Roan Mountain

Mitchell County’s most famous mountain straddles the Tennessee border at an elevation of 6,200 feet above sea level. It was probably named for its roan color when seen from a distance when the rhododendron are in bloom. Legend, however has it, that it was named for...
Penland

Penland

This world-renown community in southern Mitchell County, is famous for it’s School of Handicrafts. At an elevation of 2,462 feet, it was named for Milton Penland, pioneer settler and businessman. The Penland School of Crafts was founded in 1910 by Miss Lucy...
Buladean

Buladean

Magnetic City and Wilder’s Forge were the original names of this community on Big Rock Creek in northern Mitchell County. The name Magnetic City comes from the story that when the survey lines were being conducted for the boundary of North Carolina and Tennessee, the...
Wing

Wing

This community on Snow Creek, was named for Professor Charles Hallet Wing who settled in the area in 1887. Professor Wing had taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and established in the community a lending library of some 15,000 books. This was the...

Pigeon Roost

The simple name of this community on Pigeon Roost Creek in northern Mitchell County, comes from the large number of carrier pigeons, now extinct, that once roosted in the area.
Little Switzerland

Little Switzerland

This exotic European name was penned by Judge Heriot Clarkson of Charlotte who established this resort community near the Blue Ridge Parkway in 1910. The resemblance of the area to the mountains of Switzerland gave rise to the name. At an altitude of 3,500 feet above...