About Mitchell County
North Carolina Rhododendron Festival: Roots and Twigs
The beautiful Rhododendron flower is celebrated worldwide. These celebrations include festivals in Port Logan, England; Edinburgh, Scotland; Muroji, Japan; Taranaki, a bit south of New Plymouth, New Zealand: Florence, OR; Me, CA; Plymouth, MA; and tad closer to home,...
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 the Toe River, the folks in what’s now Mitchell County also had to deal with high water....
Estatoe
This Mitchell County community in southern Mitchell County lies along Brushy Creek. The name comes from an Indian Princess who fell in love with a brave from a rival tribe. Because their love would never be accepted by either’s families, they jumped from a precipice...
The Bakersville Riot: The Greatest Battle In America since the Massacre of Little Big Horn
In 1893, an event known as the Bakersville Riot launched Bakersville across the front pages of newspapers worldwide.The events leading up to the riot occurred eleven years earlier. In 1882 Will, Dick, and Tom Whitson, three brothers of the Red Hill Community, murdered...
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. The Presbyterian Church played a pivotal role in the early education of Mitchell County...
Rock Creek Revolution: Forming a Mountain Church
The Rock Creek Church of the Lord Jesus Christ has a history that expands for over eighty years in the Fork Mountain community. The birth of the church occurred on January 1, 1936. On that date, the first members of the pre-established church began taking turns having...
Roxanna Bowman Putman ~ Herb Doctor
In Appalachia, a Herb Doctor is a therapist who heals with herbs. Other labels for such practitioners, often but not always female, are “granny women,” “wise women,” or “conjurers.” One of these herb doctors from Buladean was Roxanna “Roxaner” Bowman Putman. Roxanne...
The Bakersville Riot: The Greatest Battle In America since the Massacre of Little Big Horn
In 1893, an event known as the Bakersville Riot launched Bakersville across the front pages of newspapers worldwide.The events leading up to the riot occurred eleven years earlier. In 1882 Will, Dick, and Tom Whitson, three brothers of the Red Hill Community, murdered...
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...
Robert B. Phillips – Educational Giant and Farmer
Robert Blalock Phillips was born 10/30/1902 in the Snow Hill community of Mitchell County. He was the son of W.S. (Woodfin Squibb) Phillips (1874-1952) and Sophia Blalock Phillips (1876-1906). He had 4 older siblings, and his mother gave birth to another child prior...
Wellborns and McCalls Anchored Spruce Pine’s Lower Street for Almost a Century
Two of the oldest stores in Spruce Pine shared an intertwined history during their existence. Robert Shell (R.S.) along with his wife Annie McCall opened his first store in 1914, moving to several locations before settling downtown in the Peterson Building. In 1928,...
Mrs. Ruby Sisk Gouge
Ruby Juanita Sisk was born December 18, 1898 in Franklin, North Carolina to Ray Dean and Emma Lou Guy Sisk. Her father was a successful attorney, state senator, and highly respected community citizen.She was an honor graduate from Woman’s College, UNC, which is now...
The Greenlee House Once Stood Proud on Grassy Creek
James Greenlee (1740-1813) of Morganton bought a 640-acre tract of land on Grassy Creek from John Carson, owner of large acreage in Burke County. The tract of land in what is now Mitchell County passed from James Greenlee, who also owned land in Burke, McDowell,...
Rock Creek Revolution: Forming a Mountain Church
The Rock Creek Church of the Lord Jesus Christ has a history that expands for over eighty years in the Fork Mountain community. The birth of the church occurred on January 1, 1936. On that date, the first members of the pre-established church began taking turns having...
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....
The First Electric Lights for Bakersville and Toecane
Bill Masters is credited with bringing the first electric lights to Toecane and Bakersville from energy generated by his water wheel in a 3-story mill in Toecane. According to living relatives, Bill was a voracious reader with a table in his home piled with stacks of...
Wellborns and McCalls Anchored Spruce Pine’s Lower Street for Almost a Century
Two of the oldest stores in Spruce Pine shared an intertwined history during their existence. Robert Shell (R.S.) along with his wife Annie McCall opened his first store in 1914, moving to several locations before settling downtown in the Peterson Building. In 1928,...
Spruce Pine’s Gunter Building
The structure known as the Gunter Building, on the corner of Oak Avenue and Topaz Street, was erected about 1941; Spruce Pine was in the midst of a commercial boom based on the mining industry, which had greatly expanded in the first 2 decades of the 20th century and...