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There are people and groups in every community that are movers and shakers. They see something that needs to be done, and they enlist others to contribute their time, talent, and capital to make it happen. The final product is an investment in the community itself that engenders pride, becomes a well-loved asset, contributes to quality of life, and even increases the economic viability of the region. ...read more
Inspiration | Local Flavor
All
Did you know that North Carolina annually ranks between seventh and ninth in apple production for the entire United States? The top apple-producing counties are Wilkes, Alexander, Lincoln, Cleveland, Haywood, and Henderson, with Henderson growing 70%-80% of the apples harvested in the state. We reckon that sounds like a good reason for North Carolina’s Apple Festival to be headquartered in Hendersonville! ...read more
Local Flavor | Travel
Hendersonville
There are so many questions to wonder about these days. Like, who was the first person brave enough to eat a chicken’s egg? Or why do some people think cilantro tastes like soap and others can’t get enough of it? How did certain colors come to represent the Volunteers, Paladins, Hokies, etc.? Or a burning question that we like to argue about, who thinks the college conference re-alignment is a good idea? And that question can lead to so many other questions. ...read more
Local Flavor
Annex - Valle Crucis | Boone | Columbia | Greenville | Knoxville | Roanoke | Original - Valle Crucis | Waynesville | Winston-Salem
... Our favorite foods! Food is universal because everybody’s got ta eat! And the last two months of the year are filled with more than their fair share of family meals, work gatherings, special outings to favorite restaurants, tins filled with homemade cookies and fudge, and the anticipation of food traditions handed down from generation to generation ...read more
At Home | Recipes
All
Even before we bought the Mast General Store, we were taken by the beauty of Valle Crucis. We’ve heard people describe the drive out Broadstone Road as traveling through a time portal. In the 1970s, fields in the river bottoms would be filled with tobacco, cabbage, or high with hay to feed cattle that were grazing in the summer pasture. ...read more
Local Flavor | Mast Family Favorites
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The lucky few who have seen the Earth from a different perspective – astronauts - all echo the same viewpoint upon their return. Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut and the first human to go to space, commented, “Orbiting Earth in the spaceship, I saw how beautiful our planet is. People, let us preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it.”
Behind the Scenes | Inspiration
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John Preston Arthur, local historian and author, wrote this elegant description of Valle Crucis in his "History of Watauga County" in 1915: "There is, perhaps, more interest in this place and its romantic history than in any other in Watauga County. …There is a dreamy spell which hangs over this little valley…" And he was right! The small community of Valle Crucis is North Carolina’s first rural historic district and is where you’ll find the Original Mast General Store and the Mast Store Annex.
Read more ...
Still the center of the community, the Original Mast Store houses the Post Office and offers up a 5¢ cup of coffee. Traversing its creaking floorboards, you’ll find country gourmet foods, cast iron cookware, speckleware, old-fashioned toys, footwear for all walks of life, hardware, and even a pair of galluses, if you need them.
Make sure to wander back to what was once used as a potato grading room and a feed room to find the Mast Store Knife Shop. Opened in June, 2016, this shop within a store features 500 different knives - fixed blade and folders, culinary and tactical. You'll even find axes, machetes, and more. The staff members are well educated and ready to help you make the right decision for your needs and use.
Take a short walk right around the corner to our sister store Rivercross Made in USA. These hills provide inspiration to artists that are native to the area as well as those who move here. A number of the artists featured in this handmade destination live within a rock's throw of the front door, while others call the state and the southeast home. Rivercross is kid-friendly!
Just 2/10 mile down the road is the Mast Store Annex. Constructed as a competing general store in 1909, these two general stores served a thriving community.
Today’s Annex has an eclectic collection of clothing, outdoor gear to hit the trail, and a collection of candy that would make any dentist happy.
