I wasn't sure what to expect but the lady at the visitor center said this was a MUST DO!…read more This was a house that looked like Miss Gertrude stepped of and walked outside and you snuck in. Everything is in its place and authentic to how she had it decorated. The two ladies at the back entrance were super friendly and a wealth of knowledge. We enjoyed walking through and looking at the decor and photos. Amazing art work from around the world. I loved hearing the stories and I could just feel a sense that I had met Gertrude while walking her halls. Thank you for allowing us to stop by right at closing!!

The Gertrude Smith House is located just outside of Downtown Mt. Airy. It is within walking…read moredistance or you can drive as they have a parking lot or you can park in the street. The 1903 house is on the National Register of Historic Homes. Admission is free to tour the Victorian house as that was part of Gertrude Smith's will that admission be free. Ms. Smith left her house by will to be kept as a museum and established a trust to care and maintain it. The house is kept as if it were in the early 1900s with furniture; artwork and decor. The tour begins in the back of the house and I was greeted and given some history of the house and Ms. Smith. The house is self guided so you can spend as much time inside as you'd like. The rooms have information to read about or you can just look at the contents from the antiques; photographs; artwork; furniture; etc. I highly recommend visiting this historic gem if you are in the MT. Airy area.

Located on a corner that could use some trimming of the undergrowth, this marker remembers a local…read more It reads, "Hardin Taliaferro, 1811-1875. Humorist, minister, and editor. Wrote Fisher's River Scenes (1859), a collection of folk tales with local settings. He was born 2 miles Northwest." There is much more information online. "Taliaferro (1811-1875) portrayed the mountain people amongst whom he grew up in a more sympathetic light than was typical of the genre. Young Taliaferro (pronounced "Tolliver"), born and raised on Little Fisher's River in Surry County, worked as a tub-boy in the grist mills of the relatively isolated area, where storytelling was a principal form of entertainment. He moved at age eighteen to Tennessee where he married and six years later moved to Talladega, Alabama, where he worked as a tanner during the week and a preacher on Sundays. Soon all other work "was distinctly secondary to his passionate commitment to the ministry of Christ." In 1855 he became editor of the South Western Baptist. He would remain an editor until his retirement back to Tennessee in 1872." "In 1857 Taliaferro paid a return visit to Surry County where he began to write down sketches and anecdotes about his old neighbors. In 1859 Harper and Brothers of New York published the work under the title Fisher's River (North Carolina) Scenes and Characters By "Skitt," "Who Was Raised Thar". Taliaferro had a particular talent for catching the local dialect. His narrations used the ironic, mock-heroic tone typical of humorists of his day and later of Mark Twain. The publisher commissioned thirteen steel engravings to accompany the tales. Aside from nine other sketches published in the Southern Literary Messenger between 1860 and 1863, the book accounted for the whole of his non-religious writing. His work received little critical comment until its rediscovery in 1934 by folklorist R. S. Boggs. In 1937 Guion Johnson drew on the sketches to portray life in antebellum North Carolina." "Fishers River, North Carolina: Scenes and Characters" is available on Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Fishers-River-North-Carolina-Characters/dp/1163272590/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=hardin+taliaferro&qid=1598835556&sr=8-1. [Review 13750 overall, 1071 of 2020, number 2525 in North Carolina.]

Shine Bright is Painted Guitar that is located in Mayberry aka Mount Airy North Carolina and is…read morepart of an art series featuring other painted guitars around the historic Main Street area. This particular one isn't as vibrant as the others and fetuses a half light blue and half White guitar with the words "shine bright" on display. Overall a really fun and neat art initiative for a really fun and neat little town.

There are about 6-8 of these little painted guitars all across downtown Mayberry. We looked around…read moreand found all of them and added them on here for everyone to see. It was a fun little scavenger hunt to locate them. Its a nice colorful addition to the nice little TV town of Mayberry.

The whittling wall is a really cool and creative public art sculpture located in mount airy North…read moreCarolina aka Mayberry. My buddy and I was exploring the historic Main Street area when we seen this Brick wall with realistic looking brick colored figures carved into them. This piece was equally creepy and impressive. Overall this is one of the most unique, cooler pieces of public arts I've ever came across and will be very memorable For me.

