Classroom

In 1924, Clyde Greene and
his business partners opened Farmers Hardware at the current Boone Bagelry (516
West King St.) location on King St. in Boone, NC. At that time Boone Hardware,
the leading competitor, occupied the present-day location of the Farmers
Hardware. The original Farmers Hardware was smaller and not as centrally
located as Boone Hardware. The pressures of the Great Depression forced Boone
Hardware to close down and opened the way for Farmers. Soon after, the store
was moved to the corner of Depot and King streets, where it stands today,
albeit in a different form. 

Clyde’s youngest son,
Cecil Greene, was raised in the business like the majority of the family. He worked
as a traveling salesman as a young man for a hardware wholesaler, C. M.
McClung. Eventually, he returned to the store and bought out his father’s
partners in 1963, making it a family venture that has lasted to this day. Clyde
Greene retired in 1977 and Cecil and his children ran the business for the next
27 years. 

Farmers Hardware was
forced to close its doors in the summer of 2004 by the pressures of big box
enterprises and the changing dynamics in downtown Boone. The family business
decided to alter their approach and develop the building into a retail
emporium, offering spaces for individuals and businesses to rent and sell their
goods. The goal was to create an environment for retailers and artisans to have
their own ship without the traditional overhead and in June of 2005 the family
business once again opened its doors as the Shoppes at Farmers Hardware.

Today the Shoppes at
Farmers Hardware offers a unique shopping experience in the heart of historic
downtown Boone, North Carolina that combines goods from local artisans and
experienced retailers, featuring a wide variety of merchandise from apparel to
furniture, to handcrafts, and much more.&nbsp;

Inside View of the Shoppes at Farmers Hardware

More Info

The Shoppes at Farmers Hardware Facebook Page

Website

Farmers Hardware, located on West King Street in downtown Boone, North Carolina, was a quintessential part of downtown from its original opening as a hardware retailer in 1924. Adapting to the changes and pressures of technology and big-box stores, Farmer’s Hardware closed its doors in 2004, changed its business model, and reopened the following summer as an eclectic emporium called The Shoppes at Farmers Hardware. To this day Farmers has remained a local, family business, with Greene’s descendants providing a 21st-century vision for the business.

Farmers Hardware

This brief walking tour starts at the historic Appalachian Theatre and includes over a dozen stops at historic sites and buildings along King Street. The tour concludes at the former Linville River Railway Depot, part of the legendary Tweetsie Railroad line, which is now home to a popular local cafe. Enjoy!

The Appalachian Theatre was a vibrant social place and an indicator of change over time in mountainous Boone. &nbsp;W.R. Winkler and Arthur Hamby built the theater in 1938, but Winkler had actually operated earlier movie businesses in Boone. Winkler started Boone’s first movie-showing business in 1919 by “playing films on the walls of the Watauga County Courthouse with a projector”.1 The first ever projected motion picture in Watauga County was shown in 1905 by a professor from Tennessee, and as early as 1892 still picture projection “magic lantern” shows &nbsp;and storytelling events took place in an older courthouse building.2Larger western North Carolina cities just down the mountain--Lenoir, Hickory, and Wilkesboro-- had cinemas beginning in 1905.3 Winkler and Hamby believed Boone could match those cities’ grandeur, and the dramatic appearance of the Appalachian Theatre in 1938 did not suggest otherwise. When the theater first opened, it was the only Art Deco building in Watauga County. It had 999 seats due to an increased tax that would have been applied had there been 10004. The theater featured lime green, white and Black tiles and a large marquee illuminated with hundreds of red, yellow and white lights.Up until the 1930s Boone had been no larger or more prominent than nearby towns like Shulls Mills, which had the first building in Watauga County dedicated specifically to playing movies.5 When the Appalachian Theatre opened, it truly set Boone apart and established the town as the central place in the area. In this growing town, the theater was the cultural hub, located in the heart of downtown. The theater showed movies and hosted live performances such as Vaudeville shows, musical groups, beauty contests, stage plays, minstrel shows, and other community acts.6 Headline live performers included the Foggy Mountain Boys, Minnie Pearl, and Watauga County folk guitar hero Doc Watson. On January 21, 1950 there was a devastating fire that caused the theater to close its doors. &nbsp;The fire was said to have been caused by a teenage male employee who left an open-flame popcorn popper unattended while chatting with a female concessions worker. &nbsp;Rumors claimed that the popcorn attendant was trying to set up&nbsp;a date with her. Meanwhile, the unwatched popper burst into flames and the theater had to be evacuated. The fire caused the theater’s magnificent original tiered ceiling to collapse, but Winkler was determined to see his theater survive. He hired an architect to design renovations, and in the ensuing redesign Winkler changed the ceiling to a barrel vault style and added an addition to the front of the theater’s stage to accommodate a larger cinema screen, ending the theater’s ability to host live performances.7 In 1976 the building was leased to Essantee Theatres. The new ownership installed a second screen in the balcony and renamed the theatre “The Appalachian Twin”. &nbsp;When a new multiplex opened in Boone, the Twin began playing discounted late-run movies to respond to the competition. In 1986 Essantee was purchased by Carmike Cinemas, which took over operations of the theater until it was closed and boarded up in 2007.In 2011 The Town of Boone purchased the theater building from a developer as part of a bankruptcy proceeding. The Appalachian Theatre of the High Country, a local non-profit organization purchased the building from the town of Boone in 2014. The organization, with help from the Downtown Boone Development Association, is currently restoring the building and theater to its original glory. In restoring the theater they hope to preserve the rich history of the building and transform it back into one of the High Country’s premiere arts and cultural venues. The building, although unfinished, is open for tours of small groups led by members and volunteers of Appalachian Theatre of the High Country. The theater is expected to re-open by 2018.

