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...

Feb 15, 2020 / Josh Beckworth

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,...

Dec 24, 2019 / Josh Beckworth

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...

Dec 16, 2019 / Josh Beckworth

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....

Nov 30, 2019 / Josh Beckworth

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:

Date	Event
12-01-1962	On this date, the final closing of the Ore Knob Mine was formally announced. After the sale of Appalachian Sulfides, the last company to operated the mine, it was determined that Ore Knob, once the largest copper mine in the United States, was no longer viable. It would never again be operated as a mine.
12-03-1903	Obids Presbyterian Church was founded.
12-05-1752	On 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.