What's New at the the Ashe Historical Society

The Ashe Historical Society’s Photo Digitization Project Needs Your Help

The Ashe County Historical Society is in the process of digitizing historical photos for future generations, but we need your...

The Ashe County Oral History Project brings voices from the past

In 1980, Clarice Weaver and other volunteers, working on behalf of the Ashe County Historical Society and Ashe Public Library,...

The Return of ‘This Week in Ashe County History’

Back by popular demand, our weekly feature 'This Week in Ashe County History' is now available on the homepage of...

Ashe County History Map Now Online

The Ashe County Historical Society is happy to announce the interactive history of Ashe County map is now available online....

Welcome

Welcome from the Ashe County Historical Society. Our goal is to promote and preserve the history of Ashe County. This site provides products and resources related to that mission

This Week in Ashe County History:

DateEvent
12-05-1752On this date, Bishop Augustus Spagenberg became the first European to visit Ashe County. Searching for a place to establish a Moravian church, Spagenberg was exploring Western North Carolina. He and his party were forced to climb and "indescribably steep mountain" and upon reaching the summit, experienced a howling mountain wind. Spagenberg wrote that he had "never felt a winter wind so strong and cold." To modern residents, these descriptions of Ashe County are still all too relatable.
12-09-1876On this date, a severe cold snap hit the county. It was reported that the temperature reached a high of -4 and ice on the New River was observed to be 18 inches thick. An observer from Mecklenburg County reported that he saw residents of Ashe County racing their horse on the frozen river.
12-10-1888David Worth died in Creston. Worth came to Creston around 1828. A tanner by trade, he was soon involved in several successful business ventures including a store, a mill and a wagon factory.  Worth became one of the most prominent residents of Creston. When he died, Worth left land and money in his will to construct a church for the Creston community. The resulting building, Worth's Chapel, is one of the most stunning buildings in Ashe County; it is currently listed on the National Historic Register.

Welcome