Built in 1938, the Appalachian Theatre was Boone’s only example of Art Deco architecture and the cultural hub for the High Country. Non-white audiences were not allowed until 1948, though, and the theater remained segregated into the 1960s. The theater showed movies and hosted live performances. Headline live performers included the Foggy Mountain Boys, Minnie Pearl, and Doc Watson. It closed in 2007, but the nonprofit organization Appalachian Theatre of the High Country is currently restoring its original architecture and bringing movies back to Downtown Boone.

Appalachian Theatre

Walter Jones was a
well-respected doctor and a prominent citizen in the Boone community. He earned
his degree at the Chattanooga College of Medicine and started working with Dr.
Thomas Blackburn, of the prominent Blackburn family in Watauga County. In May
of 1907, Walter Jones married Mattie Blackburn, who was the daughter of Manley
and Martha Blackburn and the niece of Dr. Thomas Blackburn. The Joneses had two
children: John Walter, Jr., born May 13, 1915, and Mazie Jean Jones Levenson,
born January 18, 1914. In 1922, with his medical practice booming, Dr. Jones
decided to build an office. This two-story structure, known to Boone residents
as the historic location of Hunt’s Department Store (currently part of the Mast
General Store location), was opened in 1924. He used the upstairs as an office
and dispensary and rented the downstairs out as a department store. Curiously,
the building also contained Boone’s first telephone exchange. Dr. Jones became
sick with pneumonia near the end of 1924 and was taken to Knoxville, Tennessee
for treatment, but died on January 14, 1925. John Walter Jr. tragically died in
1938 while serving in the Marines. Mattie Jones continued to live in the family
home until 1975 when she moved to a nursing home in Greensboro, where she
resided until her death in October 1978 at the age of ninety-five.Mazie Jones Levenson attended Appalachian Teachers College
in Boone (before it officially became Appalachian State University in 1967) and
left Boone after graduation in order to start her teaching career. She
inherited the house and adjoining land when her mother died in 1978. She sold
the house to the Town of Boone in 1983 with a stipulation in the deed that
mandated the house and surrounding green space only be used as a cultural and
community center. During her life Mazie was active with the Greensboro
Preservation Society and was an ardent supporter of the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy
in Boone. Mazie Jones Levenson resided in Winston-Salem, NC until her death in
early 2013. Although the restriction of use expired in 2008, the Town of Boone
continues to honor her wishes for the use of the house, and in her memory the
downstairs gallery was dubbed the Mazie Jones Gallery.Located in Boone’s commercial district, the Jones House and
its spacious lot offer a visual break from the two-story red brick buildings
which comprise the majority of Boone’s downtown section. It stands as a gentle
reminder of Boone’s past and as a pleasant contrast to the numerous
condominiums which have since been built all around downtown Boone. The Jones
House was originally situated on a six-acre lot that included stables, an ice
house, several other outbuildings, and a garden. However, construction of an
office building by Dr. Jones in 1924, the subsequent sales of parcels of the
property, and the widening of several of Boone’s streets have all contributed
to the reduction of the property from its original six acres to its current
one-acre lot. Boone’s present-day commercial district is the product of
mid-century growth, and the existence of a sizeable residential lot in its
midst harkens back to late nineteenth and very early twentieth century land-use
patterns.







