Ashe County, North Carolina

Ashe County is a county in North Carolina. The population of the county is 27,281.

 Named for
 County seat
 Population
 Habitat
 Cong. District
 County Guildmaster
 Time Zone

## Major roads

US Route 221

US Route 221 Business

North Carolina Highway 16

North Carolina Highway 88

North Carolina Highway 163

North Carolina Highway 194

Blue Ridge Parkway

## Geography

### Adjacent counties

Alleghany County (east)

Grayson County, Virginia (north)

Wilkes County (southeast)

Watauga County (southwest)

Johnson County, Tennessee (west)

## Demographics

As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the racial composition of the county is:

93.10% White (25,398)

4.94% Hispanic or Latino (1,347)

1.24% Other (337)

0.73% Black or African American (199)

18.4% (5,019) of Ashe County residents live below the poverty line.

## Theft rate statistics

Ashe County has low to below average rates of Pokemon theft and murder. The county reported 5 Pokemon thefts in 2018, and averages 0.83 murders a year.

## Communities

### Towns

Jefferson - 1,611

Lansing - 158

West Jefferson - 1,299

### Unincorporated communities

Ashland

Beaver Creek

Bina

Chestnut Hill

Clifton

Comet

Creston

Crumpler

Fig

Fleetwood

Glendale Springs

Grassy Creek

Grayson

Helton

Husk

Nathans Creek

Oval

Parker

Scottville

Shatley Springs

Sturgills

Todd

Tuckerdale

Warrensville

## Climate

 Average yearly snowfall
 Average yearly sunny days
 Severe storm risk
 Tornado risk
 Blizzard risk

## Fun facts

* Isolated by mountainous terrain from the remainder of North Carolina to the east, Ashe County was described in the 19th and early 20th centuries as one of the Lost Provinces of North Carolina.
* During the Revolutionary War one skirmish was fought in Ashe County. It is called the "Battle of the Big Glades". The battle was fought in July 1780 between a force of Americans, led by Captain Robert Love, and a force of 150 British Loyalists on their way to Charlotte to join Lord Cornwallis, the British commander in the Southern colonies. The Americans won the skirmish.
* Owing to its rural character Ashe is a strongly Republican county, if not historically comparable to geographically similar Avery or Mitchell. The last Democratic presidential nominee to carry Ashe County was Jimmy Carter in 1976, and the last to reach forty percent of the county’s vote Bill Clinton in 1992. Recent elections have seen Ashe, like almost all Appalachia counties, trend rapidly towards the Republican Party. Hillary Clinton won just 26 percent of the county’s ballots in 2016.
* In the 1930s and 40's Lansing was home to one of two cheese factories in Ashe County. Lansing's cheese plant offered local farmers a place to bring their goods instead of traveling to the county's other cheese plant in West Jefferson.
* In the early 20th century, Lansing was a very busy place, primarily because of the Norfolk and Western Railroad Company, whose daily mixed train, nicknamed the "Virginia Creeper", stopped here. Todd, West Jefferson, Lansing, White Oak, and other towns in North Carolina were also regular stopping places for the train. There were some productive iron mines around Lansing that used the railroad to move ore.
* West Jefferson serves as Ashe County's retail hub, offering a Walmart, dollar stores, a few hotels/motels, CVS, Ingles, Mountain Aire Golf Course, a little bit of local restaurants and businesses, a little bit of public battle fields, Parkway Theater, a sports complex, Boondocks Brewing Tap Room & Restaurant, ABC Store, Skate Zone Amusement Center, Lowe's Home Improvement, a few auto parts places and car dealerships, Goodwill, AutoZone, a few fast food places, and not much else.
* At one time, West Jefferson had the distinction of having the only cheese factory in the southeastern United States. For many decades West Jefferson was served by the Norfolk and Western Railroad, better known as the "Virginia Creeper". The railroad was the primary reason for the creation of West Jefferson, as the town became a major stop on the railway. With the decline of the railroad and the loss of textile factory jobs to foreign markets, West Jefferson's economy is increasingly devoted to the tourism industry. The town's location in the Appalachian Mountains has led to a large number of tourists visiting the area each year, and many out-of-state tourists have begun to build cabins and housing developments around the town.
* West Jefferson is the home of soda manufacturers West Jefferson Dr Pepper (WJDP). The company is known for producing all their non-diet products with cane sugar, most of which are Dr Pepper Snapple Group (formerly Dr Pepper/Seven Up) products but also include Mountain Dew. WJDP is one of only two non-Pepsi franchises existing in the United States that is allowed to produce Mountain Dew. The company does not ship outside its contracted territory, but several websites sell the product at a premium price. The premium price has been justified by the fact that WJDP is one of the last bottlers in the U.S. to use cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.
* Ashe County generally is known for its mountain scenery, and the tourism industry is an important mainstay of the county's economy. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs along the county's southeastern border. Ashe County has historically consisted of rural farmland, with numerous cattle and poultry farms. However, cattle farming in recent decades has given way to the industry of raising Christmas trees. Many cattle farmers have switched to growing Christmas trees, and in 1997, 2007, 2008, and 2012, an Ashe County Christmas tree was selected as the official White House Christmas Tree by the National Christmas Tree Association. The tree was put on display in the Blue Room (White House). As of 2014 Ashe County grows more Christmas trees than any other County in the Eastern United States.