Watauga County, North Carolina
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe National Register of Historic Places includes 23 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1972. Most listings are in or near Blowing Rock, Boone, Valle Crucis.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers
Library of CongressNewspaper directory data for North Carolina is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Watauga titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP12 of 23 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
23 listed properties
| Property | City | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Blair Farm | Boone | 2008 |
| Blue Ridge Tourist Court | Boone | 2023 |
| Bollinger-Hartley House | Blowing Rock | 1995 |
| Cove Creek High School | Sugar Grove | 1998 |
| Daniel Boone Hotel | Boone | 1982 |
| East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad Locomotive No. 12 | Blowing Rock | 1992 |
| Farthing, Ben, Farm | Sugar Grove | 1993 |
| Flat Top Estate | Blowing Rock | 2013 |
| Gragg House | Blowing Rock | 1973 |
| Green Park Historic District | Blowing Rock | 1994 |
| Green Park Inn | Blowing Rock | 1982 |
| Jones House | Boone | 1987 |
| Mast Farm | Valle Crucis | 1972 |
| Mast General Store | Valle Crucis | 1973 |
| Miller, John Smith, House | Boone | 2009 |
| Randall Memorial Building, Former | Blowing Rock | 1991 |
| US Post Office-Boone | Boone | 1996 |
| Valle Crucis Episcopal Mission | Valle Crucis | 1993 |
| Valle Crucis Historic District | Valle Crucis | 2005 |
| Vardell Family Cottages Historic District | Blowing Rock | 2001 |
| Ward Family House | Sugar Grove | 1997 |
| Westglow | Blowing Rock | 1979 |
| Wilson-Vines House | Beaver Dam | 1997 |
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBWatauga was formed in 1849 (1849-01-27) from Ashe, Caldwell, Wilkes, Yancey.
WATAUGA created from ASHE, CALDWELL, WILKES, and YANCEY.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusWatauga County population from 1850 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1850 | 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3,400 | 4,957 | 8,160 | 13,417 | 13,477 | 18,114 | 18,342 | 17,529 | 31,666 | 42,695 | 54,086 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS76 cemeteries and 5 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 76 of 76 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Adams Cemetery |
| Antioch Cemetery |
| Baird Cemetery |
| Baldwin Cemetery |
| Barnes Cemetery |
| Beaverdam Cemetery |
| Boone Cemetery |
| Brown Cemetery |
| Brown Cemetery |
| Byrd Cemetery |
| Byrd Cemetery |
| Calloway Cemetery |
| Church Cemetery |
| Coffey Cemetery |
| Combs Cemetery |
| Cone Cemetery |
| Cook Cemetery |
| Cool Springs Cemetery |
| Cove Creek Cemetery |
| Craig Cemetery |
| Culler Cemetery |
| Danner Cemetery |
| Edmisten Cemetery |
| Edmisten Cemetery |
| Elrod Cemetery |
| Farthing Cemetery |
| Frye Cemetery |
| Gragg Cemetery |
| Gragg Cemetery |
| Green Cemetery |
| Greene Cemetery |
| Greene Cemetery |
| Greer Cemetery |
| Greer Cemetery |
| Hartley Cemetery |
| Hayes Cemetery |
| Hayes Cemetery |
| Henson Chapel Cemetery |
| Hicks Cemetery |
| Hodges Cemetery |
| Hollars Cemetery |
| Horton Cemetery |
| Howell Cemetery |
| Jestes Cemetery |
| Laurel Fork Cemetery |
| Maine Cemetery |
| Mast Cemetery |
| Mast Cemetery |
| McLean Cemetery |
| Michael Cemetery |
| Middle Fork Baptist Church Cemetery |
| Miller Cemetery |
| Moore Cemetery |
| Moretz Cemetery |
| Mount Lawn Cemetery |
| Old Hopewell Cemetery |
| Piny Grove Cemetery |
| Pitts Cemetery |
| Pitts Cemetery |
| Pleasant Cemetery |
| Shook Cemetery |
| Shull Cemetery |
| Shull Cemetery |
| Skyland Cemetery |
| Smith Cemetery |
| Thomas Cemetery |
| Vannoy Cemetery |
| Wallace Cemetery |
| Ward Cemetery |
| White Cemetery |
| White Spring Cemetery |
| Williams Cemetery |
| Wilson Cemetery |
| Winkler Cemetery |
| Woodlawn Cemetery |
| Yates Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 5 of 5
| Name |
|---|
| Brookside |
| Grave Yard |
| Norris |
| Penley |
| Watauga Falls |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Watauga County, North Carolina
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