Watauga County, North Carolina

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Watauga County, North Carolina
Map
Location in the state of North Carolina
Location of North Carolina in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	1849
County Seat	Boone
Courthouse
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United States    North Carolina    Watauga County

County Courthouse

Watauga County North Carolina
842 W King Street
Boone, NC 28607-3531
828-265-8052

Reg of Deeds has b & d rec from 1914
m rec from 1872 & land rec
Clk Sup Ct has div, pro & ct rec from 1872
Watuaga County was created from
Ashe, Caldwell, Wilkes, Yancey 27 Jan 1849

History

The area that became Watauga and Ashe counties was part of Anson County during the early period; part of Rowan County in 1753, Surry County in 1771, Wilkes County in 1777 and was briefly part of the State of Franklin from 1784-89. After Franklin it was claimed as part of Washington County (part of the Southwest Territory, and later Tennessee) until it was annexed back by North Carolina into Wilkes County again in 1792.^[1] Ashe was incorporated as a separate entity by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1799. North Carolina erected Watauga County primarily from Ashe County in 1849.

Parent County

1849--Watauga County was created from Ashe, Caldwell,Wilkes, and Yancey Counties.
County seat: Boone ^[2]

County histories are available such as:

• A History of Watauga County, North Carolina : with sketches of prominent families by John Preston Arthur (1915)

Boundary Changes

Record Loss

1873--Courthouse fire destroyed all of the land records and most of the court records.

Places/Localities

Populated Places

• Beech Mountain
• Blowing Rock
• Boone
• Seven Devils

Neighboring Counties

• Ashe
• Avery
• Caldwell
• Johnson County, Tennessee
• Wilkes

Resources

Bibles

• Watauga County, North Carolina GenWeb Archives: Bibles (U.S. GenWeb Archives)

Cemeteries

• Watauga County Cemetery Records North Carolina, listings (Interment.net)
• Watauga County Cultural Features: Cemeteries, locations and maps (NC HomeTownLocator)
• Watauga County, North Carolina Cemeteries, listings (Cemetery Census)
• Watauga County, North Carolina GenWeb Archives: Cemeteries (U.S. GenWeb Archives)

Church

LDS Ward and Branch Records

• Howard's Chapel

Court

Land

Local Histories

• Arthur, John Preston, A History of Watauga County, North Carolina with Sketches of Prominent Families, 1915, reprinted 2002. (information in Genealogy.com)
• Watauga County Genealogy Study from the William Allan Papers (manuscript collection), Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina

Maps

Migration

Early migration routes to and from Watauga County for European settlers included:^[3]

• Great Indian Warpath pre-historic
• Old Cherokee Path pre-historic
• Great Valley Road about 1744 (overlapped the Great Indian Warpath)

Military

Civil War

Civil War Confederate units - Brief history, counties where recruited, etc.

Newspapers

• Watauga County, North Carolina Obituaries (Newspaper Obituaries)
• Watauga Democrat

Probate

• Watauga County, North Carolina GenWeb Archives: Wills & Estates (U.S. GenWeb Archives)

Taxation

Vital Records

Yearbooks

• Appalachian State University: 1923-2006
• Watauga County students at NC colleges - via the NCGenWeb Yearbook Index

Societies and Libraries 

• Watauga County Historical Society, Boone, North Carolina

Family History Centers

• Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
• Boone North Carolina Family History Center

Web Sites

• NCGenWeb: Watauga County - free genealogy resources; part of the national USGenWeb Project
• Family History Library Catalog
• Watauga County Genealogy (North Carolina Genealogy)
• Watauga County, North Carolina (New River Notes)
• Watauga County, North Carolina (RootsWeb)
• Watauga County, North Carolina (Wikipedia)
• Watauga County, North Carolina Cemetery Inscriptions (Access Genealogy)
• Watauga County, North Carolina Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
• Watauga County, North Carolina Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
• Watauga County, North Carolina Genealogy Links (Genealogy Links)
• Watauga County, North Carolina GenWeb Archives (U.S. GenWeb Archives)
• Watauga County, North Carolina History, Records, Facts, Genealogy, and Ancestry (Family History 101)

References

1. ↑ Arthur L. Fletcher, Ashe County: A History (Jefferson, N.C.: Ashe County Research Assoc., 1963), 33-34.
2. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).
3. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 847-61. (FHL Book 973 D27e 2002) WorldCat entry., and William E. Myer, Indian Trails of the Southeast. (Nashville, Tenn.: Blue and Gray Press, 1971), 12-14, and the book's pocket map "The Trail System of the Southeastern United States in the early Colonial Period" (1923). (FHL Book 970.1 M992i) WorldCat entry.