Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center

09/02/2026

on September 2, 1952, William B. Umstead dedicated the Mile High Swinging Bridge at Grandfather Mountain in Linville. Sitting literally one mile above sea level, but only 80 feet above the ground, the bridge connects Convention Table Rock and Linville Peak of Grandfather Mountain. In 1947, Hugh Morton inherited the mountain from a family company. He envisioned a bridge that visitors could walk on to enjoy 360-degree views of the overlook. Greensboro architect Charles Hartmann, Jr. designed the bridge originally with wood, and it was reassembled with galvanized steel in 1999.

Since 1952, people from all over the world come to experience spectacular views on the bridge. The site gained even more popularity after the award-winning 1994 film “Forrest Gump” showed a five-second scene of the protagonist running on the main road to the summit. The location now has a sign labeled “Forrest Gump Curve” that visitors can see on their way up to the bridge.

Images are courtesy of Wiki Commons and Grandfather Mountain.

08/28/2026

One of the oldest rivers in the world, the French Broad has challenged many who encountered it, including the Appalachian Mountains. Geologists have posited that the reason the French Broad flows north into the mountains, seemingly against gravity, is because it was here before the mountains. The Appalachians had to form around the French Broad rather than the other way around. Colonel Sidney Vance Pickens would have done well to heed this when he started his ill-fated French Broad Steamboat Company.

In 1876, western NC congressman Robert B. Vance successfully appropriated $25,000 from the federal government to dig out the Upper French Broad, despite his own brother Zebulon Vance considering it a boondoggle. Zebulon Vance was far from alone in his assessment; Ohio senator Allen Thurman proclaimed that even a catfish couldn’t navigate the French Broad. However, despite these colorful objections, the Army Corps of Engineers began dredging shoals and building jetties in an attempt to deepen the river channel between Brevard and Hendersonville.

After his cousin Robert Vance obtained the funds to make the Upper French Broad more hospitable to water traffic, Colonel Pickens established the French Broad Steamboat Company with a spectacular picnic, replete with barbecue, music, liquor, and grand speeches. By the end of this affair, Pickens had sold every share in his company, declaring that it would be “the highest steamboat line in the world.”

People’s enthusiasm grew when they beheld the flagship of this exciting enterprise: the gleaming new steamboat Mountain Lily. The Mountain Lily remains the largest craft to attempt navigating the Upper French Broad. Although accounts differ as to the exact length, most sources indicate the Mountain Lily was around 90 feet long and 18 feet wide, with the capacity to carry 100 passengers and freight.

For a few years, the Mountain Lily offered the diversion of short jaunts on the river, but drought conditions, low bridges and trees, and unpredictable flow prevented the route from expanding. In 1885, a flash flood tore the Mountain Lily loose from its moorings and washed it down the river to become hopelessly mired near the present day Haywood Road bridge. A nearby church divested the once proud boat of its bell while a sawmill claimed its engines and boiler, leaving the hull to molder for years in the shallows. “The highest steamboat line in the world” had run aground almost as soon as it started, defeated by the French Broad.

08/26/2026

The Mountain Gateway Museum will be at Vance Birthplace's Patch-a-Palooza on Saturday, September 19 from 10am-2pm! Come join us for a fun day of Western NC history!

We hope that you'll join us on Saturday, September 19th from 10am to 2pm for a day of sensory learning and fun at Vance Birthplace! Patch-a-Palooza welcomes families with K-8th grade children to try their hands at various historic activities from writing with a quill pen to playing historic games. Each learning station has a stamp, and children who earn a stamp from every station will receive a Vance Birthplace patch along with their take-home crafts. This is a great opportunity for children to learn about life in Western North Carolina in the 1800s while working on their fine motor, artistic, and critical thinking skills.

Admission is $7 per child to cover the cost of craft supplies. Adults may enter for free unless they choose to participate in the crafts. Enter through the visitor center to pay admission and receive stamp cards. This event is appropriate for all ages but is primarily geared toward elementary and middle grade learners.

For more information, email us at [email protected] or give us a call at (828) 645-6706!

08/25/2026

🎒 Go Back to School with Mountain Gateway Museum!

As a new year of teaching gets underway — whether it’s in a traditional classroom, early college, homeschool or year-round setting — Mountain Gateway Museum is here to support your curriculum with fun, free, and educational opportunities for your students!

Our online Field Trip Reservation Form makes planning your visit a breeze! Whether you choose an on-site adventure or bring Mountain Gateway Museum to you, you can build a custom experience that fits your group. Select up to three immersive programs from interactive scavenger hunts, historical presentations and hands on crafts that spark creativity across grade levels. A nominal participant fee is charged for the take-home crafts.

