Elk Park, NC

Elk Park is a town in Avery County, tucked into the High Country near the Tennessee line. The 2020 census counted 542 residents. The name recalls the number of elk killed in the area, but the town's bigger historical marker is the railroad: the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad reached Elk Park in 1882, linking the Cranberry iron mines with Johnson City and opening a route through the mountains. The town incorporated three years later.

When Avery County was created in 1911, Elk Park briefly served as the county seat before the courthouse moved to Newland in 1912. The Cranberry mines remained a major force in the regional economy, producing iron ore from the nineteenth century into the early twentieth century; the railroad carried ore, timber, mica, ginseng, and travelers through the town. Rail service ended in 1950, but Elk Park School, Elk River Falls, and the old mining landscape keep the junction's story visible. Elk Park is a mountain town built around a rail line that is gone, but not forgotten.