But did you know that Ashe County was once home to vast herds of buffalo and Indians, who passed through on their way to and from the coast and into the bluegrass of Tennessee and Kentucky?

They went up and around Bald Mountain, following the path now known as Buffalo Road, which later became a wagon trail and stagecoach path. Cherokee Indians also dwelled as hunters in many other areas of the county, before the Virginia Creeper Railroad came through in the early 1900s, bringing with it logging crews to harvest the vast hardwood forests that grew in the region.

Early settlers of Scotch, Irish and German stock made their way here from the North Carolina coast and other points on the Eastern seaboard and staked their claim to vast mountain valleys that still bear their names on road signs throughout the county.

Ashe County has contributed many soldiers to both the Civil War and to the many wars since that time, fighting and serving proudly. And, when it comes to friendliness and down-home courtesy, no region beats Ashe County, where residents still wave on a dirt road as you drive by, and pull over and park when a funeral procession passes.

From the mid-1700s, when Ashe County was settled by a few hardy pioneers, to the present, when more than 25,000 residents call it home, you'll not find a friendlier and more close-knit community to be part of, or grow up in, or retire to. We guarantee it!