Avery County is a
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
located in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
. As of the
2020 census, the population was 17,806.
The
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
is
Newland.
The county seat was initially established in
Elk Park when the county was first formed, but was moved to Newland upon completion of the courthouse in 1912. Founded in 1911, it is the youngest of North Carolina's 100 counties.
History
The county is the newest of
North Carolina's 100 counties. It was formed in 1911 from parts of
Caldwell County,
Mitchell County, and
Watauga County. It was named for
Waightstill Avery, a colonel in the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
and the first
Attorney General of North Carolina
The attorney general of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. The attorney general is a state constitutional officer, constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies i ...
(1777–1779).
It is often noted for the large amount of
Christmas trees that the county produces. The county seat was originally in the town of Elk Park, which was then the largest town in the county, located on the county's north end, on the Tennessee line. Upon completion of the county's courthouse in 1912, the seat was moved to the central location of what was then an unincorporated area known as Fields of Toe, for the meadows along the head of the Toe River, in what is now the incorporated Town of Newland. The town was so named for then Lt. Gov.
William Newland, an influential Democrat, who helped garner support in the then heavily Democratic legislature in Raleigh, for Avery County, an overwhelmingly pro-
Union Republican area, becoming the state's 100th and final county.
According to local legend, Elk Park citizens were upset at the decision to move of the county seat from their town, and they refused to give up the books. The then-sheriff, like all county officials, was a Democrat and an interim appointee of the Democratic governor in Raleigh, who would hold office from July 1, 1911, until the next election cycle in late 1912, when the almost all-Republican electorate would undoubtedly vote in all Republicans as local officials. The sheriff was leery of confronting the irate local Elk Park citizens, so his wife baked cookies and had their pastor deliver them as a peace offering. The citizens then cheerfully handed over the books, which were sent to the new offices at the new courthouse in Newland.
Geography
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.06%) is water.
Avery County is extremely rural and mountainous with all of the county's terrain located within the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...
range; with a mean altitude of it is the second-highest county east of the Mississippi behind nearby
Haywood County. The highest point in the county is
Grassy Ridge Bald, above sea level. Most of
Grandfather Mountain, whose highest point is Calloway Peak on the tri-point bordering Watauga and Caldwell Counties, is within Avery County. At ,
Beech Mountain (also shared with Watauga County) is the highest incorporated community east of the Mississippi River, while at Newland is the highest county seat in the Eastern United States.
National protected areas
*
Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and National Scenic Byway, All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is the longest linear park in the U.S., runs for through 29 counties in Virginia and ...
(part)
*
Pisgah National Forest
Pisgah National Forest is a United States National Forest, National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. It is administered by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. The P ...
(part)
State and local protected areas
*
Bear Paw State Natural Area
*
Gill State Forest (part)
*
Grandfather Mountain State Park (part)
*
Pineola Bog State Natural Area
*
Pisgah National Forest Game Land (part)
*
Pisgah (WRC) Game Land (part)
*
Sugar Mountain Bog State Natural Area
*
Yellow Mountain State Natural Area (part)
Major water bodies
*
Buckeye Creek
*
Cranberry Creek
*
Little Horse Creek
*
Linville River
*
Mill Creek
*
North Harper Creek
*
North Toe River
*
Watauga River
Adjacent counties
*
Johnson County, Tennessee - north
*
Watauga County - northeast
*
Caldwell County - east
*
Burke County - south
*
McDowell County - south
*
Mitchell County - west
*
Carter County, Tennessee - northwest
Demographics
2020 census
As of the
2020 census, there were 17,806 people, 6,551 households, and 4,319 families residing in the county.
2000 census
At the
2000 census,
there were 17,167 people, 6,532 households, and 4,546 families residing in the county. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 11,911 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 93.95%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 3.48%
Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.34%
Native American, 0.19%
Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 1.28% from
other races, and 0.71% from two or more races. 2.41% of the population were
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race.
There were 6,532 households, out of which 27.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.10% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 9.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.40% were non-families. 26.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.82.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 19.40% under the age of 18, 10.30% from 18 to 24, 30.10% from 25 to 44, 24.40% from 45 to 64, and 15.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age of Avery County is aging, with it at 38 years. For every 100 females there were 111.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.90 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $30,627, and the median income for a family was $37,454. Males had a median income of $25,983 versus $21,652 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the county was $15,176. About 10.90% of families and 15.30% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 19.30% of those under age 18 and 19.00% of those age 65 or over.