The Jones House hosts art exhibits to showcase the works of
local artists that can be viewed for free from 12:00pm-5:00pm, Tuesday-Friday,
year-round. The Jones House holds an artist’s reception on the first Friday of
every month but January where the public can meet the artists and socialize
with other community members. The Jones House also provides opportunities for
local musicians to play together at their weekly jam sessions, held every
Thursday evening from 7:30pm-11:00pm. From June to September concerts are held
on the lawn of the Jones House every Friday at 5pm, free of charge.

The Jones House is a historic home in Boone, North Carolina and is now a cultural and community center with spaces for artists, musicians, and community groups. The Jones House was built by physician Walter Jones in 1908 and is a combination of the Colonial Revival and Queen Anne building styles. The house, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, is one of the few remaining examples of pre-WWII structures in Boone. The home now holds art galleries, offers spaces for community groups, and serves as the headquarters of the Downtown Boone Development Association.

The Jones House

After graduating from George Town University with his Juris Doctorate, George Kelly Moose, a member of the North Carolina Bar Association moved to Boone to pursue a new business venture. Partnering up with John R. McNary of Lenoir who had previous experience as a druggist, the two opened up their business venture in 1920 on King Street. The facility offered soda fountain service, pharmaceuticals, and acted as a small general store on top of this. With the town of Boone expanding alongside the growth of Appalachian State Teachers College, so did Boone Drug Company. It was in 1921 when George Kelly Moose was forced to abandon his original business location in lieu of a more robust facility that could handle the amount of business he and his partner were receiving. As a community oriented business, advertisements in the Watauga Democrat often featured large spreads and advertised community events alongside weekly specials for the store. It was on April 1st, 1947 when ownership of the company changed hands. Looking to retire, George Kelly Moose sold his interests in the company to the Richardson brothers. Wayne Richardson had eight years’ experience working as a druggist in Erwin, Tennessee. &nbsp;Wayne and Odell Richard ran the store and expanded it into surrounding areas, at the peak of business the number of locations amounted to fifteen. It was in the 1950s when the Boone location of the business absorbed an A&amp;P and created the rather popular soda fountain and lunch quick stop service that it became known for by locals. It was in the 1980s when an additional expansion at the back of the building allowed up to fifty people to sit and dine, showing that the Richardson brothers were anxious to capitalize on a popular service that had once been introduced to generate some additional income for the business. Today, Boone drug has moved down the street next to Earth Fare where it continues to offer its popular quick lunch offerings.

Local attorney George Kelly Moose and his business partner John R. McNary opened the Boone Drug Company in 1920. The drugstore was longstanding staple of Boone's downtown and the owners of the business were generous supporters of Appalachian State University. The building is now home to Our Daily Bread, a popular local eatery. Some of the pharmacy's historic signage remain at the original location, while the pharmacy continues to do business at another location on King Street.

Boone Drug/Our Daily Bread

The older side of the building, the side covered in red
brick, was built in 1913 and opened as the People’s Bank.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[1]</a>
This was a vital part of the community as there was only one other bank in
Boone at the time. Even still, by the 1930s, like other banks across the
nation, this one struggled, too. By the mid-1930s, the People’s Bank reached
its final days and closed its doors.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[2]</a>


The left side of the building took on a form more familiar
to today’s visitors at this time. First, the Belk-White Department Store moved
into the building.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[3]</a> This
was followed by Hunt’s Department Store, a local business owned by Guy Hunt, in
1940.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[4]</a>
The Hunt’s sign seen in the image is iconic in that the style remains in the
Mast Store sign to this day. The store was a thriving and central part of the
community of the Town of Boone. Yet, by the mid-1980s, Mr. and Mrs. Hunt were
looking to retire.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[5]</a>
Their retirement perfectly coincided with the flourishing Valle Crucis business
known as the Mast General Store.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[6]</a>
Thus, the Hunt’s Department Store building was sold, Mr. and Mrs. Hunt retired,
and Mast General Store expanded into Boone.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[7]</a>


&nbsp;The right side of the
building, the side covered in yellow brick, has a more varied history than its
neighbor. It was built in 1917, though some sources say 1930, and first opened
its doors as the Boone Drug Company.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[8]</a>
Over the years, this building also housed a dime store, a beauty parlor, a
radio station, a motor parts and supply store, and a restaurant before becoming
a part of Hunt’s Department Store in 1950.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[9]</a>
From that point to the present, though these are two buildings, they have
functioned as one. 

Much has changed over the years, though some things have
stayed the same. For example, at one point in time, the façade was stuccoed;
however, the stucco was removed sometime after 1988.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[10]</a>
Alternatively, some things have remained constant, such as the original oak staircase,
metal ceilings, and hardwood floors on the interior of the building.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[11]</a>
Yet, without a doubt, through the change and the constancy, these two
buildings, apart and together, are a place around which community life has centered
regardless of which business they did or continue to house.

