Governors W. Kerr Scott (left) of North Carolina and Gordon Browning (right) of Tennessee attended the 5th Rhododendron Festival in 1951 and spoke to “several thousand” people, outlining the proposed projects and their benefits to the two states.
Before the 1940’s, those who wanted to go to the top of the Roan Mountain from Bakersville had to travel by horse or buggy – or up an old post road for those brave enough with their cars. In 1939, a public road was constructed from Bakersville to the top of the mountain; some of it was paved and some not.In June 1950 bids went out from the State Highway Commission to pave 46 miles of roads. The Mitchell Project was financed under the primary road program which involved 12.8 miles beginning “in Bakersville northeast through Glen Ayre to Station 464 thence northwest to the Tennessee State line.” It began in June. A similar road construction project was put out in March for bids in Tennessee from Elizabethton to Carvers Gap. The Forest Service also began construction of the road from Carvers Gap to the summit. The three roads were dedicated at the 6th Rhododendron Festival in 1952. Walter C. Berry, President of the Bakersville Lions Club, was in charge of the event. (Featured color photograph of Roan Mountain courtesy of Romantic Asheville)