On the Rocks

01/09/2024

We have just reconnected with Google My Business successfully. We would love to hear from you and give us a rating on the link below. Thanks so Much! Steve & Ann

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10/06/2023

Fall is here! Going to be a cold weekend low around 30 and high around 40. Burr. Here are some recent photos

04/06/2023

As the 2023 Masters kicks off today, did you know that Brad Owen, Director of Agronomy with over 30 years experience at Augusta National is an App State Graduate and his hometown is Beech Mountain, NC! Congrats Brad for allowing us to experience the most manicured golf course over the next 4 days! Your High Country Family is Proud of your Accomplishments. Cheers!

Augusta National Golf Club veteran receives Superintendent of the Year honors.

12/23/2022

01/13/2022

01/08/2022

Holy Moly!

This happened on 01/07/2022

01/05/2022

There is so much to do year round on Beech Mountain. Www.stayatbeech.com

January 3, 2022. The winter season across the mountains calls for lots of cool sports like ice skating, snow tubing, skiing and snowboarding. And there’s a popular activity that tends to introduce children to this winter fun: sledding. One of the well known places children can always be seen sledd...

11/22/2021

Let’s saw this will happen shortly

10/11/2021

10/11/2021

Fall in North Carolina: The Best Places to See Fall Colors in Western NC, including breathtaking photos taken along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

10/11/2021

Unbelievable. Sky is on fire and check out our Christmas Tree in the front yard.

10/11/2021

Have you heard of Helens Bridge in Asheville? This bridge is said to be haunted by the ghost of a distraught mother. Helens Bridge is a small haunted byway that is located on Beaucatcher Mountain in Asheville, N.C. The classic stone bridge was constructed as a roadway for the Zealandia Estate in 1909.

The legend speaks of a woman named Helen who lived at or near the mansion with her beloved daughter. In the 1930’s, after Helen’s daughter died in a fire, the distraught mother hung herself from the bridge. Her anguished spirit is said to still appear when her name is called, although people who have attempted to raise the spirit have reported that their car will not start when they try to leave.

When you visit (typically during the evening hours) you must call her name three times before she appears. While she won’t appear for all visitors, she likes to make herself known by either calling out in a loud scream or influencing cars. This includes locking cars from the inside, draining batteries, and more.

Visitors say Helen is not an evil spirit, but rather one who just misses her daughter. She will remain at the bridge, playing with guests and remembering the day she lost her little one.

Helens Bridge is located about 40 minutes from Marion. Directions are listed in comments.

(For more information visit https://www.trytoscare.me/legend/helens-bridge-ashville-nc-2/)

Helens Bridge is a small haunted byway that is located on Beaucatcher Mountain in Asheville, NC. Visitors say Helen is not an evil spirit, but rather one

09/17/2021

Superstitions are still a big part of a lot of families in the Blue Ridge Mountain area. Many stories and superstitions have been passed down for years and it's up to us to keep those stories going from generation to generation; just as our ancestors did. With today’s modern world, we are quick to dismiss all these stories that have been passed down.

Here are a few that you may find you are familiar with:
If your nose starts itching, company is coming.
Death comes in threes to a family or community.
If a bird flies into the house, it is a sign there will be a death in the near future.
It’s bad luck to pick up a coin if it’s tails side up.
A cricket in the house brings good luck.
Swallow a watermelon seed and a watermelon will grow in your stomach.
It is bad luck to walk under a ladder.
Break a mirror and receive seven years of bad luck.
If the bottom of your right foot itches, you are going to take a trip.
It is bad luck to cut your fingernails on a Friday or Sunday.
If you tell a bad dream before breakfast, it will come true.
Never go in one door and out the other – it will create bad luck.
If you get goosebumps or shiver for no reason, someone is walking over the patch of ground in which you will be buried.
If you ears are red, someone is talking about you.
If you sweep after the sun goes down, you’ll never be rich.

Can you think of any other superstitions?

09/14/2021

Stayatbeech.com

The Best Things to Do in Banner Elk NC, from waterfall hikes & driving the Blue Ridge Parkway to sampling Banner Elk restaurants & wineries.

07/15/2021

First Home of Presnell Family, Beech Mountain- General Sherman and Hattie Presnell (center) Pose in front of their first home with several of their children and grandchildren. Lloyd, the photographer, seldom appears in family pictures. He was likely the only person on Beech to own a camera at the time (1930’s). The house was near present day St. Andrews Road and the 18th tee.

(Photo by Llyod Presnell, from Heidi Ellis. Color added by Kim Wright. In the Images Of America Beech Mountain book by The Beech Mountain Historical Society. Copies of this book can be purchased at Aracadia Publishing)

06/13/2021

•A great read from another Facebook post. Love the History.