Law and government
The county is governed by a five-member Avery County Board of Commissioners who are elected to two or four-year terms, depending on the number and percentage of votes they receive when elected. The current members, as of 2024, are Chairman Tim Phillips, Dennis Aldridge, Robert Burleson, Wood Hall Young Jr. and Junior Benfield.
Avery County is a member of the regional
High Country Council of Governments. The county commissioners appoint a county manager to oversee day-to-day operations of county government of all departments that are not controlled by an elected head. The current county manager position is filled by Phillip Barrier, Jr. The current finance officer position is filled Caleb Hogan. The Board of Commissioners also appoints qualified citizen applicants to various boards and committees, such as business and economic development, social service board, library board, airport board, fire commission
Mayland Community College Board, ad hoc and others.
The county seat in
Newland is the highest county seat east of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
, as is the courthouse, located on a pinnacle in the center of town, at an elevation of over .
Pursuant to state law, some of the most important officials in the county are elected. These include the offices of Sheriff (Michael P. Henley, a retired NC trooper sergeant and retired Banner Elk police sergeant), Register of Deeds (currently Erin G. English), Clerk of Superior Court (currently Theresa Benfield), and formerly, the County Coroner (John A. Millan, retired Avery County chief school resource officer) and retired NC National Guard 1st sergeant, who retired in December, 2024, was among the last 3 elected county coroners serving in all of North Carolina.
Elected district judicial officials include: District Attorney Seth Banks of Yancey County, who like the district judges, covers the entire 24th Judicial District of Avery, Watauga, Mitchell, Yancey and Madison Counties. Resident Superior Court Judges are former assistant district attorney Gary Gavennus and former Chief District Court Judge Greg Horne of Boone, who is also a former assistant district attorney. Both superior court judges work out of Boone. The Chief District Court Judge is former chief assistant district attorney Ted Mcintyre of
Spruce Pine, who replaced long-serving Chief Judge Alexander Banner Lyerly, who retired in 2013. Mcintyre's office is in Newland. Other district court judges are: former Superior Court Judge Hal Harrison of Spruce Pine, Rebecca Eggers-Gryder of Boone and Matt Rupp of Boone and Judge Alexandria E. “Allie” Leake, who replaced her father, retired Judge Larry Leake of Madison County. Retired Judge Warren Hughes, retired Yancey County Clerk of Court, remains available as an emergency judge. The Chief Magistrate is attorney Bruce Lacey, who, along with retired Banner Elk police chief Bill Burleson and Newland businessman Tim Bounds all serve as Magistrates. Barbara Jones is Social Services Director and the Tax Collector-Assessor supervisor is Andrea Turbyfill. Building inspector is former NBA star
Tommy Burleson and the County Board of Elections is headed by Sheila Ollis. The county's elected Soil and Water Board District supervisors are Bill Beutell, David Banner, Ann Coleman, and Jack Wiseman.
The county also has a non-partisan elected school board to oversee the countywide school district. The current school board chairman is John Greene, with retired teacher Kathy Aldridge serving as vice chair. Other school board members are retired Avery High School Principal Patricia Edwards. The county's superintendent of schools is Dr. Dan Brigman. The School Board is located on NC 194 near the Newland city limits. It also houses the school bus garage, support staff and other school system administrative offices.
Government buildings
Overlooking Avery Square is the historic 1912
Avery County Courthouse. The square, includes monuments to fallen peace officers, fallen firefighters and as of 2016, a large veteran's memorial. The courthouse was remodeled in 1996 and again in 2014, to add more office space and a second smaller courtroom. The courthouse is located on Shultz Circle and Glenn Hicks Lane, which was renamed from Jail Street, in honor of Avery Sheriff's Deputy Lt. Glenn H. Hicks, who was murdered in the line of duty in 2003.
The courthouse also houses local office of the North Carolina Probation and Parole Division, judges offices and chambers, district attorney's sub-office, the county map office, tax office, inspection office, register of deeds, clerk of superior court, guardian ad litem and North Carolina juvenile justice department. Connected to the courthouse is the sheriff's office and the county jail, an elections office, county 911 emergency dispatch center and magistrate's courtroom.
The county administrative building provides work space for the county manager and many other county offices such as social services, payroll, finance, veterans services, fire marshal, emergency management, waste management, technology and personnel. In 1997, a second courtroom and a small magistrate's courtroom at the courthouse was created.
The Avery County Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement protection to the entire county. The county has no police department. The Sheriff also provides security to the courts and courthouse, serves civil orders of the courts and operates the jail complex.
