Valle Crucis, North Carolina

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Valle Crucis
Mast General Store-27527.jpg
USA North Carolina location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Valle Crucis
Location within the state of North Carolina
Coordinates: 36°12′27″N81°47′10″W / 36.20750°N 81.78611°W / 36.20750; -81.78611
Country United States
State North Carolina
County Watauga County
Founded1842
Area
[1]
  Total4.46 sq mi (11.55 km2)
  Land4.44 sq mi (11.49 km2)
  Water0.02 sq mi (0.06 km2)
Elevation
[2]
2,858 ft (871 m)
Population
 (2020)
  Total436
  Density98.29/sq mi (37.95/km2)
Time zone UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
  Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
28691
Area code 828
GNIS feature ID2584333 [2]
Website www.vallecrucis.com

Valle Crucis in an unincorporated community and census-designated place located in Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. The name of the town is Latin for "Vale of the Cross," a reference to a valley in the area where three streams converge to form a shape similar to an archbishop's cross. [3] The community is located along NC 194, between the towns of Banner Elk and Boone.

Contents

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note
2020 436
U.S. Decennial Census [4]

History

Before the 1840s, there has been scattered settlements in the area but not permanently until the Valle Crucis Episcopal Mission was established. Founded by Levi Silliman Ives, an Episcopal missionary, "Easter Chapel" served as the first Episcopal church in the area. Its successor, the Holy Cross Episcopal Church, was built in 1926 and modeled on a now-defunct medieval monastery in Wales and is noteworthy for its architecture. [5]

Geography and climate

Valle Crucis is located at the banks of Dutch Creek and Watauga River, at an elevation of 2,677 feet (816 m) above sea level. To its north and east is Tester Mountain and to its south and west is Valle Mountain. The community is also within the Pisgah National Forest boundary, which limits some development in the area.

Weather ranges from warm summer days and cool summer evenings to cold or even bitterly cold winter nights. Rainfall is moderate, averaging 43 inches (1,100 mm) per year. Severe storms are rare. Snowfall occurs in the winter with some accumulation to be expected several times between December and April. Snowfall averages 42 inches (1,100 mm) per year. The area is also known for being one of the lowest and most quickly flooded in the region. The heart of Valle Crucis, including the bulk of the stores, the elementary school, and community park is a particularly low lying and flat in comparison to the mountainous terrain of the surrounding areas. Flooding is not an extremely rare event and can inhibit many functions of the town, such as the well known occasional flooding of the bridge on DeWitt Barnett Road, inhibiting access from that side of the town.

The Valle Crucis Community Park. Valle Crucis Park-27527.jpg
The Valle Crucis Community Park.

Attractions

The most notable attraction in the area is the original Mast General Store. [6] Also located in the community is the Mast Farm, Valle Crucis Episcopal Mission and Valle Crucis Historic District, all of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [7]

The Valle Crucis Community Park, established in 1983 by a nonprofit organization, is a large park with amenities including picnic shelters, children playgrounds, a 1-mile (1.6 km) paved path and access to the Watauga River for wading and fly-fishing.

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The Mast Farm is a historic farm located near Valle Crucis, Watauga County, North Carolina and is now the Mast Farm Inn. In the late 1700s, Joseph Mast walked from Pennsylvania and settled on much of the land that is now Valle Crucis. Around 1810, his son David built the two-room log cabin which now sits facing the main house at the Mast Farm. David's son Andrew began building the main house around 1880. Andrew's son, D. Finley Mast, completed it in 1896. A photo of the house in the early 1900s shows a sign stating simply, "BROOKSHIDE FARM, D. FINLEY MAST, ONE HALF MILE TO POST OFFICE." Originally, the main house consisted of only the part closest to the road – three stories high, with two rooms on each floor. Like most large homes with open flames for cooking, it had a detached kitchen. The main house is a two-story frame dwelling with a gable roof. In the early 1900s, Finley and his wife, Josephine, began to make additions to the house and to operate it as an inn. Over a period of about twenty-five years, five different symmetrical additions were completed, ultimately comprising thirteen bedrooms – and one bathroom. Other contributing buildings are an eight-sided gazebo (1890), wash house, spring house, meat house, log woodhouse, apple house (1905), weaving house, blacksmith shop, and gambrel roofed barn. The weaving house served as the original farm house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valle Crucis Historic District</span> Historic district in North Carolina, United States

Valle Crucis Historic District is a national historic district located at Valle Crucis, Watauga County, North Carolina. The district encompasses 50 contributing buildings, 1 contributing site, and 7 contributing structures in the central business district and surrounding residential sections of Valle Crucis. It developed between about 1812 and 1954, and includes notable examples of Gothic Revival, Bungalow / American Craftsman, and Colonial Revival style architecture. Located in the district are the separately listed Mast General Store, Mast Farm, and Valle Crucis Episcopal Mission. Other notable contributing buildings are the Baird Farm, Lucy Mast Olsen House (1936-1940), Taylor tobacco barn, Farthing Store (1909), Valle Crucis Bank (1914), Hard Taylor House, and C. D. "Squire" Taylor House (1911).

References

  1. "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  2. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Valle Crucis, North Carolina
  3. Lehman, Charlie (May 9, 1984). "Time doesn't count at Mast Store". The Times-News. p. 7. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  4. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  5. "Holy Cross Episcopal Church". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  6. "Mast General Store". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  7. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.