People come from all over to visit the Watauga County Mast General Stores. One of these is a store in downtown Boone commonly known as the Old Boone Mercantile.  The exterior of this location suggests there are two buildings. This is an accurate assessment given that they were built in separate years, and they each have their own, though shared, pasts. However, since the completion of the left side of the building (the side with red brick) in 1913, they have played a vital role in the community regardless of whether they functioned as a bank, a radio station, or numerous department stores including the widely popular Mast General Store. 

Mast General Store/Hunt's Department Store

When Arthel “Doc” Watson (1923-2012), the blind musical sensation from Deep Gap in Watauga County, NC, would play his favorite customized Gallagher acoustic guitar, his pick would fly across the strings and his fingers would move along the neck at speeds never seen before. His easy storytelling between tunes and fatherly love for his son and musical partner Merle set him apart just as much as his musical abilities.1Doc suffered an eye infection as an infant, permanently blinding him. He exhibited musical passion and talent at a young age, starting first by “banging on anything that could produce an interesting sound” before playing harmonica.2 He began learning banjo when his father made one for his 11th birthday using the skin of a family cat that had recently died.3 As a young man at home in Deep Gap, Doc fended off depression by sawing wood, milking the cow, getting into trouble with his brothers, and proving that he could do more than people thought a blind person could.4 Around the same time, he fell in love with his Deep Gap neighbor and future wife, Rosa Lee Carlton. He recalls how he first felt about her, “Every breath of every day was her name”.5Music ran in the Watson and Carlton families. The couple’s fathers played and taught them their first notes on the banjo6. Doc had played in Downtown Boone with his brother Linney,7 and his other brother David read songbooks to him.8 Merle learned guitar at age 15 from Rosa Lee while Doc was on tour. In 1963 an album called The Watson Family including six family members was released.Doc represented the High Country to the world, and his story is Boone’s story in many ways. As unrest spread throughout the US in the 1960s, the folk revival satisfied American’s longing for simpler times, and Doc, an icon of that revival, seemed to personify the country’s rustic heritage.9Doc honored musical and cultural traditions but did not linger in the past. Therefore, he called his music “traditional plus”, “meaning the traditional music of the Appalachian region plus whatever other styles we [Doc and Merle] were in the mood to play”.10 Doc had played electric guitar in a rockabilly and Western swing group in Johnson City in the 1950s.11 Ralph Rinzler, the folklorist who later founded the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, “discovered” Doc in Deep Gap in 1960 and fell in love with his playing style, which brought new sounds to traditional mountain tunes.12 Together with Merle, they shared those sounds with the world winning three Grammy Awards along the way. When Merle died in a tragic tractor accident in 1985, Doc founded the Merlefest traditional plus music festival in Wilkesboro to honor his memory.Like Doc Watson, Boone and the High Country are also popularly thought of as isolated and traditional. In contrast, Doc Watson and the Boone area are actually connected to people, places, and ideas throughout the world through music, education, and economy. The lives of humble yet groundbreaking role models like the Watsons, who persevered in hardship and faced changing times by building on time-honored traditions, represent the complex heritage of the High Country.In 2011, under a year before Doc’s death at age 89, he humbly approved a statue of himself on King Street in Boone, requesting the modest inscription: “Doc Watson: Just One of the People”. He played next door at the Jones House Community Center that day. Boone has not forgotten him. The town celebrates the statewide holiday, Doc Watson Appreciation Day, on the third Saturday in July, and on snowy days it is common to find that a kind friend has wrapped Doc’s statue in a scarf.

Arthel “Doc” Watson (1923-2012) was both a local musical hero and “Just One of The People” as the King Street statue of him states. Blinded since infancy, Doc exhibited musical passion and talent at a young age, starting first with harmonica and then learning on a banjo his father made for his 11th birthday. Doc played for tips in Downtown Boone and tuned pianos for a living before his lightning-fast bluegrass guitar talent was “discovered” in 1960 by Smithsonian folklorist Ralph Rinzler. Soon Doc was a shining star of the American folk revival, touring across the country with his son and musical partner, Merle. Since Doc’s death in 2012, he has remained an international representative of the High Country and an inspiration to local and distant musicians of all ages who carry on his legacy.

