North Carolina Sampler

Some quick highlights of our last week...hopefully there will be more to come soon. I thought about titling this photo, they don't call it the Blue Ridge for nothing! This view is from one of the many dramatic overlooks along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock, where we stayed.

Grandfather Mountain is the biggest attraction in these parts, next to Linville Falls. We didn't go to the top and try the mile high swinging suspension foot bridge. We are brave, but not that brave.


One place we did visit at length was the Moses Cone estate just out of Blowing Rock. A textile magnate, Cone donated over 3000 acres to the state to preserve its 19th century character. There is a Southern Highlands Craft Guild gallery on this site, as well as miles of trails and wonderful views. Very peaceful.

This inn, which is NOT the one where we stayed, was the garden showplace of Blowing Rock. The Inn at Ragged Gardens, it is called. When I have time to sort them, I will post an album of all the gorgeous flowers that were in bloom on these grounds.

The time came for us to leave the Blue Ridge and head for the Piedmont, which is the central part of the state where both our families have 18th century roots. I took a quick photo from the moving car of this creek, which I think is the south fork of Deep Creek in Surry County, where both Laughlin McElyea and later his son Hugh McElyea owned property between 1787 and 1809. When I get all of my family history story sorted out, I'm going to post it with pictures on Thursday's Child, my other blog.

This trek was also involved in tracing Linvilles. Part of Norm's family settled on Belews Creek in the Stokes/Forsyth County area in the 18th century. The creek has been dammed to create electricity and recreation, and this lovely lake on the middle arm could be near that original family site.

Toward the end of our long day on Thursday, we arrived in Caswell county, where Laughlin McElyea brought his family from Pennsylvania around 1777. He first filed for a land grant in 1779. At the commons in Yanceyville, the county seat, this preserved log cabin is one example of the square log structures that dot the entire county. They look old enough to have been built by these early pioneers.

Our last stop was at the grounds of the historic Griers Presby -terian Church, established in 1753 a mile or so from the present site. It is located on North Hyco Creek, the site of Laughlin's land grant. I can never know where on the many branches his land actually lay, since the deeds talk about measuring from one black oak to a hickory bush to somebody's line, to a pine, etc. But we stopped at the church and walked around, savoring the peace of the graveyard behind it. Suddenly there was a loud squawk and Norm discovered he had nearly stepped on this kildeer who was guarding her clutch of 4 speckled eggs. She didn't move a feather while I took the photo with my zoom lens.

This view from the church shows how much of the land was cleared by early settlers and has remained farmland. The crops include tobacco, cane, corn, alfalfa and soybeans. Much of the land in this part of the state is pasture and we saw a couple of large cattle operations. Not many hogs, which surprised me. While we were here a woman who was raised at the farm across the road and her husband stopped by the church yard. They are in their 70s. She could tell us a little bit about the area but didn't know the past history that well. We still enjoyed talking with her.

After meandering across 6 or 7 counties on Thursday, we arrived hungry at our hotel in Raleigh and settled in for our trip to the State Archives on Friday. That trip was fruitful, too, and we'll post more about it later. For now, these photos will have to stand as a teasing sampler of the whole story we have to tell.