Watauga County, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northwestern North Carolina, was officially…read moreformed in 1849 and named for the Watauga River. Its name derived from a Native American term meaning "beautiful water." Boone, the county seat, was selected early on and has remained the administrative center ever since. The current Watauga County Courthouse is the fourth courthouse to serve the county and was completed in 1968. The building showcases a modernist style with buff-colored stone and concrete. It features a flat roofline, a recessed central entrance, and symmetrical window groupings. A front addition was completed in 1982. Parking is available directly behind the courthouse and along Queen Street in metered spaces designated for courthouse visitors. The building is handicap accessible via the rear entrance. I was able to find parking and walk the grounds - I did not spot any historical markers or historical monuments. [Review 1217 of 2025 - 4402 in North Carolina - 24769 overall]

Yancey County was established in 1833 from parts of Burke and Buncombe counties and named for…read moreBartlett Yancey, a North Carolina congressman and education reformer. The county seat, Burnsville, honors naval hero Otway Burns, and the region became a hub for agriculture, mica mining, and mountain crafts. Prior, it was Cherokee land. Today, Yancey is known for its rugged terrain, including Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi. (Oddly, not Mitchell County, but hey, whatever.) The original courthouse in Burnsville was a modest wooden structure built in 1834, replaced by a brick building in 1836, and then by the third building, a Classical Revival courthouse in 1908, and now serves as the Burnsville Town Hall. The current, fourth courthouse, was completed in 1965. It is a two-story red brick and concrete building designed in a restrained Modern Colonial Revival style, with a central peaked entrance and a slender cupola rising from the roof that adds vertical emphasis without grandeur. There is free street parking around the Burnsville Square and a dedicated parking lot to the rear. There are clear "no cameras" signs posted so I was not able to take pictures of the inside of the courthouse. The second-floor courtroom serves as the building's centerpiece, while county offices occupy the lower level. [Review 1227 of 2025 - 4412 in North Carolina - 24779 overall]

This marker is located in the Oak Hill Cemetery, near the grace of the flag designer…read more It reads, "In 1905 the Legislature adopted as the state flag one which was designed by Colonel Le Roy Reeves, a native and resident of Johnson City. The three stars represent the three grand divisions of Tennessee. The flag was first raised by Company F of the National Guard on October 10, 1911 during the dedication ceremonies of East Tennessee State Normal School." It is marker number 1A-86 and it was erected by the Tennessee Historical Commission. The three white stars represent the state's three grand divisions - East, Middle, and West Tennessee - but their arrangement is carefully regulated: no two stars may align parallel to the flag's edges, and the highest star must sit nearest the upper corner. This layout avoids rigid symmetry and instead suggests dynamic balance. The blue circle enclosing the stars symbolizes unity, binding the divisions into an indissoluble whole. The tri-star within the blue circle has become an unofficial logo for Tennessee. It appears in branding for state agencies, sports teams like the Tennessee Titans, and even private companies. [Review 1441 of 2025 - 579 in Tennessee - 24992 overall]

This marker is located along a quiet country road and points out some of the earliest colonial…read morehistory in the area. There is space to pull over. Of course, the marker is a ways from the actual site which is very well off the beaten track. The marker reads, "6.5 miles northwest, at the mouth of Brush Creek, is a mill built by Jeremiah Dungan in 1779, and continuously operated since then. East of it was a stone fort erected by pioneers of the Watauga Settlement. Dungan and other pioneers are buried in the vicinity." It is marker number 1A-17 and it was erected by the Tennessee Historical Commission. [Review 262 of 2025 - 568 in Tennessee - 23825 overall]

I like old towns like this with a big grassy square, a monument to some historical dude named…read moreBurns, and some neat shops. It has a quilt shop on the square, some churches, an old historic inn that Elvis stayed at, a coffee house, some galleries, and a few places to eat that nook neat. Worth a stop if you are traveling through, but not a destination unless you are going for some big hiking at Mt. Mitchell or some of the other great outdoors places it has nearby. I'd stop here again.