This was an awesome experience to see you while we were in mayberrry. We are walking around, trying…read moreto find a different landmarks in public. Hartman came across the Wailing Wall. It was a nice addition to the mayberrry City.

Tony and I saw signs on the interstate and decided to check the park out. It is located about 2…read moremiles off the exit. The park is lovely and small. The tower is 75 feet tall. The park has honor system where you pay $7 per car for entrance to park and walk around.

the tower is a pleasant diversion from the natural splendor of trail below; a 75' ascent gets a…read moreperson to the public restrooms beside a large parking and picnic tables and grills for cookery lot so if you drove here why not stick around for a while. the lot is patrolled but not actively monitored, the fees are nominal and help keep this and other virginial parks and recreational areas in good repair so just do the right thing and ante up even if no one is looking. the shot tower is so old that I feel young in comparison; I'd like to believe that I'm a bit less musty but it's still wearing it's years much better overall and has a lovely spot near the river known locally as New. the historicity of this place is obvious and well documented and the technology and processes employed here offer insight into the thinkings and ideals of the times. pretty clever they were back then, and industrious too.

Just Bee is a Painted Guitar located in Mayberry aka Mount Airy North Carolina and is part of an…read moreart series featuring other painted guitars around the historic Main Street area This is one of the more creative ones and features plenty of colors and bumble bees. I believe it may technically be a banjo. Either way it's a fun little sculpture. Overall a cute and fun little art series in the cool town of Mayberry.

Just Bee!There are about 6-8 of these little painted guitars all across downtown Mayberry. We…read morelooked around and found all of them and added them on here for everyone to see. It was a fun little scavenger hunt to locate them. Its a nice colorful addition to the nice little TV town of Mayberry.

This marker is on the corner of the Grayson County Courthouse and points out the history of this…read morecity. It has the same text on both sides. It reads, "This place became the county seat of Grayson County in 1850; the first case was tried in the newly erected courthouse in 1851. The present courthouse was built in 1908. Independence was incorporated in 1934." Independence began taking shape in the early nineteenth century as settlement pushed into the highlands of what had recently become Grayson County, and it was officially named to reflect the young nation's patriotic spirit. The town became the county seat after Greenville lost the role, a shift driven by Independence's more central location and growing civic activity. In 1908, the community built the landmark Classical Revival courthouse, designed by Frank P. Milburn, which has anchored the town's identity for more than a century. Independence also played a role in regional commerce as a stop along early roads linking th New River valley to the North Carolina line. The Civil War didn't sweep directly through what is now Independence and no major engagements took place in the immediate area. Grayson County was geographically tucked into the highlands, away from the primary Shenandoah Valley campaigns and the major east‑west troop movements. When I was here, the marker was in very poor condition. Maybe they cleaned it up in the last couple of weeks since my visit? [Review 889 of 2026 - 1540 in Virginia - 26070 overall]

I've just spotted the Robert L. Doughton marker a few miles away in Laurel Springs and now, the…read moremarker for his brother here in downtown Sparta. Yes, brothers. Rufus was the elder and spent much of his career in North Carolina state politics. The marker is in front of the Alleghany County Courthouse and reads, "Legislator, 14 terms. Lieutenant Governor, 1893-1897. Headed Revenue & Highway Commissions. Was University of North Carolina Trustee for 56 years. Office was 30 feet west." Brothers Rufus and Robert Doughton were major political figures who shaped both state and national policy, with Rufus rising through North Carolina's legislature and Robert serving long‑term in Congress. Rufus, born in 1857 in Laurel Springs and educated locally and at the University of North Carolina, built a legal career in Sparta before winning his first legislative seat in 1887 and eventually serving as lieutenant governor. He remained a powerful advocate for western North Carolina, backing the state's landmark 1921 highway bond program and later serving as Commissioner of Revenue and chairman of the Highway Commission. Rufus retired from public life in 1933 and died in 1945, leaving a legacy closely intertwined with his brother's long federal career. [Review 883 of 2026 - 4774 in North Carolina - 26064 overall]