When the weather is warmer, wander back toward Dutch Creek for an ice cream cone. Serving popular flavors like Moose Tracks, Cookie Dough, and Cappuccino Crunch, it's a great way to cool off. All tips at Dutch Creek Ice Cream are donated to the Valle Crucis Community Park.
Read less ...Legend says that a large tract of land in the Watauga River bottom was traded for a dog, a rifle, and a sheepskin in the late 1700s. Land was plentiful, but a working rifle, a well-trained dog, and a hide to keep you warm were much desired. Speculation on land in the 1700s and early 1800s brought many to the mountains and one of those was Henry Taylor, who arrived in Valle Crucis around 1851.
It is said that Henry Taylor would sweeten the deal for land by including a Seth Thomas clock as an incentive. Taylor established a small store before the Civil War that was known as the Taylor and Moore Company. It was located across the road from the present day Mast General Store.
Read more ...Legend says that a large tract of land in the Watauga River bottom was traded for a dog, a rifle, and a sheepskin in the late 1700s. Land was plentiful, but a working rifle, a well-trained dog, and a hide to keep you warm were much desired. Speculation on land in the 1700s and early 1800s brought many to the mountains and one of those was Henry Taylor, who arrived in Valle Crucis around 1851.
It is said that Henry Taylor would sweeten the deal for land by including a Seth Thomas clock as an incentive. Taylor established a small store before the Civil War that was known as the Taylor and Moore Company. It was located across the road from the present day Mast General Store.
Taylor’s home, which is across the road from the Mast Store, would also serve as a boarding house for “drummers,” or salesmen, that would visit the area selling their goods, as well as other boarders, who came to the mountains to enjoy their favorable temperatures. As the number of residents increased, he needed to have a larger store. In 1882/83, he built the first room of the Taylor General Store. Henry Taylor passed away in 1899, but his son C.D. Taylor continued to operate the store.
William Wellington Mast, another of the valley’s prominent figures, purchased half interest in the store from the Taylor family in 1897. He and C.D. (Charles D., “Squire”) Taylor continued to operate the Taylor and Mast General Store until 1913, when Mast became the sole owner. The store had everything from “Cradles to Caskets.”
General stores provided a vital link between farmers and wildcrafters and those companies needing their eggs, chickens, potatoes, roots, herbs, and berries. When the proprietor took these items in trade, he would note in a ledger the value in goods that the barterer could “purchase” or how much would be paid against their debt. In turn, the proprietor would take these goods he received to market and use the monies from their sale to put items on his shelves.
Other needed services were often offered to the community by its general store. In 1905, Dr. Henry Perry had his office and his sleeping quarters in the room that is now called the “front room.” He took his meals across the road with W. W. Mast. He later established a “hospital,” the first in Watauga County, in the block house near the intersection of Highway 194 and Broadstone Road.
In 1909, the Watauga Supply Co. (later renamed the Valle Crucis Company) was opened just 2/10s of a mile down the road. How could a small community like Valle Crucis support two, rather large, general stores? Business was good and the community was swarming with activity. Travelers would come and spend weeks at a time at the Taylor House, the Baird House, the Mast Farm, and other homes that took in boarders. The Valle Crucis Mission School was taking students and boarders. The store was located along the Caldwell & Watauga Turnpike linking the Piedmont of North Carolina to East Tennessee. Valle Crucis was also near the terminus of the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad (known affectionately as Tweetsie).
Each store’s inventory was just a bit different and competition was generally friendly.
The Mast General Store was operated by members of the Mast Family into the early 1970s. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in April of 1973 where it is noted as one of the best remaining examples of an old country general store. In the 1970s, it was sold to a professor at Appalachian State University and a surgeon from Atlanta, Georgia. They modified the store’s inventory hoping to cater to a different demographic. The store passed through several owners and closed its doors, only for the winter season, in November 1977. Unfortunately, the store remained closed the following spring.
A couple from Florida with North Carolina and Virginia roots learned that the old store was for sale, so they purchased it in 1979. They packed their young family in the car along with everything else they owned and moved to the mountains in early 1980.