Other county services includes a 911 emergency dispatch center that provides service to all county law enforcement (Sheriff's office, 6 town police departments and three company police agencies, plus communications support to the NC Highway Patrol Troopers, NC Wildlife officers, state alcohol agents and state park rangers assigned locally), fire, EMS and rescue services in the county. The county building also houses county fire marshal and emergency management offices, a veteran's services office and an office of economic development, along with staffed trash collection sites throughout the county and a landfill.
Politics
Owing to its
Appalachian highland location, rural character, and powerful
Unionist sympathies from the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
(1861-1865), Avery County has continually voted overwhelmingly Republican in Presidential elections, even during the
Solid South
The Solid South was the electoral voting bloc for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the Southern United States between the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the aftermath of the Co ...
Democratic era. Since the county's formation in 1911, no Democratic presidential candidate has obtained forty percent of the county's vote, and only
Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...
in 1964 and
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
in 1976 have received so much as thirty percent. An illustration of Avery County's rock-ribbed Republicanism can be seen in 1936 when
Alf Landon
Alfred Mossman Landon (September 9, 1887October 12, 1987) was an American oilman and politician who served as the 26th governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937. A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's nominee in the 1936 presidential ...
won the county by 55.96 percentage points, making it Landon's fifth-strongest county in the nation despite Landon losing North Carolina to
Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
by 46.80 percent.
Avery County is represented in the
47th district of the
North Carolina Senate
The North Carolina Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The Senate ...
, represented by Republican
Ralph Hise, and the
85th district of the
North Carolina House of Representatives
The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...
, represented by Republican
Dudley Greene.
Economy

The county contains local attractions such as Grandfather Mountain, Grandfather Mountain State Park, Linville Gorge Wilderness, Linville Falls, Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway, which all attract large numbers of visitors. In October, the annual "Wooly Worm" festival at the old school in downtown Banner Elk draws world visitors who come to see caterpillar races that locals happily claim can predict the severity of coming winters based on the fur coats of the worms. The Grandfather Mountain Highland Games is held each year the first full weekend after July 4 and is one of the largest Scottish gatherings outside Scotland and features bagpipes, bands, Scottish food, music, authentic clothing and games such as log and caber toss and use of dogs in sheep herding. Also in October is Oz Days at the former
Land of Oz
The Land of Oz is a fantasy world introduced in the 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by William Wallace Denslow, W. W. Denslow.
Oz consists of four vast quadrants, the Gillikin Countr ...
theme park on
Beech Mountain in the fall also attracts visitors who love the legacy of the famous Judy Garland movie "The Wizard of Oz" based on
Frank Baum's famous book. Oktoberfest on Sugar Mountain and Beech Mountain also in October draw large crowds and the annual Music Festival in Newland on July 4 also attracts many visitors.
Ski Resorts are immensely popular tourist destinations in the cold winter months when snowfall and man-made snow create ideal skiing conditions. Sugar Mountain Ski Resort, located in
Sugar Mountain, and Ski Beech Resort, located in
Beech Mountain, provide multiple winter actives including skiing, snowboarding, snow tubing and ice skating. Hawks Nest Tubing Resort, located in
Seven Devils offers snow tubing.
Second homes, gated communities, condominiums, rental properties, hotel-motel lodging, bed and breakfasts, campgrounds and real estate in general all are critically important sources of jobs, income and tax revenue. The brilliant fall colors or the foliage of the surrounding mountains, winter sports, mountain bicycling, hiking, horseback riding, warm weather camping, hiking, wildlife viewing, hunting and searching for geological finds all make for a year-round tourism-generated and regular real estate market.
Major Employers: The State of North Carolina is the largest employer in the county. It operates a forestry center, DOT office, State Highway Patrol office, state agriculture extension office, probation/parole office, alcohol law enforcement office, a state park service office and two prisons in lower Avery County on the Mitchell County border. Those side-by-side facilities are Mountain View and Avery-Mitchell. A third prison facility, the BRIDGE Unit, was a novel project to use non-violent, first-time youthful felony offenders to work on state lands and fight forest fires as "smoke jumpers." It was closed in the late 1990s and torn down. Other major employers are: the Avery County School System, Mayland Community College, Cannon Memorial Hospital, Lees-McRae College, Avery County government, Lowes Foods, Unimin, Beech and Sugar Mountain Resorts, the YMCA of Avery County, and various large tree farms and mining operations which are also important local employers.