We’re excited to partner with you this school year to make learning hands on, engaging, and full of discovery!

08/23/2026

on August 23, 1784, the "Lost State of Franklin" declared its independence from North Carolina. The State of Franklin was composed of a territory of about 6,400 square miles in what is now 12 counties of eastern Tennessee. North Carolina claimed territory stretching all the way to the Mississippi River after the American Revolution, but the state didn’t have the money or resources to protect such a large area. Western North Carolinians grew concerned over the increasing number of American Indian attacks due to the ongoing push into Cherokee territory by white settlers. Thus, on August 23, 1784, John Sevier, one of the heroes of the Battle of Kings Mountain, led around 50 frontiersmen to sign a document declaring the State of Franklin's independence so they could form their own court system and militia. The state was named after Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.

State representatives made their case to the Confederation Congress to admit Franklin as the 14th state, but were rejected by only 2 votes. Ultimately, with ongoing tension with the Cherokee and many Franklin residents still loyal to North Carolina, the state's existence ended abruptly in 1788. Shortly after, North Carolina deeded the territory to the federal government, and those lands became part of the new state of Tennessee in 1796.

Images
Map of Franklin. Courtesy of Wiki Commons.
Permanent capitol building for the State of Franklin, Library Photograph Collection, Drawer 23, Folder 61, 28671, Tennessee State Library & Archives, Tennessee Virtual Archive.

08/21/2026

on August 21, 1918, the British and French armies fought in the Somme Offensive—a massive World War I battle against the German army along the Somme River in France. Fighting along the British troops were Cherokee soldiers from Western North Carolina. After the German troops intercepted an Allied message that led to an attack, the Cherokee were instructed to use their native language to deliver important telephone messages to other troops in case Germans were secretly listening. Allied forces used Cherokee “code talkers” during the duration of World War I and their success led to the use of Navajo code talkers during World War II.

Images are pages 1 and 2 of the June 1917 list of draft registrants from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians [ Box 5, Folder 21, WWI 3, N.C. Draft Records, WWI Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of N.C.].

08/18/2026

Museum Mystery Mondays Answer! ❔❓

Both artifacts from yesterday's post are pieces of doll furniture: one a wooden rope bed with a folding frame, and the other a chaise lounge with a green and red leaf pattern. Doll furnishings often reflected contemporary interior design trends; the wooden bed resembles styles common in many homes around Western North Carolina in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, while the chaise lounge mimics Victorian furniture of the late 19th century, most likely seen in an affluent home.

People started crafting dolls around 3000 to 2000 BCE, and the materials and appearances have varied by region. Wood and cloth were commonly used to make dolls in colonial America. In Western North Carolina, cornshuck dolls were popular within Appalachian and Native American cultures. We have two cornshuck dolls on display in our exhibit “Creating the Good and the Beautiful: The Appalachian Craft Revival, 1890s to 1930s and Beyond.”

Public Domain Image 1: American doll, circa 1800-15. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection
Image 2: Two cornshuck dolls from the Mountain Gateway Museum Collection

08/17/2026

❔❓ Museum Mystery Mondays ❓❔

What are these two artifacts? Stay tuned tomorrow for the answer!

Hint: 🛋🛏

08/14/2026

Who has ever used the phrase “it’s all bunk”? Or my personal favorite, the pleasantly alliterative “it’s a bunch of bunk.” If you have ever said bunk or its longer form bunkum to denote nonsense, you have referred indirectly to Buncombe County in western North Carolina, from which the word bunkum was derived.

In 1820, Felix Walker represented Buncombe County and the surrounding district in the 16th Congress. Walker may have committed the first accidental filibuster when he droned on and on one day, eliciting the impatient annoyance of his fellow representatives. Not only was Walker boring his listeners, but his words had little to do with the matter under discussion. When pressed for an explanation afterwards, Walker defended himself by insisting he had made the “speech for Buncombe.” Apparently, he intended to impress his constituents with his long-winded oration, hoping they would see his commitment to their district. After all, they had elected him, not his long-suffering colleagues.

Whatever his intention, soon Walker’s “speech for Buncombe” passed into popular parlance as a synonym for nonsense. Efficient tongues shortened it to Buncombe, originally spelled the same as the county name. Then, as happened to many words in the age before ready access to universal dictionaries, some people began to spell the word BUNKUM, a more phonetic variation.

Eventually, the word’s connection to Buncombe county faded into relative obscurity, leaving only bunk behind.

08/12/2026

As the new school year approaches, we want to remind educators that we will come to you! We can bring any of our educational programs to classrooms and other locations.

For more information on available programs, or to reserve a field trip or site visit, check out our website at https://www.mgmnc.org/education or contact our educator Carly Collins at [email protected].