Linville Falls- When Avery County was formed in 1911, most of the main commerce of Linville Falls was located in Burke County along the banks of Pine Branch and Camp Creek, two tributaries of Linville River. Several sawmills, gristmills, a livery stable, boarding houses, a brickyard and other industries of the day dotted the meadows through which the creeks meandered.

Travelers to or through the area passed this village as they traversed the Winding Stairs road from Morganton to McDowell County, arrived up from Linville Gorge or traveled from Linville Falls to Altamont and Crossnore. However, just a few years later, the fierce flood of 1916 washed the mills and the buildings down the creeks, carrying logs and planed lumber shooting over the falls and into the gorge below.

A school and church had been built on land given by the Franklin family whose ancestors were the first settlers in the area, and commerce began to move closer to this building. In 1923, a road was constructed to bypass the treacherous Winding Stairs and connect Burke and McDowell. This road came through what was to become the center of the village of Linville Falls. The problem was that the center was the point where Burke, McDowell and the new Avery County all three met. This was to be a factor in the story of Linville Falls for years to come.

After the road was built, stores and cafes, as well as a post office and gas stations, began to line both sides of the new, dirt highway. The school, which also served as the church, was given a second floor and stood on a hill overlooking the new town. However, the watchful eyes of the church/school did little to conform the morals of the community to the teachings of the Bible.

Although several businesses such as R.D. Franklin's Store offered the same items as most general stores of the day, other businesses offered fare that was not available in other parts of Avery County. Beer, wine, liquor, pool-playing, card games, ci******es and even the services of ladies of the evening could be bought in Linville Falls along with Gulf gas, Coca-Cola and furniture made by Luther Franklin.

Dancing to local bluegrass or hired bands with “torch singers” and “eight piece orchestras” was commonplace every Friday and Saturday night. Mix some good whiskey, a couple of good-looking girls and a few mountain boys and the results would invariably be fights and barroom brawls.

In the center of the Avery-Burke-McDowell triad stood a large oak tree known as the “Three County Tree.” As the laws were different in each county and the lawmen had jurisdiction in only their county, lawbreakers could go from Avery to Burke to McDowell and escape capture. Even if they were arrested, the law enforcers had difficulty in transporting them to Marion or Newland or Morganton.

Linville Falls became quite a lawless town and no one in Avery County wanted their children anywhere near the town. Of course, the youngsters of the day tried their best to get to Linville Falls on a Saturday night. Some ladies today tell of sneaking down to a hill in town and watching with binoculars to see the goings on.

The 1930s were a wild time for this once peaceful village and things only got worse with the building of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Stonemasons from Spain under the leadership of Joe Troitino were brought in to build the beautiful arches and bridges that we see today. These workmen stayed in Linville Falls and added a new mix to the rough-and-rowdy group already there.

The Linville Falls Tavern (today known as Louise's Rockhouse Restaurant) was also built with a dance hall upstairs. “The Linville Falls Tavern's new dance hall recently opened to the public is proving a popular recreation spot. With a hardwood floor treated with a special preparation for dancing, tables arranged in the style of a night club and plenty of floor space, the new addition provides Linville Falls with one of the most modern dancing places in the state,” and early news report read.

As the dancing, drinking and fighting grew, the citizens of Linville Falls made an effort to get things under control. Governor Hoey appointed resident Rom Franklin as Justice of the Peace with a two-mile jurisdiction into each of the three counties. Franklin built a jail out of concrete on his property directly behind the pool hall run by Carl and Zora Johnson. Stance Ollis was appointed as a peace officer. “Officer Ollis and Rom Franklin have allowed no grass to grow under their feet since Mr. Franklin's appointment a week ago.

The first weekend under this new regime saw seven warrants sworn out for such offences as public drunkenness, affray and other minor crimes. A resort community, Linville Falls has too long been considered by outsiders where the sky was the limit as to the amount of ‘whooping it up’ could be done. It is the determination of Officer Ollis and Mr. Franklin as well as the leaders in the community to correct this impression,” local news reported.

The ledger kept for the years the jail operated has the names of many young men who went on to become outstanding citizens of Avery County, including a few of Mr. Franklin's sons. The beer and wine sales continued in Linville Falls until after the end of World War II when sales were outlawed in Burke and McDowell as well as Avery.

Linville Falls developed into a village of peaceful neighbors, families and a church and tourist destination known all over the Southeast. The story of the “Three County Tree” is kept alive by Louise's Restaurant, built on the site of the tree and famous as the restaurant that is in three counties. The upstairs dance hall is now a private dining room where no beer or wine is sold. The recent Centennial Parade in Newland contained an entry from Linville Falls. The community chose to portray Linville Falls in 1935.

Building of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the post office and the restaurant – all are symbolic of the things that Linville Falls is known for today but we also remember when Linville Falls was the S***m and Gomorrah of Avery County. Oh, the good ole' bad ole' days.

(By Tense Banks June 4, 2014)