Bakersville

BAKERSVILLE

"Bakersville, the capital of Mitchell County, is eight miles from the top of Roan [mountain], and the last three miles of the way the horsemen found tolerable going, over which the horses could show their paces. The valley looked fairly thrifty and bright, and was a pleasing introduction to Bakersville, a pretty place in the hills, of some six hundred inhabitants, with two churches, three indifferent hotels, and a courthouse. This mountain town, 2550 feet above the sea, is said to have a decent winter climate, with little snow, favorable to fruit-growing, and, by contrast with New England, encouraging to people with weak lungs." (1888. Warner, Charles. On Horseback..., p.58.)
"This is the center of the mica mining, and of considerable excitement about minerals. All around, the hills are spotted with 'diggings.' Most of the mines which yield well show signs of having been worked before, a very long time ago, no doubt by the occupants before the Indians. The mica is of excellent quality and easily mined. It is got out in large irregular-shaped blocks and transported to the factories, where it is carefully split by hand, and the laminae, of a large size as can be obtained, are trimmed with hears and tied up in packages for market....It was at Bakersville that we saw specimens of mica that resembled the delicate tracery in the moss-agate, and had the iridescent sheen of the rainbow colors--the most delicate greens, reds, blues, purples, and gold, changing from one to the other in the reflected light. In the texture were the tracings of fossil forms of ferns and the most exquisite and delicate vegetable beauty of the coal age. But the magnet shows this tracery to be iron....A singular product of the region is the flexible sandstone. It is a most uncanny stone. A slip of it a couple of feet long and an inch in diameter each way bends in the hand like a half frozen snake. (1888. Warner, Charles. On Horseback, p. 59.)
"...The mica and the illicit whiskey have worked together to make this region one of lawlessness and violence....Perhaps the worst of this is already a thing of the past; for the outrages a year before had reached such a pass that by a common movement the sale of whiskey was stopped...and not a drop of liquor could be bought in Bakersville nor within three miles of it. (1888. Warner, Charles. On Horseback, p. 60.)
"One day I had the pleasure of a ride [from Roan Mt.] over Gouge's Hill to Bakerville [sic], the county seat. It is a clean, quiet little village of nice homes around the court-house, and Gudger's hotel, an ideal summer resort, when the railroad comes. (1910. Guerrant, Edward. The Galax Gatherers, p.4.)
"....I preached at night, and again Monday morning and night, when sixteen men and women came forward and confessed Christ and gave their names to Brother Harris to organize a church. Some others had joined before, for all of which we thanked God. Mr. Bowditch gave a beautiful site for the church, and the generous people subscribed over $300.00 to build the first church there in that cozy mountain hamlet.... (1910. Guerrant, Edward. The Galax Gatherers, pp. 4, 5.)
"Being too weak to preach longer, I...turned my face towards my home beyond the Cumberlands. But I will not go before I add a postscript and tell you who the Galax Gatherers are.
"This is their native country, and the galax is a wild foliage plant which grows on the bleak sides and summits of the big mountains of North Carolina. It has a rich green color in the summer, which deepens into a splendid bronze as the winter approaches. These leaves...are used in the homes of the rich people in the cities for decoration. During the fall and winter, the poor people find employment and small compensation in gathering the leaves and selling them, at from fifteen to twenty-five cents a thousand. It is a hard way to make a living, especially when snow and ice cover the mountains, and when the leaves are most valuable. Probably none who enjoy their gorgeous foliage in a stately mansion ever know what labor and sacrifice and suffering these leaves cost the poor Highlanders." (1910. Guerrant, Edward. The Galax Gatherers, p.5.)
"Bakersville lies in the valley of Cane Creek that runs down the middle of the village with houses on either side, the road and the creek identical in places. This confidence in pretty Cane Creek was ill-requited when, in the terrible floods that occurred a few years ago, it rose and roared and thundered through the valley and nearly wiped out of existence Bakersville, which is the largest village in this part of the mountains, and which like Burnsville, is an educational centre.... (1913. Morley, Margaret. The Carolina Mountains, p.333.)
"But to the visitor who comes to explore, Bakersville's principal attraction is its proximity to the Roan and the Big Yellow, the most famous balds in the region, perhaps in all the mountains. (1913. Morley, Margaret. The Carolina Mountains, pp. 333, 334.)
"The ascent of the Roan from either side is delightful. From Bakersville the road leads up the picturesque Rock Creek Valley that lies squeezed between the Pumpkin-Patch Mountain on the south and the slopes of the big Roan on the north...." (1913. Morley, Margaret. The Carolina Mountains, p. 334.)