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According to the 1930 census, 15,165 people made their
homes in Watauga County. At the time, Watauga County
ranked 90th among the 100 counties of North Carolina
in percent of population living in incorporated towns.
252 of those 15,165 people were African American,
only 1.6 percent of the population. |
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Settlement
was distributed all over the county, except in some
of the rough mountain areas, but was denser along
Cove Creek, in the vicinity of Valle Crucis, and in
the smoother areas between Boone and Deep Gap. |
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Boone's
population in 1930 numbered 1,295. |
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The
current overall political nature of the county was
already well-established by 1930, with the county
being relatively split down the middle with Republicans
and Democrats. |
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Property
values were rising. All of Boone was worth about $1
million, still behind Blowing Rock's $1.4 million. |
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The
only railroad transportation facilities in Watauga
County were furnished by the Linville River Railway,
a narrow gauge road which traversed the southwestern
corner of the county, extending from Boone to Johnson
City, Tennessee. |
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County
and private roads were rough and in rainy weather
and during winter were almost impassable by automobiles. |
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Telephone
service was available to most of the county and many
farms had electricity. |
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The
best cattle from the region were sold as feeders to
traders and poorer grades were sold in the piedmont
section of North and South Carolina. |
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Lumber
was at one time a great source of income, but in the
1930s, was almost unknown. The finest timber had been
consumed with only poorer grades remaining. |
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Potatoes,
cabbage, and apples were trucked to the southern and
eastern part of the state for sale. |
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2500
acres of Irish potatoes were produced in 1939.
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420
acres of tobacco were produced in 1939.
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In
Boone, the sauerkraut factory annually used about
10,000 tons of cabbage.
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In
1930, there were only two furniture factories both
in Blowing Rock, the Hand-Made Furniture Co. and
C.W. Moody's.
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The
old Watauga Bank, with its offices in Boone and Blowing
Rock, opened its doors on July 1, 1937, as part of
the new Northwestern Bank. The executive head of the
bank was Edwin Duncan. The bank's capital in 1937
was $150,000 plus a surplus of equal amount. |
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High
schools were located at Boone, Blowing Rock, Sugar
Grove, and Bethel, with the Appalachian Teachers College
in Boone. D.P. Mast was the principal of Boone High
School, F.C. Nye the principal at Blowing Rock, S.F.
Horton in Sugar Grove, and J. Andrew Morgan in Bethel. |
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In
1930, Watauga County schools had 3237 books worth
$5800. |
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In
1937, Howard W. Walker, Superintendent of Schools,
raised teacher certifications requiring all teachers
to have a four-year college degree by July 1, 1942
if they were to continue teaching; "No teacher,
white or colored, may be employed to teach in the
Watauga county schools after July 1, 1942, who does
not hold a degree from a standard four-year college." |
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In 1938, Boone High School had 317 students. 288 attended
daily. 274 were promoted and 54 graduated. The high
school, itself, was worth $20,000, in 1930, increasing
to $157,800 in 1938. |
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Total school property value in Watauga County in 1930
was $41,500, increasing to $305,052 in 1938. |
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A
breakdown of teachers and their certificates showed
that out of 136 total teachers, 57 had graduated college,
77 had "A" certificates, 77 had "B"
certificates, 39 had "C" certificates, 5
had elementary "A" certificates, and 2 had
elementary "B" certificates. |
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In 1938, there was one three-teacher school in Watauga,
one four-teacher school, one nine-teacher school and
one eleven-teacher school. |
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Until 1934, all school transportation was conducted
by contract buses, a system that did not work. Superintendent
Walker got buses for the county, and in 1938, 1138
students rode buses that traveled 480 miles per day. |
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In
1933, the school tax rate was .10, increasing to .28
in 1938. |
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In
1938, Appalachian State Teachers College received
$179,902.14 in funding from the state. |
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In
1930 the state representative for the area was R.T.
Greer, and the senator was W.R. Lovill.
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