Lansing North Carolina
“Coolest Corner of North Carolina”
Town of Lansing NC
Tucked away in a remote part of the High Country in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina is the rustic small town of Lansing, a tourism destination in Ashe County. Lansing offers lush green landscapes and mountain scenery, year-round festivals and various outdoor recreation opportunities. Outdoor recreation opportunities, including hiking, river rafting and canoeing, horseback riding, picnicking, and some of the best mountain trout fly-fishing opportunities in the mountains. If you like to bicycle, you’re certain to enjoy our proximity to the famed Virginia Creeper railroad-bed bike trail. The downtown street offers unique shops filled with local arts and crafts, antiques and household goods. Our shopkeepers enjoy every opportunity to welcome you to the area, and direct you to any goods and services you may seek during your stay. Lansing has several eateries along the way, from old fashioned country cooking to fresh hand tossed pizza. One of our most popular annual celebrations is the Ola Belle Reed Music Festival, held every August to honor songwriter and musician Ola Belle Reed, affectionately known as the Mother of Bluegrass. Other annual festivals include our annual Rubber Ducky Race on the New River and the annual five-week Halloween Haunted House event. Weekend barbecues sponsored by the Lansing Fire Department throughout the year are a must for everyone.
There are several National Parks and Conservation Properties nearby to Lansing including the magnificent Pond Mountain, the beautiful Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area and Grayson Highlands of Virginia. These few mountain areas are a great spot for hiking and camping.
Lansing is about 20 minutes from Jefferson and West Jefferson, only 45 minutes from Boone, NC; and a few miles from the famous railroad Virginia Creeper Trail.
History of Lansing NC
Lansing North Carolina started as a small village of a rural area and was established in 1882 by William Harrison Perkins; the community’s first postmaster. Perkins was postmaster for nearly twenty years and also served as County Commissioner. He is thought to have owned much of the land that is now Lansing. The original Lansing School was built c. 1889 in association with the Graybeal Methodist Church in Lansing, and served a dual purpose as both church and school.
The Virginia-Carolina Railroad (later owned by Norfolk & Western) was constructed through Ashe County in 1914 to 1916 and had a significant impact on the growth of Lansing. The tracks ran roughly north-south through Lansing, parallel to South Big Horse Creek Road / NC Highway 194. With the construction of the railroad, industries based on the export of the county’s natural resources sprang up. Small-scale mining of iron ore was conducted in the Lansing area and the shipment of the ore from the Lansing Depot contributed to the town’s early growth. The timber industry was even more important to the economy of Lansing and the county in general. Lumber and pulpwood, and probably tan bark, were all shipped from Lansing to processing plants that were located across Southwest Virginia and beyond. These products were the primary impetus for the construction of the railroad into Ashe County and created an economic boom for much of the region.
Much of the past farming of grain, milling lumber, cattle farmers and a cheese plant, has been restored in several area as the region embraces more tourism combined with agriculture, making it a unique place to visit.
Highlights in Lansing North Carolina
- The New River, “2nd oldest River in the World”
- New River State Park
- Lansing Blues Festival
- Pond Mountain
- Virginia Creeper Trail
- Grayson Highlands
- Choose and Cut Christmas Trees
- New River Canoeing
