Education That Rises to The Top

From our public and private to our home school students, education is an integral part of our community. Our community rallies around our students whether through volunteering in the schools, cheering for the home teams or serving as mentors in the classrooms.

Our local community college, Mayland Community College, was ranked in the Top 1% in the nation and chosen on Bankrate.com’s list of Top 10 Community Colleges in the nation. Mitchell County is also within an hour’s drive of several state and public colleges including Appalachian State University, East Tennessee State University, Lenoir-Rhyne University and the University of North Carolina-Asheville. Many of our local businesses partner with these universities inviting students to intern, shadow and later join them as employees.

Mitchell County Schools
Tri-County Christian School
Montessori School
Mayland Community College
Mitchell Yancey Partnership for Children

Regional Universities

Appalachian State University
Lees McCrae College
East Tennessee University
Mars Hill University
Montreat College

World Class Healthcare, Close to Home

A true mark of a vibrant community is the importance it places on the health of its citizens.
Mitchell County is home to Blue Ridge Regional Hospital, a member of the Mission Health System. Blue Ridge Regional Hospital, originally Spruce Pine Community Hospital, was built with the full support of the citizens. Sixty years ago, local citizens contributed their funds from their monthly salary checks to help get the local hospital built. Today, Blue Ridge Regional Hospital has continued to grow and now serves the citizens of three counties.
In 2015, East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine cut the ribbon on their new Service Learning Center, located on the campus of Blue Ridge Regional Hospital. Dedicated to serving the people of the Mitchell County region, the 7,700-square-foot center is a fully functioning general dentistry office with 16 treatment rooms, X-ray equipment, educational space and more. Full-time dental school faculty members staff the center, along with dental hygienists and other staff members, and fourth-year dental students and residents will train at the center.

Also in 2015, Blue Ridge Regional Hospital will open the new Mauzy-Phillips Medical Office Building, a state of the art facility on the campus of BRRH. The new medical office building will include primary care providers as well as expanded space and additional exam rooms for Family Medicine, Women’s Health, Cardiac Rehab and Wellness and Wound Care services. Visiting specialty physicians who currently rotate office space inside the hospital will relocate to the new building for better patient accessibility.

Other healthcare providers in the community including dialysis treatment, orthopedics, podiatry, dental and home health partner to provide quality health care in our community.

Mountain Real Estate That Calls You Home

There’s a reason so many people want to live in the mountains of North Carolina! It’s beautiful! But beyond that, our area offers homebuyers, investors and second home owners an opportunity to choose between mountain estates and creek side cabins and everything in between. Property owners choose to select properties in our area because of its central location to larger cities while having the pleasure of living in peace, quiet and a slower pace of life. Contact one of our member Real Estate agents to set up a visit to Mitchell County.

Real Estate Agents
Mitchell-Yancey Board of Realtors

Our Food Scene is Winning Folks Over

From dressed up to dressed down, our area restaurants offer everything from casual dining fare, like burgers and barbeque, to something a little more special, like local trout or a thick prime rib.

Whatever you have a taste for, you’ll find it here! Becoming more and more well known around the Southeast for restaurants featuring locally sourced farm-to-table resources, our area has become quite the draw for folks from Asheville, Charlotte, Atlanta, Raleigh and beyond.

You can certainly create a special menu and dining experience each day you are here. During the summer season, be sure to visit a local farmer’s market for the freshest veggies, fruits and herbs! Local specialties like the ramp or fresh mountain trout are musts during your mountain visit.

See Places to Eat >>

A Haven for the Arts

No other area can boast that they have more NC Living Treasures than Mitchell County. With more artists per capita than anywhere we know of, our region is a haven for the creatives! You can spend a day, a week, a month or a year exploring and discovering world class artists in our community. Pick up one of the local craft maps and take your pick of hundreds of artists’ studios and galleries.

Of course there’s Penland School of Crafts, where you can schedule a tour of the campus and studios. Our area is home to hundreds of professional craft artists’ studios and galleries representing glass, pottery, metal, weavings, jewelry and a lot more. Don’t miss the Toe River Studio tours held in June and December for the opportunity to visit artists in their working studio environments. Then there’s the Blacksmith Festival in April, the Summer Studio Tour in June, the Potter’s Market in October and the Holiday Tour in December just to name a few of the annual craft events.