Mama bear & cubs are out for an early evening stroll! They are as happy as we are to have our retaining wall rebuilt post-Hurricane Helene. My husband was lucky to watch them in person!
Mama-bear seemed spooked by the noise from the football game coming from the open window. After enjoying the fall view of Grandfather Mountain, the healthy-looking Black bear cubs frolicked down the slope, soon followed by Mama.
The still shots in this post are special visitors from past years.
Welcome to the first day of fall, from the beautiful NC mountains!
My philosophy is to learn something new every day. And, boy, did I strike it rich when my new friend Brenda introduced me to Hart Square Village.
Located on 200 acres in Catawba County, NC, it’s close to Hickory. I had no idea we had this incredible hidden treasure. An outdoor museum. With 103 log cabins, the largest collection of such buildings in the U.S.
We visited on a cloudy, cool summer day and were impressed with the amount of ongoing restoration. The diligence to restore, preserve, and showcase things in proper historical context was evident in every building we visited.
Impact of Hurricane Helene
Even though Hurricane Helene left them with challenges, the entire staff immediately headed into neighboring areas to work on hurricane recovery in harder hit locations. Paths may be a bit muddier for the next year as they work to smooth them out, but good tennis shoes are all you need. It was an easy, relaxed walk among the trees. Such a tranquil and lovely setting.
From Nature Preserve to Outdoor Museum
Creating the site was the passion of Dr. Bob Hart and his wife, Becky. He initially purchased the property in 1967 as a nature preserve. Thanks to a patient telling him about a cabin that needed saving, Dr. Bob got another idea. Since the early 1970s, he collected and saved log cabin buildings from throughout the surrounding area. Methodically taking each log structure apart to transport and then reconstructing and restoring them in the preserve.
His wife Becky painstakingly took care of the interiors, carefully curating and staging every authentic detail. You can see just a few of her touches in the photos above. Often, the couple was able to speak with someone who had grown up in the cabin or knew ancestors who had. That local connection gave them the opportunity to display the buildings and furnishings as they were actually used.
A Passion for Preservation
Becky Hart launched the Hart Square Foundation, donating the entire property and 103 cabins to the Foundation for long-term historic preservation and cultural sustainability. Today, the Foundation is under the care and direction of the Harts’ delightful and very knowledgeable granddaughter, Rebecca. We were lucky to have her as our tour guide, and you can tell she shares their passion for Hart Square and local culture.
We were impressed by the work also being undertaken to preserve local arts, crafts, and traditions. The annual Heritage Festival in late October brings to life the Western North Carolina of the 19th century. Visitors can see everything in action, even the ancient grist mill will be working.
The beautiful Sigmon Family Education Center, built a few years ago, expanded the possibilities for public access, events, and programming. These days, about 5,000 school kids visit during field trips. Students experience what it was like to live in the 1800s, complete with a one-room schoolhouse, and lively interaction with artists and tradespeople.
Hart Square Exec Director, Rebecca Hart, demonstrates a tool used to warm up drinks or as a weapon, if patrons got out of hand. The tavern is a re-creation, inside a cabin built as a home by Andrew Jackson Yount in 1835.
More Opportunities to Visit Hart Square Village
There are monthly guided tours like we took, evening musical events, and monthly square dances. I particularly love that volunteers can even help with preservation work. After removal of the more modern chinking used to fill the space between logs, volunteers can help with traditional daubing using clay, straw, and other local fillers.
Folkways classes aim to preserve traditional skills and have offerings in quilting, canning, bobbin lacing, broom making, cooking, basket weaving, pottery, crafts, art, and gardening. It’s a full schedule, so check it out online.
We want to go back. On our 90-minute tour, we saw plenty, but just scratched the surface of what Hart Square Village has to offer. I don’t think Hart Square is going to be a secret much longer.
Getting there:
About an hour from Charlotte and about 90 minutes from Linville, in the High Country.
We drove down through Morganton, and it was a really nice country drive. There is no giant billboard or sign announcing the location, so you have to pay attention. Putting the address in your GPS might take you the back way, like it did us. If you don’t see a parking area and a large new building, you are not at the entrance. There is a free app I suggest you download on your phone with all sorts of interesting info and details.
Inspired by a story about secluded towns, we set off from Linville on a sunny Sunday to see what we could find. Many of the “towns” we drove through were not much more than dots on the map, but the scenery was beautiful. Most of our drive was along gently rolling hills, at an elevation in the 2,500-2,800 range.