Doc Watson Statue

In 1937, the Public
Buildings Act was passed which set in motion the construction of post offices
across the State of North Carolina, including the historic Downtown Boone Post
Office.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[1]</a> This post office, a
Colonial Revival cut-stone building, was built by the Works Progress
Administration in 1938 to address the growing demand for postal services since
the population of the Town of Boone was growing.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[2]</a>
Reflecting the economic role of the WPA during the Great Depression, the post
office, completed in 1938 and dedicated on April 10, 1940, brought ten new jobs
to local residents.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[3]</a>

The exterior masonry on
the building is beautiful, but step inside the lobby, and you will see another
layer of beauty. A variety of marble types are found throughout, and original
features, such as mailboxes, windows, and brass ceiling fixtures, are still
used.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[4]</a> Yet, what captures one’s
attention is the mural on the wall. This oil-on-canvas is a mural titled
“Daniel Boone on a Hunting Trip in Watauga County” and is hanging on the east
wall above the postmaster’s office and measures 11’ 8” x 4’ 6” and is 54 square
feet.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[5]</a> The mural was commissioned
by the United States Treasury Department, Section of Painting and Sculpture as
part of a joint U.S. Treasury and WPA 48-state art competition to field artwork
for federal post offices.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[6]</a>

Alan Tompkins, a
Connecticut painter, won the competition and produced the 1940 mural, but the current
mural was not his first.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[7]</a> The first mural was
scrapped after this first depiction of the region brought controversy because
it featured tobacco farmers in lowland fields.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[8]</a> This piece was displayed
in the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, D.C., but locals said “it stinks,” and
an editorial called it “an artistic monstrosity.”<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[9]</a> Thus, a mural more
representative of Boone’s character in the depiction of the town’s namesake was
produced after the artist spent days surveying the community and speaking with
local residents.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[10]</a> 

The approved mural now
featured Daniel Boone on a hunting trip with his companions in frontier-era
Watauga county, North Carolina. Furthermore, Tompkins went to great lengths to
depict Daniel Boone with accuracy, such as the absence of a coonskin cap, an
accessory Boone never wore.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[11]</a> This particular mural was
the only mural of the forty-three such murals in North Carolina to find its way
to northwestern North Carolina.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[12]</a> Thus, the post office and
its artwork connected Boone with the larger world as a means of communication
while also remaining faithful to its history and character as it drew people
together and solidified their identity as a mountain people when they vocalized
and retained said identity in the midst of federal projects.

As the years passed by,
the post office became busier and busier, so by the 1970s, plans were being
made for a new post office.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[13]</a> Yet, one of the arguments
for keeping the historic post office open was specifically the artwork from the
New Deal era.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[14]</a>
This particular argument was one that enabled the post office to be study
listed in 1984, nominated to the national register in 1995, and placed on the
national register in 1996.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[15]</a> It was not merely the
building that helped to form Boone’s identity; rather, it was the artwork
within the building that asserted and solidified their identity as a mountain
community within the national context of the New Deal era.

By 1940, the New Deal era and its programs reached the farthest corners of the nation, including mountain towns such as Boone, NC. It was during this year that a beautiful stone post office was dedicated in Boone, NC.  Yet, it was not merely the exterior that was a treasure for the town but the interior, as well. Along with the Works Progress Administrations building project that resulted in the construction of this post office was an artwork program to decorate the walls of federal post offices.  The artwork that emerged from this program, specifically “Young Daniel Boone on a hunting expedition in Watauga Country,” helped to not only assert but solidify Boone’s identity within the nation.  

United States Post Office, Boone, NC 

This one and a half story house on West King Street was built circa 1890 for the family of Frank A. Linney. Frank A. Linney, the son of U.S. congressman Romulus Zachariah Linney, Sr., served as a prominent attorney for the town of Boone in the second and third decades of the twentieth century and was nominated for District Attorney for Western North Carolina by President Warren G. Harding in 1921, although he faced opposition from the NAACP for his “lily white” policies. Frank Linney’s law office can still be seen on the southwest corner of the front yard, although his practice has been gone for many years and other businesses have occupied both floors over time.As the home of one of Boone’s leading families and fiscal contributors to Appalachian State University, the placement of the house seems fitting. Although there is little evidence remaining to support such claims, there has been some conjecture that the Linney House stands on the site of the antebellum Watauga county courthouse. &nbsp;This conjecture is possible, as the court house burnt to the ground in the 1870s, although it would be difficult to prove.Featuring six rooms at the time of its construction, the house has gone through three expansions in the first two decades of its existence. The property was originally part of a large, sprawling farm, reaching to Howard Knob, though this has since been divided, leaving only the house, a small fieldstone building, and the original well and spring trough around back. Other features of note include the servant’s quarters on the upper level, originally occupied by a cook or a maid, separate on the interior from the rest of the house. Other notable residents include author and playwright Romulus Linney, who lived in the house for a brief period during the Great Depression and was known to visit his family in Boone, particularly his cousin Margaret Linney Coffey, daughter of Frank A. Linney. &nbsp;On Frank A. Linney’s death in 1928, the house passed into Margaret’s possession, and the house remains in the Coffey family to this day.

