Discover 5 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Old Fort (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Catawba Falls, Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center, and Roaring Fork Falls. Also, be sure to include Arrowhead Monument in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Old Fort (North Carolina).
Table of Contents
Catawba Falls
Tourist attraction in McDowell County, North Carolina. Catawba Falls is a series of waterfalls on the headwaters of the Catawba River, in McDowell County, near Old Fort, North Carolina.[1]
Address: Catawba River Road, 28762 Old Fort
Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center
Museum in Old Fort, North Carolina. The Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center is a divisional museum of the North Carolina Museum of History that focuses on Southern Appalachian heritage, and the culture and history of western North Carolina. The museum is located in Old Fort, North Carolina, and is part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives and History, an agency of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.
Admission is free, and the museum is open year round. Exhibits include antique tools and household items, photographs, and two historic log cabins that were moved to the site.
Housed in a 1936 WPA stone building and featuring an outdoor amphitheatre, the museum offers many cultural programs, including crafts demonstrations, folk music and concerts, and farming.[2]
Address: 24 Water Street, 28762 Old Fort
Roaring Fork Falls
Waterfall. Roaring Fork Falls, also called Roaring Creek Falls, is a waterfall in the Pisgah National Forest, in North Carolina.[3]
Address: 208 Busick Work Center Road, 28714 Burnsville
Arrowhead Monument
Just over the railroad tracks in Old Fort, North Carolina, is the town square defined by a 30-foot-tall arrowhead hand-chiseled in granite. The landmark was unveiled to a crowd of more than 6,000 people on July 27, 1930, by Marie Nesbitt as a symbol of the peace achieved in an earlier century between pioneers and Native Americans.
The train always stopped here. For many years, travelers through these mountains looked for the familiar sight of a tall, hand-carved arrowhead in front of the depot, signaling a stop in the historic town of Old Fort. As one of the oldest towns in the region, it prides itself on its historic roots. Originally a fort built by the colonial militia before the Declaration of Independence, the settlement served for many years as the westernmost outpost of the early United States. In those days, it was also the site of many skirmishes between pioneer settlers and Native Americans. Much of the fighting, in fact, took place on the banks of Mill Creek, which runs through the center of town. Many years later, a monument was built to the peace finally made between the two peoples: the trademark arrowhead, over 25 feet (7.6 m) tall, hand-chiseled from a large slab of granite stands next to the Chamber of Commerce.[4]
Address: 78 Catawba Ave, 28762-8920 Old Fort
Welsford Parker Artz House
Welsford Parker Artz House, also known as Catawba Hill and Artz House, is a historic home located near Old Fort, McDowell County, North Carolina. It was built between 1904 and 1906, and is 2+1⁄2-story, five-bay, frame dwelling with Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style design elements. A small, one-story, gabled ell was added between 1912 and 1928. The house is sheathed in weatherboard and a moderately pitched, asphalt shingled roof with a dominant front gable and one-story wraparound front porch.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[5]