, with a long history that is intimately wrapped up in local identity and authenticity. Read the Tennessee Oral Histories»
TEXAS BBQ INTRODUCTION The pitmaster squints into the smoke as he opens the giant steel door. From your place in line, you watch him fork and flip the juicy, black beef briskets and sizzling pork loins. Your heart beats faster as he opens a steel door to reveal a dozen sausage rings hissing and spitting in the thick white cloud. Slowly, the sweet cloud of oak smoke makes its way to you, carrying with it the aroma of peppery beef, bacon-crisp pork, and juicy garlic sausage. Read the Texas Oral Histories»
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