Lost Provinces
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Lost Provinces were relatively inaccessible regions of
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
in the 19th and early 20th centuries, under-served by roads and railroads. In the mountainous northwest corner of the state, west of the Eastern Continental Divide. Ashe, Alleghany and Watauga counties in the New River basin were cut off from the rest of the state by the high
Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the world, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsy ...
. The area's mountainous topography caused these counties to be most closely connected to Smyth and Grayson counties in
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, and to
Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...
and
Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Carter ...
counties in
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
. The first highway to connect the area to points east was the Blowing Rock Turnpike. Started in 1911, it ran to Lenoir in Caldwell County. In 1914 a railroad was built to connect Ashe County to
Abingdon, Virginia Abingdon is a town in Washington County, Virginia, United States, southwest of Roanoke. The population was 8,376 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Washington County. The town encompasses several historically significant sites and f ...
. After 1921
North Carolina Highway 16 North Carolina Highway 16 (NC 16) is a 143.8-mile (231.4 km) primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Traveling in a north–south direction, it connects the cities and towns of Charlotte, Newton, Conover, Taylo ...
connected Ashe County to Wilkesboro. Other references to "lost provinces" of North Carolina have been applied to eastern counties north of the
Albemarle Sound Albemarle Sound () is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Currituck Banks, a bar ...
that had historically related more closely to Virginia than to the rest of the state.


See also

* State of Franklin *
Overmountain Men The Overmountain Men were American frontiersmen from west of the Blue Ridge Mountains which are the leading edge of the Appalachian Mountains, who took part in the American Revolutionary War. While they were present at multiple engagements in t ...


References

{{reflist Regions of North Carolina Geography of Appalachia Western North Carolina