North Carolina Farm Bureau Magazine
Blowing Rock
offers something for everyone
A gem of the North Carolina High Country, the town of Blowing Rock bills itself as an "upscale resort town," and prides itself on its small-town charm.
"Blowing Rock really does have a village atmosphere," says Amanda Fife, assistant director of the Blowing Rock Visitor Center. "Everything is here — you can walk from place to place, and there’s a park right downtown."
Year-round, Blowing Rock is home to about 1,500 residents, but the town’s comfortable climate and village charm draw some semi-permanent residents during the summer months. Fife says the town’s summer population swells to about 8,500 as seasonal residents, many from Florida, come to escape the heat.
Long before Floridians started making their way to the town to cool off, though, the first groups to call the area home were Scotch-Irish settlers in the mideighteenth century. Later, other settlers, including farmers, hunters and trappers, made their way to the area through passes in the mountains from southern Virginia to Kentucky, eventually traveling south to the mountains of North Carolina.
The complete article and many more features in this month's North Carolina Farm Bureau Magazine.