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Blowing Rock is a town in Watauga and Caldwell counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The Caldwell County portion of Blowing Rock is part of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Watauga County portion is part of the Boone Micropolitan Statistical Area. |
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Before 1752, when Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg of the Moravian Church visited the Blowing Rock, the windy cliffs of the area were home to the Cherokee and the Catawba Native American tribes.
After the mid-18th century, when hardy Scots-Irish pioneers began to settle in the region, the mountain passes from southern Virginia into Kentucky attracted many colonists, farmers, hunters, and trappers who continued south to the mountains of North Carolina. The first family to settle in Blowing Rock were the Greenes, who were established by the mid-19th century on a site that would become the Green Park Hotel property.
Other early settlers in Blowing Rock included the Hayes, Coffey, Bolick, Estes and Storie families. During the American Civil War the mountains of North Carolina often witnessed fierce guerrilla warfare between groups of pro-American Civil War Union fighters. To keep their families safe, men leaving for service in the Confederate Army often sent them to Blowing Rock, which became a local refuge from the fighting.
After the Civil War many of these veterans would join their families and remain in the Blowing Rock area. At the same time, summer residents began to come up from the nearby city of Lenoir to enjoy the cool fresh air and magnificent mountain views. Seeing the potential of their village to become a haven for well-to-do tourists, the residents of Blowing Rock had their village incorporated into a town on March 11, 1889. The town's first mayor was "Uncle" Joe Clarke, and the town initially had a population of about 300.
As word traveled to other parts of the South about the merits of Blowing Rock, more visitors began to arrive, first camping out, and later taking rooms at boarding houses such as the Hayes and Martin houses on Main Street. |
Above History quote from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowing_Rock,_North_Carolina
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The Two RV Gypsies' daughter and son-in-law told them about the Prayer Tree in Blowing Rock, but everyone was disappointed that it was no longer there. Just two signs remained on a fence. |
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Below: The two RV Gypsies saw two Ice Sculptures that were probably left over from a recent Winterfest function in the Blowing Rock. |
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Below: A mural on a wall and its adjoining plaque |
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Below: Two views of a piece of art titled The Gardener |
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The temperature was in the 30's |
Directional mileage signs |
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Below: Lee Duquette had fun with the traces of icy snow that was still on the ground from a previous snowfall, and threatened Karen Duquette with a snowball. |
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Lee Duquette tossed a snowball at his grandson, Alex. |
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Below: Alex tossed a snowball to his grandfather, then Lee tossed the snowball
back to Alex. |
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Below: Little boys must play in the snow - Lee, Alex and John |
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The Great-Grandchildren of the Two RV Gypsies had their snow time fun too. |
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