About Mitchell County

November Rain: Remembering the Flood of 1977

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 fall and continued throughout the weekend. A flash flood watch went into effect on Saturday....

Mary Whitson Byrd, “Mountain Gal”

Mary Whitson Byrd, “Mountain Gal”

Mary Elizabeth Whitson Byrd was born 11-27-1882 in Tipton Hill, and except for 2 years, she lived in that Mitchell County community her entire life.  She was the daughter of David Clingman Whitson (1858-1948) and Nancy Levisa Tipton (1856-1941).   Other children born...

POLLY WRIGHT STEWART SAW FIVE GENERATIONS

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 and Hannah Hughes Wright, were living in the Red Hill community of what was then Yancey...

Roy Williams: Western North Carolina Legend

Roy Williams: Western North Carolina Legend

The legendary basketball coach announced his retirement on April 1, after 48 years of coaching. Roy Williams was born on August 1, 1950. His family lived in Spruce Pine at the time of his birth, however he was born in Marion Hospital as Spruce Pine would not establish...

Mary Whitson Byrd, “Mountain Gal”

Mary Whitson Byrd, “Mountain Gal”

Mary Elizabeth Whitson Byrd was born 11-27-1882 in Tipton Hill, and except for 2 years, she lived in that Mitchell County community her entire life.  She was the daughter of David Clingman Whitson (1858-1948) and Nancy Levisa Tipton (1856-1941).   Other children born...

Robert G. Young Was an Educator of Merit

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 Young (1822-1898), an early resident of the Young Cove community in Mitchell County. ...

W.G. Honeycutt – A Mitchell County Hero

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 real-life hero from our very own Mitchell County was WWII Veteran, William Gibbs Honeycutt...

James Oliver Young: World War II and Christian Hero

James Oliver Young: World War II and Christian Hero

James Oliver Young was born to William Patrick Henry and Dora Sina Buchanan Young 31 August 1910 in the Clarissa community on Cane Creek. His siblings included Ethel Eve, Robert N, Moses Lafayette, Josephine Leah, and Paul Edward Young. After graduating from Bowman...

Cleaning Our Toes

Cleaning Our Toes

According to the Cherokee, a river is referred to as the Long Man with his head in the mountains and his feet in the sea. The North Toe River’s head is at Sugar Gap in the mountains of Avery County and the South Toe’s head is in the Black Mountains near the Blue Ridge...

Tragedy at Berry Gap

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 the railroad through the mountains was an arduous task and an engineering marvel that still...

J.J. Britt: Defender of Freedom

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 Carolina, said: “We have entered upon a period of unparalleled prosperity in every line of...

Mitchell County’s Mica Mine Murders

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 who “possessed many enemies because he was active in running down the moonshiners who...

Thomas Greene: Soldier, Miner, Philanthropist   

Thomas Greene: Soldier, Miner, Philanthropist   

In 1870, the Mitchell County census listed three people as miners by profession or occupation. The 1880 census lists 81 people as being associated with mines and mining. At the center of this dramatic economic development, the heart of which was to become the...