Bat Cave, North Carolina | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 35°27′05″N82°17′13″W / 35.45139°N 82.28694°W | |
Country | United States |
State | North Carolina |
County | Henderson |
Named for | A bat cave located on Bluerock Mountain [1] |
Elevation | 1,480 ft (451 m) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
ZIP code | 28710 [2] |
Area code | 828 |
GNIS feature ID | 1018981 [3] |
Bat Cave is an unincorporated community in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States and is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Named after a bat cave located on Bluerock Mountain (also known as Bat Cave Mountain), it is the largest known augen gneiss granite fissure cave in North America and is a protected area, not open to the public. [4] It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names [5] [6] and is also a regular victim of street sign theft, especially in the early 1990s during the popularity of the movie Batman Returns .
The community, located along the banks of the Broad River and within the Hickory Nut Gorge, features several shops, inns and a post office. It is also where three highways merge, U.S. Route 64 (US 64) from Hendersonville, U.S. Route 74A (US 74A) from Asheville, and North Carolina Highway 9 (NC 9) from Black Mountain, becoming Lake Lure Highway; which then continues in a southeasterly direction to Chimney Rock and Lake Lure.
The area was first connected by a Drovers' road, a natural access into the interior of the Blue Ridge Mountains for drovers who were moving livestock, mostly flocks of turkeys and some geese, herds of hogs and some cattle in and out of the mountains to the markets. Established in 1798, it connected the area with Asheville, following on what is today US 74A. [7] In 1879, the Bat Cave Post Office opened; previously known as Chimney Rock Post Office, it originally opened in 1843 (located where what is now Lake Lure) and had a series of closures before its relocation and renaming. The post office was destroyed, as was much of the community, during the flood of 1916, but was later rebuilt. In the 1920s, the Bat Cave community, and its famous cave, became a popular tourist attraction. The 186-acre (75 ha) Bat Cave Preserve was setup in response to that popularity and help protect the endangered Indiana bats as well as several other species of bats that inhabit the cave. [8] [9]
In 1948, Navy Captain George Bond established the Valley Clinic and Hospital. Five years later he was recognized as "Doctor of the Year.” In the 1970s, the Bat Cave Volunteer Fire Department was organized. [8]
Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,328. Its county seat is Columbus. The county was formed in 1855 from parts of Henderson and Rutherford counties. It was named for William Polk, a colonel in the American Revolutionary War. The Tryon International Equestrian Center, close to the community of Mill Spring was the location of the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games.
Henderson County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 116,281. Its county seat is Hendersonville.
Asheville is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous city. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 94,589, up from 83,393 in the 2010 census. It is the principal city in the four-county Asheville metropolitan area, which had a population of 424,858 in 2010, and of 469,015 in 2020.
Balfour is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,187 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Hendersonville is a city in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. It is 22 miles (35 km) south of Asheville and is the county seat of Henderson County. Like the county, the city is named for 19th-century North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leonard Henderson.
Mills River is a town in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 6,802 at the 2010 census, and was estimated to be 7,406 in 2019. The town took its name from the nearby confluence of the Mills River and French Broad River. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was incorporated into a town in June 2003. Sierra Nevada opened a brewery in Mills River in 2014.
North Carolina Highway 9 (NC 9) is a 46.4-mile (74.7 km) primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It serves as a connector route from South Carolina Highway 9 to eastern portions of the Appalachians around Asheville.
Western North Carolina is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains; it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It contains the highest mountains in the Eastern United States, with 125 peaks rising to over 5,000 feet in elevation. Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet, is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and mainland eastern North America. The population of the region, as measured by the 2010 U.S. Census, is 1,473,241, which is approximately 15% of North Carolina's total population.
Chimney Rock State Park is a North Carolina state park in Chimney Rock, Rutherford County, North Carolina in the United States. The 8,014-acre (32.43 km2) park is located 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Asheville, North Carolina, and is owned and managed by the state of North Carolina.
North Carolina Highway 28 (NC 28) is an 81.2-mile-long (130.7 km) primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The highway runs north–south through the Nantahala National Forest in Western North Carolina.
The Asheville metropolitan area is a metropolitan area centered on the principal city of Asheville, North Carolina. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget defines the Asheville, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan statistical area used by the United States Census Bureau and other entities, as comprising the four counties of Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, and Madison. The area's population was 424,858 according to the 2010 United States Census, and 469,454 according to the 2020 United States Census.
North Carolina Highway 280 (NC 280) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina that runs from the city of Brevard in Transylvania County to the town of Fletcher in Henderson County. It is 18 miles (29 km) in length, starting at the intersection with US 64 and US 276 north of Brevard to US 25 and US 25A in the Asheville community of Arden.
Interstate 26 (I-26) in North Carolina runs through the western part of the state from the Tennessee border to the South Carolina border, following the Appalachian Mountains. It is part of the larger I-26, a regional Interstate that runs from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Charleston, South Carolina. I-26 is mostly four lanes through North Carolina with few exceptions. Though signed with east–west cardinal directions, in North Carolina and Tennessee, the route goes nearly north–south, with the northern direction labeled "West" and vice versa.
Gerton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 254. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
U.S. Route 25 (US 25) is a north–south United States highway that runs for 75.4 miles (121.3 km) from the South Carolina state line, near Tuxedo, to the Tennessee state line, near Hot Springs. It is part of the longer U.S. Route 25, which runs from Brunswick, Georgia to Covington, Ohio. It is a major north-south route through Western North Carolina.
Several special routes of U.S. Route 74 exist. In order from west to east they are as follows.
Bluerock Mountain is a mountain in Western North Carolina, near the community of Bat Cave. It is split between Henderson and Rutherford counties, it is home of the Bat Cave Preserve and part of Chimney Rock State Park. Its elevation reaches 2,835 feet (864 m).
Edneyville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 2,367 as of the 2010 census.
Fruitland is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 2,031 as of the 2010 census.
Bearwallow is an unincorporated community in Henderson County, North Carolina United States and is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is located along Gerton Highway (US 74A), within Hickory Nut Gorge, flanked by Burntshirt, Grant, and Little Bearwallow mountains.