Home to one of Boone’s prominent families the Linney House stands overlooking West King Street, as it has since the 1890s. Belonging to Frank A. Linney, and later his daughter, Margaret Linney Coffey, the house has expanded as the land it sits on has shrunk significantly in size, changing in purpose and boundaries alike.

Frank A. Linney House

The Watauga Democrat began as a partisan newspaper for the 1888 election. &nbsp;Although the newspaper folded after the election, the equipment and masthead were soon revived by Robert C. “Bob” Rivers and Daniel Baker “D.B.” Dougherty in 1889. &nbsp;Rivers was an experienced newspaper man who had previously been the publisher of the rival Watauga Enterprise. &nbsp;Dougherty was one of Boone’s most prominent citizens, serving the community as Postmaster and Justice of the Peace before joining Rivers in the newspaper business.For the first ten years of operation, Dougherty and Rivers worked together as Editor and Publisher, respectively, to produce a weekly newspaper for the town of Boone. &nbsp;They advocated for better roads, the extension of the railroad, and an increase in funding for Education. &nbsp;In 1899, Dougherty’s two sons opened Watauga Academy, a training schools for teachers which would later evolve into Appalachian State University. &nbsp;The elder Dougherty also retired as Editor of the paper, selling his shares to Rivers. &nbsp;D.B. Dougherty died a few years later in 1902.Gregarious and hard working, Rivers was a natural newspaper man. &nbsp;He was born at the dawn of the American Civil War and grew up in Boone during the era of reconstruction. &nbsp;After taking sole ownership of the paper, Rivers did all the jobs. &nbsp;He sold advertisements, wrote all the articles, hand set the type and printed all the copies. &nbsp;The paper came out every Thursday and usually consisted of four pages. &nbsp;If the paper shipment was delayed, he would get on a horse and ride down the mountain to Lenoir to get enough paper to print an edition.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Bob Rivers served as publisher until his death in 1933. &nbsp;At his funeral, every minister in town wanted to be part of the official ceremony. &nbsp;He was succeeded by his son, Bob Rivers Jr. &nbsp;The Rivers family owned the paper until 1994. &nbsp;Today the newspaper is owned by Jones Media which also owns The Mountain Times and the Rivers Printing Company building is home to Murphy’s Restaurant and Pub.

The Rivers Printing Company building on West King Street in Boone, North Carolina housed the offices and print shop of the Watauga Democrat from 1933 until the mid 1980s.  Initially published in 1888, The Watauga Democrat served the Town of Boone and Watauga County as the leading local newspaper, documenting the life of the small town and advocating for civic improvement projects such as highways, railroads, electricity and schools.  


Rivers Printing Company

The Watauga County Jail, constructed in 1889 by a contractor from Maysville, Kentucky named William Stephenson on a budget of $5,000, served its function until 1925. Made of bonded brick the walls are one and a half feet thick. &nbsp;With a small town population, the jail fulfilled its function without difficulty until the town and surrounding area’s population began to expand. The town expansion was caused by the growth of Appalachian Teachers College. Many of the original features of the jail such as the cells, dead locks, and other security based features have been removed. Some unique architectural features of the house, such as five paneled doors can still be seen today. Originally the layout of the jail was spread between the two floors. On the first floor, male occupants of the jail were housed in steel jail cells. It was on the second floor however, that female occupants were housed alongside the jailer and his family. Accounts on where the jailer worked vary between the first and second floor. &nbsp;<div>It was in 1984 when the building was put on the study list for the National Register of Historic Places. Having been a while since the building was put on the list, it is likely that it will never receive the status as such. This is because many of the original features of the building have since been removed and/or modified. Although the building may never reach the status of a historic site, locals still recognize and refer to the building by its original function.&nbsp; </div>The porch on the building was constructed after the building was decommissioned. The only room in the building that hasn’t received heavy modifications is the root cellar, hidden below a trap door in the wooden floor. The modifications were necessary considering after the building was decommissioned the it was re-purposed to act as efficiencies for students looking to rent, it served this purpose from 1925 to sometime in the 1980s. After a period of not serving any function at all, the building was revived from its dilapidated state and turned into a restaurant. Today, the building is occupied by a local restaurant named Proper. The restaurant serves home style southern food in its quaint location. From the exterior, the building is hardly recognizable as the once Watauga County Jail. This is in part from the porch installation, as well as heavy landscaping which covers up some of the brick ghost lines and holes that were made during hasty modifications to the premise.