John and Faye Cooper worked with long-time vendors to add items to the store’s inventory that would be important to the community and would have been found on the store’s shelves in the past. The store re-opened on June 6, 1980. With an eye toward historic preservation and a knack for commerce, the Mast Store once again became the center of the Valle Crucis community. During the time that the store was closed, the community’s post office was lost. To a rural community, the post office is integral to its very existence. Members of the community approached the Coopers and asked them to try to get postal service returned to Valle Crucis. On October 4, 1980, Valle Crucis was given back its identity as a community with a contracted station of the Banner Elk Post Office. Today, you can still mail a letter at the corner post office, warm up by the pot-bellied stove, and enjoy a 5¢ cup of coffee (paid for on the honor system).
There are so many questions to wonder about these days. Like, who was the first person brave enough to eat a chicken’s egg? Or why do some people think cilantro tastes like soap and others can’t get enough of it? How did certain colors come to represent the Volunteers, Paladins, Hokies, etc.? Or a burning question that we like to argue about, who thinks the college conference re-alignment is a good idea? And that question can lead to so many other questions. ...read more
Local Flavor
Annex - Valle Crucis | Boone | Columbia | Greenville | Knoxville | Roanoke | Original - Valle Crucis | Waynesville | Winston-Salem
Did you know the State of North Carolina’s official folk dance is clogging? Yep, the North Carolina General Assembly adopted clogging as the state’s folk dance and shagging as the state’s official popular dance in an act executed on July 20, 2005. That’s recent history, but the roots of clogging extend to the country’s colonial period and even before. Photo courtesy of Joe Shannon's Mountain Home Music and Lonnie Webster. ...read more
Local Flavor | Travel
Asheville | Annex - Valle Crucis | Boone | Hendersonville | Knoxville | Roanoke | Original - Valle Crucis | Waynesville
Fall is here! The bridge between summer and fall is full of delicious possibilities: the last heirloom tomatoes and sweet corn linger, pears and sweet potatoes start to arrive, and more apples than you can name can all be found at your local farmers’ market. ...read more
Local Flavor | Gardening | At Home
Asheville | Annex - Valle Crucis | Boone | Columbia | Greenville | Hendersonville | Knoxville | Roanoke | Original - Valle Crucis | Waynesville | Winston-Salem
There are so many questions to wonder about these days. Like, who was the first person brave enough to eat a chicken’s egg? Or why do some people think cilantro tastes like soap and others can’t get enough of it? How did certain colors come to represent the Volunteers, Paladins, Hokies, etc.? Or a burning question that we like to argue about, who thinks the college conference re-alignment is a good idea? And that question can lead to so many other questions. ...read more
Local Flavor
Annex - Valle Crucis | Boone | Columbia | Greenville | Knoxville | Roanoke | Original - Valle Crucis | Waynesville | Winston-Salem
Did you know the State of North Carolina’s official folk dance is clogging? Yep, the North Carolina General Assembly adopted clogging as the state’s folk dance and shagging as the state’s official popular dance in an act executed on July 20, 2005. That’s recent history, but the roots of clogging extend to the country’s colonial period and even before. Photo courtesy of Joe Shannon's Mountain Home Music and Lonnie Webster. ...read more
Local Flavor | Travel
Asheville | Annex - Valle Crucis | Boone | Hendersonville | Knoxville | Roanoke | Original - Valle Crucis | Waynesville
Fall is here! The bridge between summer and fall is full of delicious possibilities: the last heirloom tomatoes and sweet corn linger, pears and sweet potatoes start to arrive, and more apples than you can name can all be found at your local farmers’ market. ...read more
Local Flavor | Gardening | At Home
Asheville | Annex - Valle Crucis | Boone | Columbia | Greenville | Hendersonville | Knoxville | Roanoke | Original - Valle Crucis | Waynesville | Winston-Salem