Blowing Rock North Carolina
“Crown of the Blue Ridge”
Town of Blowing Rock NC
Blowing Rock, North Carolina called the “Crown of the Blue Ridge” is a storybook mountain village in Watauga county along the Blue Ridge Parkway, with beautiful mountain views. The town of Blowing Rock derived its name from an unusual rock formation which extends over the Johns River gorge and can be seen at the famous Blowing Rock Attraction. The Indian Love Story explains why the Blowing Rock has been famous for centuries.
There are many things to do and find in Blowing Rock, such as a variety of unique downtown shops and outlets, and outdoor adventure from hiking and biking to rock climbing. Blowing Rock has Art in the Park throughout the summer, refreshing waterfalls, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Bass Lake hiking and horseback trails, Moses Cone Manor, Winter festivals and the Polar Plunge, and much more. It’s a destination for adventure, but also a place for relaxation. Blowing Rock boasts award-winning restaurants, local inns, bed and breakfasts, resorts, cabins and hotels. A recent priority for Blowing Rock’s residents has been to preserve and protect the town’s historic structures and maintaining the small-town charm and scenery that has attracted so many people for the last 150 years.
History of Blowing Rock NC
The early inhabitants of the area were home to the Cherokee and the Catawba Native American tribes. According to legend, two lovers – one from each tribe – were walking near the rocks when the man received a notice to report to his village and go into battle. When his lover urged him to stay with her, he became so distraught that he threw himself off the blowing rock into the gorge. The woman prayed to the Great Spirit to return her lover, and the Spirit complied by sending a gust of wind which blew the man back up the cliff and landed him safely on the blowing rock itself.
After the mid-18th century, when pioneers began to settle in the region, the mountain passes from southern Virginia into Kentucky attracted many colonists, farmers, hunters, and trappers who continued south to the mountains of North Carolina. The first family to settle in Blowing Rock were the Greenes, who were established by the mid-19th century on a site that would become the Green Park Hotel property.
Other early settlers in Blowing Rock included the Hayes, Coffey, Bolick, Estes and Storie families. During the American Civil War the mountains of North Carolina often witnessed fierce guerrilla warfare. To keep their families safe, men leaving for service in the Confederate Army often sent them to Blowing Rock, which became a safe haven from the Civil War fighting.
After the Civil War many of these veterans would join their families and remain in the Blowing Rock area. At the same time, summer residents began to come enjoy the cool fresh air and magnificent mountain views. The residents of Blowing Rock had their village incorporated into a town on March 11, 1889. The town’s first mayor was “Uncle” Joe Clarke, and the town initially had a population of about 300.
New of the many beautiful things in Blowing Rock began to spread and more visitors began to arrive, first camping out, and later taking rooms at boarding houses such as the Hayes and Martin houses on Main Street. Eventually there were more visitors than the existing boarding houses could handle, and so many homes were turned into hotels.
- Tweetsie Railroad
- The Blowing Rock Attraction
- Winterfest
- Art in the Park
- Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show
- Moses Cone Manor
- Blowing Rock hiking Trails & Waterfalls
- Symphony by the Lake
