Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1919-09-04
Distinguished Educator Visits Watauga.

Gently returned from my vacation
and having spent part Of my
time in Watauga County, North
Carolina, l want to say a few
words thru your paper about
this one of the greatest spots in
the Southern Appalachian Noun.
tains. I desire to say this, be-
cause I was so very agreeably
surprised with what | saw.
People who read about this
Southern Appalachian country
of ours usually get wrong i'm
preston of it, and especially of
Western North Carolina and ex-
treme Eastern Tennessee. Now
| should like to speak of a few of
the many good things | saw a
round Reece, the Beaver Dams
section, Sugar Grove, Zionville
the Cove Creek Section.
All thru these sections one sees
most al the people living in fine
houses for the country, above the
the average; their farms are well
: fenced and well kept; largeherds
of cattle grazing on the many
hills where you see the grass to
their knees, for the grass GER
tainly does grow in this country.
Much of the land, in fact most
of it, is steep, but it is rich.
Much of the land | saw on top of
the hills there is as rich as much
of our bottom land here, and their
land does not wash like our land
here on the hillsides. ...
This is a great apple country.
The apples grow there without
very much attention and the fla
vor of the fruit far surpasses
much of that shipped to us from
the Pacific slope. This ought to
say much to all us mountain folk
here in the hills of East Tennes
see end West North Carolina that
if we wouldjustgive our orchards
as much time, or half as much fol
that matter, as the apple grow
er of the west gives to his fruit
we could grow the finest fruit
that was ever produced. Their
build roads to market, for this is
one of our chief obstacles to rap
id progress. The greatest nee(
of the people in Watauga county
N. c. is good roads to every sec
ton of the county, for they Ger
tainly have the resources The'
have the timber, the land, th'
+ .uit, the cattle, and above all tn,
purest and best of the Anglo
SayOn race live there nestled in
those hills. Of course much o
this county, like Eastern Tennes
see, cannot be developed unit
COOL roads and railways are bull
so the people can get in and ou
more easily. Of course parts Q
the county are being favored b.
pike road and the people are t
be congratulated and I am sur
they will extend the road to a
sections before they stop. Re
Gently Boone, the county seat
was connected by rail with Johr
son City, Tenn. which shows tn
ri yht steps are being taken an
it will not be long until one ca
ride in an automobile on pix
road from here to Boone by wa
Of Bristol, Va.
The trip from here to Boom
VIZ. Bristol, Mountain City an
Trade, Tenn, will not be- su
passed cast of. the Rockies ft
scenery. The mountains all
round towering more than tiN
thousand feetpresentall the bea
ty and grandeur that nature cs
give, to say nothing of the &c
ges and valleys and streams ol
lees.
Now, if you want to get whe
it is really cool in the heat
summer, go to these mountain
Ihave never seen anything he
by to equal it. If it had not be
August, would have made ct
tain that it was going tofrostst