Much of our route ran along the border of NC and Virginia, and I’m going to start with our favorite of the day – our visit to “The Old Store” at Grassy Creek in Ashe County. Grassy Creek was the first rural Historic District to be added to the National Register of Historic Places. Settled in the 1800s, it was once a thriving community of cattle and dairy farmers. The wealthy Greer family settled and built up the area until just after World War I. When fortunes turned, the Greer family left in 1920 to pursue their dairy farming interests elsewhere. Grassy Creek settled into being a quiet agricultural area. At one point, the American Electrical Power Company threatened to flood the area by building a dam on the New River. That caused some preservationists to swing into action.
There are 29 buildings and sub-buildings identified in the Historic District, and few have survived. But the restored Old Store is worth a visit. Built at the beginning of the twentieth century, it has served as a doctor’s office and post office as well as a general store.
Today, visitors will find a charming, comfortable store filled with a well-curated mix of North Carolina crafts, souvenirs, mountain foods, local nature publications, tasty treats, and a terrific selection of children’s gift items. On this visit, we chatted with Molly, an App State grad student who was minding the store. I bought some of the kids’ games and a great NC butterfly guide. Oh yeah, and potato chips!
Now refreshed and armed with Molly’s suggestions, we were back on the road.
We rode through Crumpler and a shady, windy road dotted with rental cabins. It’s known for its healing springs, which are common in this area. Passing lots of farm country, we tried to guess the crops. I’m only good for identifying corn and tobacco, but they also grow melons, potatoes, and much more. Christmas tree farming has also helped the area economically. I can also recognize those!
Around Eunice, the grass is as tall as the grazing goats, and in Piney Creek, the Meeting House looks like it anchors the community. Sparta is the big city here, and as the Alleghany County seat is where you can find a gas station or a Hardee’s for a well-deserved milkshake.
A church and free sharing box in Grassy Creek.
There was a big stink around the ironically named Glade Valley due to a large cattle concern. I’m not sure what type of business it is, but I sure wouldn’t want to live in the surrounding homes, downwind.
We went as far as Roaring Gap, where years ago we played a very pleasant round of golf (with some good friends) at the Olde Beau Golf Club. The Club is named for the owner’s dog, who is actually buried behind the green of the 15th hole.
It was time to head back home to the High Country of Avery County.
Directions: To get to Grassy Creek and The Old Store, you can take 194 until it merges with 221 or 221 all the way out of Boone, and turn north on 16. Put the address in your GPS to make sure you find it. 710 Grassy Creek Road. You will wind in and out of Virginia, so don’t be surprised.
Of note: This is the first time I ever had ChatGPT design a driving itinerary for us. I instructed them to do it a variety of ways, and it all looked pretty organized until we got on the road. The order wasn’t really logical. They didn’t take into account some of the back roads, and AI was unaware that parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway were not open due to storm repairs. We were soon back to reading a real map, using GPS, and talking to real people.
We have arrived at our last of the Mighty 5 National Parks. Zion. From everywhere we looked down in Bryce Canyon, we are now looking up. Zion soars, it’s much warmer here.
Because this is the park closest to Las Vegas, the crowds are larger here. Traversing through the Mount Carmel Tunnel was interesting. The striking cutouts exposing the gorgeous scenery not only provided a good release value for inter-tunnel gases but a welcome relief for the claustrophobic.
Unlike Bryce Canyon, water is what has carved this beautiful land. From sandstone formations on the valley floor, we headed through the Virgin Canyon Gorge. The Virgin River has been a key to this environment, and the tall fir and Ponderosa Pines provide welcome splashes of deep green.
Highway 9, the Zion Mount Carmel Highway, led us by the White Cliffs, Checkerboard Mesa, and to the Kolob Terrace and Hurricane Cliffs.
We also visited the Zion Human History Museum for some great exhibits about human interaction with the geology, water, plants, and animals of the area.
Homeward Bound
From Zion, we headed to Springdale for a great Mexican meal at The Whiptail. Then on Interstate 15 to our final destination in Las Vegas, passing through a corner of Arizona, and the Basin & Range flatlands en route. Before heading home, we had one night in hot Vegas (116 on arrival). Nothing was happening at the Sphere during our brief stay, but if you love magic like we do, the Mat Franco show (at LINQ) was really worth seeing.
