Your Source for History in the Toe River Valley
Mayland Community College is pleased to host the audio files of the Avery County Centennial Minutes (originally aired on WECR radio in Newland, NC) and the Mitchell County Sesquicentennial Minutes (originally aired on WTOE in Spruce Pine, NC).
 |
Grandfather Mountain |
Avery County
Founded in February, 1911, Avery County was created from parts of Caldwell, Mitchell, and Watauga Counties. The county is named for Waighstill Avery, who served as a colonel in the Revolutionary War and served as North Carolina's attorney general from 1777-1779. It is the last county created in North Carolina.
The county seat is Newland, named for NC Lieutenant Governor William C. Newland, who was in office when Avery County was created and who aided the passage of the bill creating Avery County.
Avery County Centennial Minutes
We hope you enjoy learning more about Avery County from our podcasts. Just click on a link to listen to that Minute.
You can subscribe to Centennial Minutes in iTunes or paste our RSS link in your mp3 software to load these minutes on your iPod or mp3 player to enjoy. You can also save these minutes to your computer or burn them to audio CDs.
- 1 - Formation of Avery County Part I
What was happening at the time of Avery County's creation? - 2 - Formation of Avery County Part II
Here's more about the history of counties in the Toe River Valley. - 3 - Lulu Belle & Scotty Wiseman
WLS National Barn Dance sweethearts Lulu Belle & Scotty Wiseman found fame nationally, but they cared a lot about Avery County. - 4 - Childsville & Calhoun
Mitchell County's first county seat was to be a community near today's Avery County Airport. What happened to Childsville? - 5 - Appalachian State in Montezuma?
Yes that's right...ASU could have been in Montezuma. Learn more! - 6 - Willam C. Newland
Who was William Newland and why is Newland named after him? - 7 - Avery County Courthouse
The current courthouse in Newland has an intersting history...one that it shares with 8 other North Carolina courthouses. - 8 - Old Avery County Jail
Next to the current courthouse, the Old Avery County Jail now serves as a museum, but it has its own history too. - 9 - The Yearling
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has its roots in a small cottage on the Lees-McRae College campus. - 10 - The Blalocks
Keith and Malinda Blalock were united by more than marriage. They went to war together. - 11 - Arizona Hughes
One of Avery County's most beloved teachers spent 57 years in the classroom...and has a book written about her. - 12 - Banner Elk Origins, Part I
The Banner family settled in the Shawneehaw community of then-Watauga County, starting a community that continutes to this day. - 13 - Banner Elk Origins Part II
Here's more information on Martin Luther Banner and his family, who settled the Banner Elk area in the 1840s.
- 14 - Reverend Edgar Tufts and The Doctors Sloop
In the late 1800s, three special people responded to the call to help the mountain people. - 15 - Banner Elk Descendents
Learn more about the early settlers of Banner Elk and the families still living in the area that descended from them. - 16 - Banner Elk Churches
Here's a brief history of churches in the Banner Elk area. - 17 - The Death of Reverend Edgar Tufts
In 1923, Reverend Edgar Tufts passed away. It was the occasion for the Doctors Sloop to pay a visit to Banner Elk. - 18 - Evolution of Hospitals in Banner Elk
Follow the history of hospitals in Banner Elk. - 19 - Evolutions of Hospitals in Crossnore
Follow the history of hospitals in Crossnore. - 20 - The Sam Banner Home
Learn more about Sam Banner, the Union officer whose home today houses the Banner Elk museum. - 21 - Electricity & Telesphone Service in Crossnore
One of the early demands for improved healthcare was electricity and the Sloops and Reverend Tufts worked to bring this advancement. - 22 - The Neice of the Doctors Sloop
Rachel Dellinger Deal, the neice of the Doctors Sloop, grew up at the hospital her Aunt and Uncle helped start. - 23 - Shepherd Monroe Dugger
Avery County's native son, Shepherd Monroe Dugger did much to promote the Banner Elk region and serve the people of Avery County. - 24 - The Banner Elk Bank
A brief history of The Banner Elk Bank. - 25 - Banner Elk Cheese Factory
At one time, Banner Elk had its own cheese factory producing famous cheeses sold throughout the region. - 26 - The Circus Comes To Banner Elk
Each summer, the circus was a major event in Banner Elk. Join us as we travel to the era of the big top in downtown.
