Did You Know?
The Blue Ridge Parkway boasts the most diverse range of flora and fauna in the entire National Park Service system. Photo by Ben Geer Keys
Downtown Spruce Pine
Location
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Mitchell County Chamber
Spruce Pine, North Carolina
828.765.9033
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http://www.mitchell-county.com
Near milepost 331
Travelers who venture off the Parkway into Spruce Pine are taken to a place where the world slows down. This quaint town of 2,500 citizens welcomes visitors each year seeking adventure as well as relaxation.
Although modest in size, Spruce Pine is known for its national recognition as The Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree, based on the works of one of the Town’s most famous natives – author Gloria Houston who wrote The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree. Spruce Pine also enjoys its moniker as Mineral City. As the richest mining district in the world, Spruce Pine welcomes rock hounds to its gemstone mines in hopes of finding the perfect gem. The Town is also host to the annual North Carolina Mineral and Gem Festival held each August and proud to be home to the Blue Ridge Parkway’s Museum of North Carolina Minerals.
Spruce Pine’s historic downtown showcases galleries of locally created, world-class arts and crafts as well as specialty shops and unique restaurants. Riverside Park – an outdoor area adjacent to downtown with fishing spots along the Toe River, a paved river walk trail, children’s play areas, picnic areas, a small amphitheatre – is home to the annual Toe River Storytellers Festival. The railway tradition that helped establish the town of Spruce Pine in 1907 is still alive today as trains pass through the town on a regular schedule. Festivals are held most months of the year featuring live music, artists demonstrations, and local heritage.
Spruce Pine welcomed the Blue Ridge Parkway in its early days and continues to serve nearly 200,000 Parkway visitors each year at the Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center, which is uniquely housed at the Museum of North Carolina Minerals. Through a special partnership with the Parkway, Mitchell County Chamber staff provides visitors with maps, brochures, and directions and offers backup assistance to Parkway rangers as well as Eastern National (gift shop) employees. In addition, the Chamber partners with the Parkway in hosting the annual Overmountain Victory Celebration Revolutionary War reenactment held annually on the grounds of the Museum. The Blue Ridge Parkway is vital to the cultural presence and economic development of the Spruce Pine area and its citizens.
How We're Doing Our Part
For the Parkway’s 75th Anniversary, Spruce Pine and other Mitchell County towns are leading a three-county coalition to promote the Anniversary and to partner with the Parkway in developing lasting partnerships and activities that can live on long past the anniversary year. Spruce Pine/Mitchell County will be partnering with Yancey and McDowell counties to share the unique cultural and heritage activities within these communities with the Parkway’s visitors during 2010 and beyond. Special events are being planned to showcase the Parkway’s special history, unique connection to our communities and to raise awareness of the opportunities to both protect and share this special resource for all of our citizens. Heritage Festivals will also be held in each county during 2010 with special emphasis on the Parkway’s anniversary year.