The Avery Fairgrounds is located on Vale Road, just outside the Newland city limits. It is funded both by allocated county funds and private funding and controlled by a fair board. The Avery County Agricultural and Horticultural Fair has been an annual event in early September of each year and draws huge crowds to the site for rides, displays and other events.
Avery County is one of 420 counties and eight independent cities that fall into the Appalachian Region as defined by the US Government's Appalachian Regional Council (ARC). ARC was founded by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 to address poverty in the 13 Eastern states of Appalachia. Avery is listed as "Transitional" by the ARC. Based on 2006 statistics from the US Government, the five classification categories for factors such as unemployment, income and poverty rate, the levels are: Distressed (worst), At-risk, Transitional, Competitive and Attainment. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate as of August 2013 was 10.6% (not seasonally adjusted), down from 11.2% for 2012. According to Census American Community Survey data for 2011 the poverty rate is listed at 18.1%.
Agriculture
The county's agricultural focus is the mass production of
Fraser Fir Christmas Trees. Tree farms produce trees year round and they are harvested in mid October, wrapped, stacked and sold in bulk at local or far away lots or shipped to wholesalers across the country. Some farms also sell directly to visitors. Shrubbery, landscaping and greenhouses all are important agricultural aspects of the county's economy, as is beef cattle farming.
In keeping with a growing trend in the NC mountains and foothills, grape growing and vineyards are becoming popular with three vineyards presently operating in the county in Banner Elk, Plumtree and Linville Falls.
Transportation
Major highways
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Aviation
Avery County is served primarily by the
Avery County Airport (
FAA LID: 7A8), located 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Newland. Avery County Airport is a public
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
that serves both Avery and Mitchell counties and offers no scheduled or commercial operations. Opened to the public in 1962, it has been paved and expanded multiple times. The facility also features a
helipad
A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface.
While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fa ...
.
Elk River Airport (FAA LID: NC06), a smaller private airport, is located in Banner Elk parallel to NC 194 at the Elk River Club residential community. It is used exclusively by residents and approved guests of the Elk River Property Owners Association. Avery County Transportation (ACT) provides general public transportation vans for a fee. The service is by call, offering rides to various locations in the county and out-of-county medical rides. The transportation office and garage is located on NC 194, just north of the Newland city limits.
Major infrastructure
*
Avery County Airport (Morrison Field)
*
Elk River Airport
*
Linville Ridge Heliport
Education
Avery County schools
Avery County Schools has eight schools housed on seven campuses, ranging from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade: five elementary schools, two middle schools and a central high school. Avery High School has close to 700 students and is located near Newland. It is scheduled for large-scale renovations by 2023. Avery High has a dual enrolment partnership program with Mayland Community College, which allows students to earn college credits while still in high school. The two county middle schools are: Avery Middle across from the High School, built in 1978, and Cranberry Middle in Cranberry on a joint campus with Freedom Trail elementary near Elk Park, built in 1998. Other county elementary schools are located in: Newland, Crossnore Elementary was built on a new campus in 2003, Riverside Elementary in lower western Avery built in 1987 and Banner Elk Elementary.
Three small local high schools were closed in 1969 with the opening of the present central Avery County High School near Newland. Crossnore High School was torn down in the early 1970s. The largest of the old high schools, Cranberry High School, is now preserved as a community center in Cranberry near Elk Park. Numerous older historic rock work schools built by the Depression-era
Work Projects Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
(WPA) that had been community K-8 schools were closed, starting with the old Riverside School in 1987. Both Elk Park School and Minneapolis Schools were closed in 1998 and consolidated into the new Cranberry Middle-Freedom trail School. Beech Mountain school was the last K-8 school in Avery County. It was closed in 2008 and is now a community center. The area students were moved to Cranberry Middle-Freedom Trail School. The last WPA school still operating in the county was the old downtown Banner Elk School, which closed in 2011 and reopened on a new campus located between Banner Elk and Sugar Mountain.
Charter schools
Two authorized charter schools operate in Avery County:
* Crossnore Academy, formerly an orphanage in the Town of Crossnore
* Grandfather Academy, formerly Grandfather Home Orphanage in Banner Elk
Colleges and universities
*
Lees-McRae College (LMC), located in Banner Elk, is a private, four-year liberal arts college that is Presbyterian Church affiliated.
*
Mayland Community College (MCC), located straddling along the county line of both Avery and Mitchell Counties, is a public
community college
A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...
, which offers
associate's degrees
An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...
and a university-parallel college transfer program towards a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
.
