Part of the serendipity that carried us into the mountains of North Carolina can be found in the following description I discovered so long ago.
Nestled high in the mountains of North Carolina is a little known corner of the world called Valle Crucis (pronounced valley crew' sis). First settled over 200 years ago, the Vale of the Cross is a place that historians and visitors alike have called "uncommon."At the time I first read those words I wasn't aware of the personal ancestral tie I had to those early settlers. It was only a couple of years ago that I became aware that the Linville's of Linville Creek out of Villas just down the road from Valle Crucis were the very same Linville's I descended from. If I am correct in my map skills, one of the open green areas I can see from the top of Nettle's Knob above Clarks Creek is the Linville Creek watershed to the north.
Sit and play a game of checkers by the pot bellied stove or treat yourself to a bottle of the spicy ginger beer. Don't forget to pick up a calendar for the wall back home...
Visit what Charles Kuralt called "a destination," the original Mast General Store.
Located in Watauga County near Boone, only hours from the hustle and bustle of the big city, day and weekend getaways are possible, but we are sure you'll return eventually for a much longer stay.
And so the "Dream" began. And grows here on the web until the day it grows in the Mountains that gave it birth.
Source: Valle Crucis, North Carolina's First Rural Historic District
First White Settlers of Watauga.-- A letter from Lafayette Tucker, of Ashland, Ashe County, states that the descendants of the original Lewis who settled in that neighborhood claim that he came as early as 1730. Thomas Hodged, the first, came during the Revolutionary War and settled in what is now called Hodges Gap, two miles west of Boone, and Samuel Hix and James D. Holtsclaw, his son-in-law, settled at or near Valle Crucis at that time or before.Source: Watauga County, NC by J P Arthur
It is a matter of record that a family by the name of Linvil---probably an economic way of spelling Linville---were members of Three Forks Baptist Church and lived on what is now known as Dog Skin Creek, or branch, but which stream used to be called Linville Creek. The membership of that church shows that Abraham, Catharine and Margaret Linvil were members between 1790 and 1800, while the minutes show that on the second Saturday in June, 1799, when the Three Forks Church were holding a meeting at Cove Creek, just prior to giving that community a church o its own, Abraham Linvil was received by experience, and in July following, at the same place, Catharine and Margaret Linvil also were so received. Several of the older residents of Dog Skin, Brushy Fork and cove Creeks confirm the reality of the residence of the Linville family in that community. In September, 1799, Brother Vanderpool's petition for a constitution at Cove Creek was granted, Catherine Linvil having been granted her letter of dismission the previous August.
More to follow...
