W
inding down scenic route 194 from Banner Elk into Valle Crucis leaves a person no choice but to slow down and take it all in. Literally. The curves hold back not only actual speed but the metaphorical racetrack that is life in the 21st century.
Photo by Maria Richardson
The 1861 72
High Country Magazine
June 2013
in the 21st Century
That fast-paced clip so many of us live by is evidently and gratefully absent from this tiny community. Here you are invited to step back in time with a jaunt down Broadstone Road. You will find a general store well over a century old, just down the hill from The Hard Taylor House, now known as The 1861 Farmhouse. Quickly becoming a stopping place visitors shouldn’t miss on a visit to the High Country, The 1861 has a story steeped in small town charm and history. Rustic and enchanting are two main descriptions for this gorgeous river valley, called simply the Valle. The name Valle Crucis comes from the Latin for “Vale of the Cross.” Late Boone resident historian and author John Preston Arthur said of Valle Crucis, “There is a dreamy spell which hangs over this little Valle.” Largely settled in the 19th century by Episcopalian missionaries and a handful of families - descendants of whom still live in the area - not much has changed by the way of its landscape.
by Angela Raimondo Rosebrough June 2013
High Country Magazine
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