Places

Mitchell County and the May Fresh of 1901

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...

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 Morgan.

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...

Grassy Creek

Grassy Creek

This Mitchell County community was named by the Greenlee Family who brought their livestock into the area from the lands below Gillespie Gap to graze in the lush, grassy pastureland alongside the creek. Thus the name “Grassy” Creek.

Ledger

Ledger

Located in central Mitchell County, this community is said to have been named by the Post Office Department because of a report submitted in a “ledger” by a local resident named Phillips. His record of mail sent and received in the community through another post...