History of Beech Mountain

The Cherokee Indians - The first people to travel to Beech Mountain were the Cherokee Indians. Their name for the mountain was "Klonteska", meaning "the pheasant", plentiful in those days.  Beech Mountain was a favorite hunting ground for the Indians.  They would mark their trails along an old animal path that came to be known as the Great Trading Path, which ran from Virginia to Georgia.  The Indians would knot small trees along this path to point the way toward their camps.  These trees on Beech Mountain were called "Beech Mountain Markers". Only one is known to be left today, though there were as many as three in recent years.  One was up by The Pinnacle Inn but it was destroyed during construction before anyone realized its significance.  There is a legend that tells of two warring Indian tribes that fought on Beech Mountain.  The losses incurred by one tribe were such that the distraught chief hung himself from the pinnacle rock on Beech Mountain. 

The 1700's  - In the late 1700s the white man came to the High Country to settle this area by establishing farms and building log cabins to live in.  The story of Delilah Baird, daughter to Col. Bedent Baird of Valle Crucis, is an interesting one.  In 1825 Deacon John Holtsclaw, married and father to seven children, met and convinced 18 yr. old Delilah to run away with him to Kentucky where he had built a cabin.  They traveled for days before they reached the cabin.  Delilah loved her new home and often walked the area gathering herbs and ginseng.  One such day she saw a cow and ventured further, only to find out that the cow belonged to her parents.  As it turned out, her  "Kentucky" home was actually located approximately where the present day airstrip is at Elk River.  Delilah's herb and ginseng outings actually took place on Beech Mountain.  Her childhood home was only 8 miles from her new home!   It is widely accepted that John and Delilah's first child, Alfred B. Baird, born in 1826, was the first white child born in this area.

 

The 1800's  - There was a battle between Confederate and Union soldiers (using Spencer repeating rifles) during the Civil War in 1864 where two soldiers were killed and the Confederates (using Springfield muskets) were driven from the mountain.  The Confederate detachment was stationed at Camp Mast, mostly as provosts for catching deserters, for which they were exceptionally successful.   After a group of Tennessee Union soldiers, claiming to be Confederates, stole horses and shot locals, Maj. Harvey Bingham, commander of the 11th Battalion North Carolina Home Guard, raided the squad, took a soldier prisoner and recaptured the stolen horses.  They camped at Balm, a community about ½ mile outside the town of Beech Mountain.  A Union scout, Jim Hartley, saw their campfire and enlisted the help of Beech Mountain resident Polly Aldridge, who walked through the camp, purportedly looking for her cow.  She then reported their route to Hartley who rallied his troops and ambushed the Confederate forces.  This battle became known as the Battle of Beech Mountain.  Edgar Tufts came to the area in 1895 and eventually established Lees McRae College, Grace Hospital (later renamed Cannon Memorial), Grandfather Home for Children and helped to create a road from Banner Elk to Valle Crucis (now NC 194).  Most of the stone buildings in the Banner Elk area, including homes and college buildings, were constructed of local stone from the fields by Tufts and other local men. 

 

The 1900's   - When Avery County was formed in 1911 from a portion of Watauga County, part of Beech Mountain was included in its boundaries.   Elk River was a major trading area at the time with the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad ("Tweetsie") having a station there, as well as hotels and telephone service.  However, Old Fields of Toe (now Newland) won the election to become the county seat due to its history as a muster area before the Civil War. Beech Mountain became an important area for harvesting of timber during the early 1900s and logging roads and remains of cabins still exist in some areas. 

In the 1930s an instructor at Lees McRae College, Mr. Clinger, began an interest in skiing with his students.  They even made their own skis in the wood shop at the college.  The students named their group "Skiing Zero Club".

 

It was reported that gold and silver were found on Beech Mountain in the 1940s.   There is a legend that an Indian who assisted two prospectors who discovered a silver vein became so afraid that the Indian would rob them of their find that they killed him.  The men never found any more silver after that.

 

Thomas Brigham came from Alabama to our area in 1961 and bought much of Beech Mountain with the idea of establishing a ski resort.  However, Mr. Brigham decided to go into politics so he sold the land to Grover C. Robbins, Jr. and his brother, Harry Robbins in 1962.  Grover had established the Tweetsie Railroad attraction in 1955 and was also in the lumber and sawmill business.  The brothers developed Hound Ears and Linville Land Harbor.  They obtained 35-40 investors, mostly Hound Ears customers, to establish Carolina Caribbean Corporation in 1965 with the intention of developing Beech Mountain and St. Croix.  They opened the attraction "The Land of Oz" on Beech Mountain in 1970.  Grover died unexpectedly in 1971 and Carolina Caribbean Corporation filed for bankruptcy in 1974.  The Land of Oz closed in 1981, the same year the town of Beech Mountain was incorporated and the Beech Mountain Club was established.  Beech Mountain tried unsuccessfully to secede from Watauga County in 1987, citing unfair distribution of tax money.  It is now the highest incorporated town east of the Rocky Mountains at 5,506' in elevation.  The population of Beech Mountain hovered around 100 in the 1980s. 

 

Now - The full time population is now approximately 375, though that figure increases dramatically in the summer to over 4,000, and winters average around 12,000 in peak ski season.   Beech Mountain now has more miles of maintained roads (20 paved and 53 gravel) than the nearby city of Boone.  There are over 2,000 homes and condominium units located within the town limits, the majority of which are single family residential. There are 60 miles of sewer lines and 60 miles of water lines, two sewage treatment plants which can treat 480,000 gallons per day, a water treatment plant which can treat 1,000,000 gallons per day and two water reservoirs which have a storage capacity of over 64,000,000.  It has its own police department, trash collection and utility department, town hall, volunteer fire department (with a class rating of 6/9) and a recycling center.  The town is mainly supported by tourism. There are numerous vacation rental possibilities and many things to do on Beech Mountain such as biking, hiking, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, tubing, ice skating, shopping and dining. 

 

The Beech Mountain Club is a private club for qualified property owners, their family members and guests.  The Club gives one access to 10 HarTru clay tennis courts, a superb 18 hole mountain golf course, designed by Willard Byrd, at an average elevation of 4450', recreation programs, a children's day camp, fitness center, new walk-in beach style swimming pool, clubhouse dining and the Alpen Haus, a ski house providing lockers, lift tickets, food, a huge fireplace and television and which is located next to Ski Beech.  The golf course is being extended from 6099 yards to over 6400 yards and boasts a new practice facility and pro shop.  Golf and lessons are available through the on-site pros.  The pool and golf practice facility were completed in 2007.

 

A town multi-million dollar recreation center by Buckeye Lake has indoor meeting rooms, basketball, tennis, fitness, a children's playroom, kitchen and reception facilities, a social room with television, books for reading and a computer.  The center overlooks beautiful Buckeye Lake and Genesis Sanctuary, a rehabilitation facility for injured or displaced animals.  There are also two outdoor tennis courts, a baseball field and a walking track around the center.

 

Ski Beech has 14 slopes of varying difficulty, two terrain parks for snowboarders, tubing, ice skating and a ski village for shopping and dining.