The road from Asheville was finished last year and already the town is perking up with new…read morerestaurants and longer hours for some of the existing eating establishments. The Grapevine has really great women's clothing, Appalachain Java has nice food all the way until 8pm, Homeplace brewery has some kind of food truck each night, music, trivia, and great beer. Rescue Dog Cafe and Burnsville Donut Company are keeping East Main Street lively and well fed, and Garden Deli and Snapdragon are consistently good on the Town Square. Rad Dawgs and the ice cream parlor next to it are just plain fun. I'm addicted to the Gyrate taco there. Ye Olde Country store has quality deli items and mile high sandwiches. Main Street Shoes has really cute footwear and YummiYarns has a great selection of yarn for knitting, crochet, or weaving. Quilt and Code has quilting supplies on one side and computer help on the other. There's a terrific health food store, an outdoor living store that just opened, a music store, a couple galleries including one that is part of Toe River Arts Council, Dark Sky Wood handcrafted furniture, an outfitter store, Parkway Playhouse, Yancey Theater, a wine shop, a couple of antique stores, a pizza shop and the new Mountain Chef Bistro. NuWray Inn, the Terrell House, and Carolina Country Motel all offer accomadations. The Chamber of Commerce and the Visitors Center can direct you to the History Museum and other points of interest. There's a Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings and free events for families and kids on the square on Saturday mornings during the summer. Also there is bargain shopping at New to You furniture, Felicity's Closet, Alexandra's Closet, and Barkin Basement. There is definitely plenty to keep you busy for a full day or more.

Toured the Carter Mansion today ($7 per person) Tours are not everyday. Call Sycamore Shoals, or…read morecheck their Facebook site for tour days, and time. We got to see every room in the house, except the basement, which has wood floors. A painting over the fireplace was pretty cool. It was painted over with white paint years ago, and while the restoration group was taking paint "samples", they realized something was under the white paint, which turned out to be a painting. Only one piece of furniture was original to the house, which was a chair. We checked out the family cemetery, and walked down to the Watauga river which is actually in front of the house. This is the oldest framed house in Tennessee. Interesting piece of history.

Located at the intersection of Skyland View Drive and US-321, this marker recalls the place where…read morean educator had an impact on the local community. The marker reads, "Emily Prudden, 1832-1917. Missionary. Founded 15 western N.C. schools including Pfeiffer College forerunner. Her Skyland Institute stood here." Online, there is more information. "Few educators were better known in western North Carolina at the turn of the century than Miss Emily C. Prudden (1832-1917). In his eulogy Congregational minister George Dickerman estimated that no less than 10,000 students had passed through her schools." "Prudden was one among many "Yankee schoolmarms" who came South in the late nineteenth century. At age fifty-one, she left her native Connecticut, where she had raised her late sister's orphaned children, to serve as housemother at Brainerd Institute in Chester, South Carolina. Her accomplishments over the next thirty years were all the more remarkable in light of the fact that from the age of seventeen she was deaf. She began her work in North Carolina in 1884 when she acquired fifty acres at All Healing Springs in Gaston County. Her school there was known in time as Jones Seminary and later as Linwood College. In 1888, she established Lincoln Academy nearby for black females. From this beginning she went on to found schools at Blowing Rock, Connelly Springs, Saluda, Elk Park (one white, one black), Mill Springs, Cedar Valley, Lawndale, Brevard, Tryon, and near Lenoir. This last one was her greatest success. Oberlin Home and School, transferred to the care of the Woman's Home Missionary Society in 1903, was the direct forerunner of Pfeiffer University at Misenheimer." "The strategy she followed at Oberlin was the one she used elsewhere: to establish a school and, after a few years, transfer control to an organization (usually religious and most often the American Missionary Association) better able financially than she to keep it going. Consequently Prudden usually did not stay in one community more than two or three years. Upon retirement in 1909 she returned to Blowing Rock, site of her Skyland Institute founded in 1887. Prudden's body was returned to Connecticut for burial. The site of Skyland Institute and her home is now the location of a condominium complex." [Review 15910 overall - 3126 in North Carolina - 1415 of 2021.]

Great little monument in the heart of Elizabethton. I recently stopped here at first since this was…read morea roundabout and then I came back to go buy it again just to go to the covered wagon. This Monument is a staple to the community and the history behind it is absolutely breathtaking. Thankfully there's not a lot of traffic here so you could run over to the monument and read the history behind it. During the winter time this Monument is decorated.

Located on the east side of the river, this tall granite obelisk honors the veterans of all wars. I…read morethought initially that it might have been a Confederate monument, but no. This is all wars from the Revolutionary War to the present date. "Built in honor of all soldiers of Carter County in all wars from the Revolution down to this date, 1912." The base of the Monument was constructed out of river rock that was brought from banks of the nearby Doe River and held together by hand-mixed cement. The base measures about 20 feet and the body of the structure measures about 65 feet high, which was a significant height when built. The top is a single piece that is pyramid shaped. Located in the center of a traffic circle where North Main Street meets South Main Street, it is just across from the old court house. [Review 14961 overall, 463 of 2021, number 264 in Tennessee.]