 |
Roan Mountain |
Mitchell County
February, 1861 saw war clouds gathering on the horizon. But it also saw the creation of the second county in the Toe River Valley. Mitchell County was created from parts of Burke, Caldwell, McDowell, Watauga, and Yancey Counties. It was named for Elisha Mitchell, the professor from UNC-Chapel Hill who fell to his death while attempting to establish that a peak in the Black Mountain range was the highest east of the Mississippi. That mountain now bears his name. Joseph Bowman, a young legislator from the Red Hill community, introduced the bill the created the county, which was the culmination of around a decade of efforts to create a county in a region that felt it was under-represented in local politics.
Mitchell County's seat is Bakersville, which was founded by David Baker some time in the 1840s. It was selected as the county seat in 1868 and was incorporated in 1871.
Mitchell County Sesquicentennial Minutes
We hope you enjoy learning more about Mitchell County from our podcasts. Just click on a link to listen to that Minute.
You can subscribe to Centennial Minutes in iTunes or paste our RSS link in your mp3 software to load these minutes on your iPod or mp3 player to enjoy. You can also save these minutes to your computer or burn them to audio CDs.
- 1 - Formation of Mitchell County
In 1861, Jacob Bowman guided a bill through the legislature to create Mitchell County, culminating a decade of work. - 2 - Calhoun, North Carolina
Mitchell County's original county seat was to be near present-day Ingalls in Avery County. What happened? - 3 - John T. Wilder
This former Union officer mined iron ore in Buladean and built the Cloudland Hotel atop Roan Mountain. - 4 - The Hale Telescope and its Mitchell County Connection
One of the world's largest telescopes has deep Mitchell County roots. - 5 - Lulu Belle & Scotty Wiseman
National entertainers Lulu Belle & Scotty Wiseman were regulars at the Carolina Barn Dance in Spruce Pine. - 6 - Appalachian State University in Mitchell County?
That's right...one of the sites considered for ASU was in what was then Mitchell County. - 7 - Dr. Charles Peterson & The Death Penalty
State Senator Dr. Charles Peterson of Spruce Pine was instrumental in eliminating the electric chair as a form of capital punishment. - 8 - Harriet Morehead Berry - The Mother of Good Roads
The woman known as The Mother of Good Roads in North Carolina has a Mitchell County connection. - 9 - The Clinchfield Railroad
In 1908, George Carter managed to open up the isolated mountains as the completed Clinchfield Railroad linked the South with the North.
- 10 - Del McCoury
Poplar native Del McCoury is one of the top Bluegrass artists in the world. Learn more about him and his career. - 11 - Frankie and Charlie Silvers
The first woman to be hanged for a crime in North Carolina called the Kona community in Mitchell County home. - 12 - Professor Charles Hallett Wing
This Massachusetts native came to Mitchell County and opened up his personal library to the community, making the first free lending library in North Carolina. - 13 - Penland School
Lucy Morgan came to teach at the Appalachian School in Penland in the early 1920s. But it was a summer at Berea College that led her to her real calling. - 14 - Waddell Wilson
One of NASCAR's greatest crew chiefs is a Mitchell County native. - 15 - Brad Teague
A NASCAR driver is also a Mitchell County native, from Buladean! - 16 - Tri-County Improvement Association
In the 1920s, this organization of citizens from Mitchell, Avery, and Yancey Counties worked to bring improvements to the region...and they were very successful. - 17 - Lydia Holman
Lydia Holman arrived in Altapass in 1902, bringing medical help and more to the community.