West Jefferson was established in 1915. The thriving downtown area is best known for its Arts District, which has numerous galleries featuring local artists. During the beautiful summer months, you can find the streets lined with art for their weekly Art Crawl. Not only can beautiful art be found in several local galleries, but there are also 15 murals along the downtown walking area. These murals were painted to show the heritage of the area and the beauty of the mountains. Lastly, the Ashe County Civic Center houses Ashe County Little Theatre and several other performances throughout the year.

While taking a tour of the downtown area, be sure to stop into St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. Here you will find three out of four Fresco’s located in Ashe County. The three featured in St. Mary’s are Mary Great with Child, John the Baptist and Mystery of Faith. The fourth, The Last Supper is located at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Glendale Springs, approximately 15 minutes from West Jefferson. The artist Benjamin Long studied at UNC-Chapel Hill and the Arts Students League in New York. Long has completed over a dozen Frescos throughout the state of North Carolina along with commissions in both Italy and France.

Imagine a small bustling town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where stores line Main Street and there are hundreds of smiling faces passing by. This may sound like something out of a dream. Well, that or something out of the 1950’s. However, this is a real town which has a thriving arts community, fantastic cheeses, bluegrass gatherings of epic proportions and a wide variety of dining options. There is magic in the Blue Ridge Mountains! More importantly, there is magic in West Jefferson, NC.

Ashe County has become in the #1 Christmas Tree industry. Most Christmas trees across the United States come from six counties in North Carolina and Oregon. Ashe County provides just shy of 2 million Christmas Trees per year. For years, Ashe County said they produced the most trees East of the Mississippi, but as it turns out, they are now the largest producer anywhere in the US!