The Watauga County Jail built in 1889 is located in downtown Boone, just off main street. Boone maintained the fascia of a suburban house, while serving a more serious function. Built in 1889, the jail was the fourth jail built chronologically speaking in Boone. The building has not functioned as a jail since 1925 when it was decommissioned. Today the building, which features a mid-century facade, is home to Proper, a southern style restaurant. 

Watauga County Jail (Proper)

The Watauga Democrat was purchased by Robert Campbell Rivers, Sr. in 1889, and was created to “be ‘the voice of the Watauga Democrat Party.’” &nbsp;R. C. Rivers, Sr. turned the paper over to his son in 1933, R. C. Rivers, Jr., and it remained with the family until 1994 when Rachel Rivers-Coffey sold the paper, and it has continued to run to the present. &nbsp;Although the Watauga Democrat held partisan ties at its conception, it transformed into a “highly respected non-partisan publication” for the region. &nbsp;On the death of R. C. Rivers, Jr. in 1975, both the property and the newspaper passed into Rachel Rivers-Coffey’s possession and she, in turn, donated the land and the buildings on it to the township two decades later. Despite the township’s possession of the building, the building is not currently in use. There has been some discussion of possible repair work to convert the structure to an official use.It is worth noting that the sugar maple in the yard is believed to be the oldest and largest tree of its type in North Carolina. The locals have fondly nicknamed the tree “Baby,” and it is an interesting feature on the property. A low fence has been erected by the town to protect Baby from harm.

The Rivers House, also known as the R. L. Clay House, was constructed circa 1930 for R. L. Clay. This one and a half story “period cottage” house, was in turn purchased by Robert Campbell Rivers, Jr., circa 1940. Situated on a thirteen-acre property, this house was donated to the town of Boone by Rachel Rivers-Coffey in 1998, the daughter of Robert Rivers, Jr. The Rivers family served the region with their role in the newspaper business, running not only the Watauga Democrat at the peak of their existence, but also the Blowing Rock Rocket and the Avery Journal.

Rivers House

The stones the monument is made of are supposedly from the fallen chimney of his cabin, although the quarry faced stones used to construct the monument are not similar to pioneer stones masonry common at the time of the chimney's construction, but more consistent with early 20th century construction. Constructed in 1912 by Boone’s first mayor, the monument’s original cost was <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.westegg.com/inflation/">$203.27</a>&nbsp;(1). In 1969, as the university got larger and Faculty Street widened, the monument was moved (1). Other sources say that the monument was moved during the construction of Varsity Gym and Duncan Hall (2). Then, again, the monument was moved to another site, this time off campus on the grounds of Rivers Park (donated by Rachel Rivers Coffey to the town for historical purposes (4)). This project was spearheaded by the founder of Historic Boone, Gene Lewis Reese, and completed in 2005. Many of the stories of the monument seem to have little evidence as to whether or not the cabin actually belonged to Daniel Boone at all. This brings up an interesting twist in the history of the town of Boone. Did Daniel Boone actually spend time in the area? To give some background on his importance for this small town, in 1900, 29 years after the town was incorporated (1), &nbsp;the population of Boone was 155 and in 1918 -- 6 years after the monument was built -- the population was still only 374 (1). Having someone as famous as Boone live in this place would have made a great impact on the people of this area.<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.history.com/topics/daniel-boone">Daniel Boone</a> was a pioneer who became a symbol for the american pioneer and a true national hero. Well known in Kentucky for his support and influence in setting up the frontier there and finding a trail through the Cumberland Gap as well as his help during the American Revolution (3), stories of his hunting trips to the High Country are very important for small towns like Boone. It was said that Boone first came to the area during extended hunting trips in the 1760s when Buttell, a cattle herder and slave to Benjamin Howard-- of Howard’s Knob-- led him over the Blue Ridge mountains and into Boone (1).The Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail, or the Buffalo Trail, which skirts the town of Boone, commemorates Boone’s great discovery (which Native American’s had already discovered by following the wild buffalo, hence the name) on finding the path through Cumberland Gap to pass through the Appalachian trails on the way to the new American frontier. <img width="437" alt="" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/8WT_i0pTaL2Qe2q5Jz_SbUqDy75HZqSN3S2rRTj7MiMhrFP0g_xIEmvq9JG1lclLjZGbb_6mUAwvVq_r29p3EicowLFUS2N3c3Vuvqt06egUh5KN6pHAUur_s5l5SOn-WkQbecJR" height="312">Whoever lays claim to this historic figure, it is clear that Daniel Boone’s supposed presence in this space has made a huge impact on the town of Boone and his story is intertwined with many of Boone’s historic figures. The first mayor, who had the monument built, was <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KSBcBoT5Dp8C&amp;pg=PR8&amp;lpg=PR8&amp;dq=col.+william+lewis+bryan&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=bDwfDPyJwV&amp;sig=MojyF9xhTvXzMtqAcgCW8KC6Ngo&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjU5-nRtNXPAhUBQSYKHdl1CWMQ6AEIWjAP#v=onepage&amp;q=col.%20william%20lewis%20bryan&amp;f=true">Col. William Lewis Bryan</a> whose ancestor was Boone’s brother in law (1).	Another interesting piece of history of the monument itself is how much it moved around the town. The care that the city of Boone took to ensure the commemoration of an American pioneer and hero whose presence in this town may have only been legend shows how Daniel Boone’s ideals have stuck with this town. Perhaps the fact that the monument has moved around so much keeps the pioneer spirit of Daniel Boone alive. The history behind this monument makes one wonder about the significance of the facts of history and focus more on the importance of the impressions history makes on a place. It shows that myths and legends can have an impact. When you stand at this monument, think about the journeys that Daniel Boone made across the country and the hundreds of other american’s he influenced with the pioneer spirit.<div> </div>

