Author: Andrew Duppstadt, DNCR
This article originally appeared in Recall, the magazine of the North Carolina Military Historical Society; republished with permission.
Avery County, located in the upper northwest corner of the state, was established in 1911 from portions of Mitchell, Watauga, and Caldwell counties. Newland was selected as the county seat. The county was named in honor of Col. Waightstill Avery, who served as a militia officer in the American Revolution and was the first attorney general of North Carolina. The county shares borders with Watauga, Caldwell, Burke, McDowell, and Mitchell counties, as well as with the state of Tennessee.
Born in Connecticut and a graduate of Princeton, Avery moved to North Carolina in 1769, eventually settling in Charlotte to practice law. After holding numerous political positions, he went to New Bern to sit on the first General Assembly in 1777, where he was named the first attorney general for North Carolina. He resigned that position in 1779 to become Colonel of the Jones County militia. He served in that capacity from 1779-1780. During the Revolution, Avery purchased a plantation in Burke County, where he eventually settled with his family. He also served as Captain of the Burke County militia in 1781 under Colonel Charles McDowell. He was elected to the House of Commons seven times and to the Senate once throughout the 1780s and 1790s.
Avery County today has 247 square miles (152,300 acres) and a population just under 18,000 residents. Tourism is by far the leading industry in the county, which contains Grandfather Mountain, nine major golf resorts, and the highest ski slopes in the southeast. The county is also home to Mayland Community College’s Newland campus and Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk.
For more information and to learn more, visit: https://www.ncmilitaryhistoricalsociety.org/