2021 Apple Butter Festival
October 9 is the date.
Mark your calendars!
See Our Videos!
MCHS has a collection of videos of our programs and other events available online for all to see. They are cataloged by the year they were recorded. Stop in and learn some things you may not have known!
MCHS Membership & Newsletter
Please consider becoming a member of the Mitchell County Historical Society.
Discounts on merchandise purchased from the MCHS store are but one of the many goodies for members of MCHS. Here is a preview of the newsletter members receive, the Quarterly Review. Download a copy (PDF file – opens with the free Adobe Reader software) and see what members will be receiving beginning in the new year. Plus, you will get advance notice (and input) on our presentation series, opportunities to volunteer to help preserve our history, and access to online resources to research topics and genealogy in our office located in the Historic Mitchell County Courthouse.
Not a member? Join today!
The 2020
Christmas Ornament
The 2020 Mitchell County Historical Society Christmas Ornament honors the Good Will Free Library, constructed by Dr. Charles H. Wing who retired to Mitchell County after a distinguished academic career. He made it his mission to bring education to residents, providing vocational training and opening a library filled with many of his own books that he loaned throughout the county. It was during its time the largest public library in North Carolina.
The Corona Times
MCHS Documents the
Corona Virus Pandemic
The History & Heritage of
Mitchell County, NC
The Mitchell County Historical Society is committed to the preservation of the history, heritage, and culture of Mitchell County, North Carolina. We hope you enjoy your visit and stop by often for updated stories, photos, and videos.
What’s New on the Site
Here are our latest posts about Mitchell County’s history. We welcome suggestions for topics. Please contact us to submit your ideas!
Places
Interesting stories
Our Earliest Highway: Bright’s Trace and the Yellow Mountain Road
Most of us journey up US Highway 19E to Avery County not realizing we’re traveling over millions of hoofprints, footprints, wagon tracks, and finally automobile tracks that have...
A Very Special Six Months in Buladean
For many years, churches in our community served dual roles as centers of religious and social activity on Sundays, and also during the week,as schools for students of all ages....
November Rain: Remembering the Flood of 1977
On November 6, 1977, the mountains of North Carolina saw one of the worst natural disasters to hit the area in nearly sixty-one years. On Friday, the 4th, heavy rain began to...
People
Significant Individuals
POLLY WRIGHT STEWART SAW FIVE GENERATIONS
Mary Wright was born about 1836 according to her death certificate, but most census records show her as being a few years younger, born perhaps about 1839. Her parents, Solomon...
Mitchell County’s Mica Mine Murders
Waightstill Avery Anderson was a Mitchell County revenue officer. Anderson married Nora Bowman, the daughter of J.W. Bowman and Mary Garland. Anderson had the reputation as a man...
J.J. Britt: Defender of Freedom
On 19 October 1899, J.J. Britt, presiding over the North Carolina Republican Party meeting in Statesville opposing the suffrage amendment, the Campaign for Freedom In North...
History
Happenings of note
Tragedy at Berry Gap
The coming of the Clinchfield Railroad to the region in the early 1900s was a boon for the area and opened up the isolated mountain region to the outside world. The building of...
J.J. Britt: Defender of Freedom
On 19 October 1899, J.J. Britt, presiding over the North Carolina Republican Party meeting in Statesville opposing the suffrage amendment, the Campaign for Freedom In North...
Our Earliest Highway: Bright’s Trace and the Yellow Mountain Road
Most of us journey up US Highway 19E to Avery County not realizing we’re traveling over millions of hoofprints, footprints, wagon tracks, and finally automobile tracks that have...
Communities
Unique locales in Mitchell County
November Rain: Remembering the Flood of 1977
On November 6, 1977, the mountains of North Carolina saw one of the worst natural disasters to hit the area in nearly sixty-one years. On Friday, the 4th, heavy rain began to...
Kilmichael Tower and Little Switzerland
Judge Heriot Clarkson of Charlotte and his family were the developers of the resort community of Little Switzerland in 1910. The community between Grassy Mountain and Chestnut...
Mitchell County and the May Fresh of 1901
David Crockett described the flood of the Nolichucky in 1791 as “the second epistle to Noah’s fresh.” Most likely, since the Toe River feeds the Nolichucky and Cane Creek feeds...
Icons
These define Mitchell County
Robert G. Young Was an Educator of Merit
Robert George Young was born 6/19/1926 in Mitchell County, the son of Frank B. Young (1894-1986) and Isabella Wilson Young (1897-1982). His great- grandfather was Greenberry...
W.G. Honeycutt – A Mitchell County Hero
Veterans Day is a holiday created to celebrate our real-life heroes. When we think of heroes, they often seem larger than life and we tend to forget they are real people. One...