Avery County
… was formed in 1911 from Mitchell, Watauga, and Caldwell Counties. In the NW section of the state, it is bounded by the state of Tennessee and by Watauga, Caldwell, Burke, McDowell, and Mitchell Counties. It was named for Colonel Waightstill Avery (1741-1821), Revolutionary soldier and attorney general of North Carolina. Area: 247 sq. mi. County seat: Newland, with an elevation of 3,589. Townships are Altamont, Banner Elk, Beech Mountain, Cranberry, Linville, Roaring Gap, Toe River, Wilson's Creek. Produces corn, dairy and beef cattle, Christmas trees, mica, hay, cabinets, textiles, kaolin, iron, sand and gravel. There are also deposits of olivine and asbestos in the county.