Media
Based in Newland, the ''Avery Post'' and ''Avery Journal-Times'' cover all of Avery County. The ''Avery Journal-Times'' newspaper is owned by Jones Media publishing company and is a sister publication of the ''Watauga Democrat'' in
Boone, while the ''Post'' is locally owned
WECR radio station at 1130 on the AM dial serves the local area with local programs and religious music, along with local news, events and weather.
Television coverage is primarily based out of
Charlotte, which the county is in its
Designated Market Area (DMA). However, because of proximity, several stations in the
Tri-Cities also cover the area and are carried on local cable.
Medical
The county's public hospital is Charles A. Cannon Memorial Hospital in Linville, a campus of Appalachian Healthcare System, headquartered at Watauga Medical Center in Boone. The hospital is centrally located in Linville and opened in 2000, to consolidate and replace the old Cannon Hospital located in Banner Elk and Sloop Hospital located in Crossnore. The new campus also hosts the Sloop Medical Building, which houses various doctor's and dentist's offices, the local YMCA complex, and a pharmacy. The hospital is a critical care facility with a 24-hour emergency department as well as imagery, lab, surgery, and other services. Critical illnesses and injuries and trauma patients are often stabilized at Cannon, then are flown or transported by ambulance to hospitals in Charlotte, Asheville, or
Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it Tennessee's eighth-most populous cit ...
. The hospital formerly had 25 medical beds, but now has 8 since the opening of Appalachian Regional Behavioral Health hospital in late 2021.
Appalachian Regional Behavioral Health Hospital (ARBH) is an independent psychiatric hospital built to accommodate increasing demand for mental health services in the area. It expands on the former 10 bed psychiatric unit of Cannon Hospital with 27 total beds and a triage area where patients can walk in for an assessment to determine if inpatient care is necessary.
Blue Ridge Hospital, a Mission Health care System campus, located just beyond Avery County in the neighboring Mitchell County town of Spruce Pine, also serves the lower portion of Avery County.
The Avery County Emergency Medical Service (EMS) is a full-time county department (since 1994). They provide paramedic-level emergency medical care via three ambulances and a supervisor's SUV at all times, at station locations across the county. Backup is provided by fire departments, a rescue squad and law enforcement first responders.
Communities
Towns
*
Banner Elk (largest community)
*
Beech Mountain
*
Crossnore
*
Elk Park
*
Newland (county seat)
*
Seven Devils
Villages
*
Grandfather
Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, or Grandma and Grandpa, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a m ...
*
Sugar Mountain
Census-designated place
*
Linville
Townships
* Altamont
* Banner Elk
* Beech Mountain
* Carey's Flat
* Cranberry
* Elk Park
* Frank
* Heaton
* Hughes
* Ingalls
* Linville
* Minneapolis
* Montezuma
* Newland No. 1
* Newland No. 2
* Pineola
* Plumtree
* Pyatte
* Roaring Creek
Unincorporated communities
*
Altamont
* Balm
* Beech Creek
*
Cranberry
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to long and in height; they have slender stems that are not th ...
* Elk Valley
* Flat Springs
*
Frank
*
Gragg
*
Heaton
* Hughes
*
Ingalls
*
Linville Falls
*
Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
*
Montezuma
*
Pineola
*
Plumtree
* Pyatte
*
Roaring Creek
* Spear
*
Three Mile
*
Vale
A vale is a type of valley.
Vale may also refer to:
Places Georgia
* Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region
Norway
* Våle, a historic municipality
Portugal
* Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municip ...
* Valley
* Whaley
See also
*
List of counties in North Carolina
The U.S. state of North Carolina is divided into 100 County (United States), counties. North Carolina ranks 28th in size by area, but has the seventh-highest number of counties in the United States, country.
Following the Stuart Restoration, ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Avery County, North Carolina
References
Further reading
* Cooper, Horton. ''History of Avery County'', Biltmore Press, 1964
* Cooper, Horton. ''North Carolina Mountain Folklore and Miscellany'' Murfreesboro, N.C., Johnson Pub. Co., c1972
* Hardy, Michael C. ''Avery County: Images of America'', Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2005
* Hardy, Michael C. ''Remembering Avery County'', Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2007
External links
*
*
Cy Crumley ET&WNC Photo Collection* An Historical Journey through Avery County's Toe River Valley and surrounding areas https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=10LIwDEjNQTcKQ36Oq6n3Vcu8uRbw9ASz&usp=sharing
{{Authority control
1911 establishments in North Carolina
Populated places established in 1911
Western North Carolina