Constructed in 1912, and formerly located on the grounds of Appalachian State University’s campus, the Daniel Boone Cabin Monument is said to be made from remains of a cabin believed to belong to Daniel Boone. It originally stood on Faculty Street and in 1969 the monument was moved to another location. In 2005 it was moved yet again to the home place of Rachel Rivers-Coffey. Daniel Boone, a frontiersman and national hero,  was said to have stayed in the town of Boone during hunting trips in the 1760s.


Daniel Boone Cabin Monument

Boone was once small and isolated as a part of the western North Carolina region known as the lost provinces (Ashe, Allegheny, and Watauga counties).1 In 1917, Boone’s reputation as a lost province permanently changed when the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad laid tracks into Boone for a narrow gauge railroad which became affectionately known as the “Tweetsie” railroad.2 The president of Appalachian Training School, Dr. Blanford Barnard Dougherty, and the editor of the Watauga Democrat, Rob Rivers, both assisted with bringing the railroad to Boone.3 The railroad served economic goals as it brought the logging industry to the area and allowed Boone to expand its cabbage and potato industries by opening up new markets.4 For the first time, Boone was easily accessible for both mail and passengers as it became connected to its closest trading center: Johnson City, TN.5 This connected Boone to the Southern Railway and thus the entire eastern region of the United States.6 The whistle of “Tweetsie,” the locals’ affectionate name for the train, now echoed through the high country.7 Though tax records suggest this building was not a taxable property until 1930, from 1917 to 1940, this site served as the original Tweetsie Depot.8 The railroad was immensely popular and ran daily except for Sundays. Like many other railroads in mountainous regions, the railroad’s popularity began to wane with the depletion of lumber in the area. It was not until after flooding from a hurricane destroyed some of the tracks that the depot finally closed its doors in 1940 after Tweetsie’s final run on Tuesday, August 12, 1940.9 Trains never frequented Boone again.10 Though trains never frequented Boone again, they were to remain a permanent fixture in the area. Tweetsie Locomotives no. 12 and no. 190 were sold to the White Pass and Yukon Railroad in Alaska, and Hollywood’s Gene Autry expressed interest in using them for films.11 Before Gene Autry could purchase the locomotives, locomotives no. 12 and no. 190 were purchased in 1956 by the Robbins family for the Tweetsie attraction in Blowing Rock, NC.12 Thus, the railroad industry might have been gone, but it left behind a legacy in the region. Though most people seek this legacy out at the Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock, it also lives on at the Portofino’s building in Boone: the first and last place Tweetsie (and the railroad) stopped in Boone.&nbsp;&nbsp; The depot once served to place Boone in the larger context of the world. It was a place that served to open the doors for communication, industry, and travel between Boone and the rest of the world. In the community’s repurposing of the building as a restaurant, it still serves as a place of connection. Except, instead of connecting the people of Boone with the world, it serves as a place where Boone builds community as people socialize over drinks and a meal.&nbsp;

Near the campus of Appalachian State University is a building that now houses Café Portofino, a popular local bar and eatery; however, this building once served another purpose as the Tweetsie Railroad maintenance station, also known as the Linville River Railway Depot. For over half a century, people have been drawn to the Tweetsie attraction in Blowing Rock, NC. Tweetsie was originally more than a loop of track for tourists to experience, it was a railroad that connected Boone to other places thus driving business. Little do visitors know, the original Tweetsie depot is not in Blowing Rock but in the heart of downtown Boone, NC. 

Downtown Boone Walking Tour

Farmers Hardware

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information