to the Yancey County NC Gen Website providing online genealogical
information supplied by volunteers who are committed to sharing historical
information and data. Yancey County is located in the far western
part of North Carolina which borders Tennessee.
In December 1833,
Yancey County was established from sections of Burke and
Buncombe counties and named in honor of statesman
Bartlett Yancey. The county became smaller forming
Watauga [est. 1849], Madison [est. 1851], Mitchell [est. 1861], and Avery
[est. 1911], counties respectively. Since that time, Yancey's
boundaries are preserved.
Burnsville is the county seat, the only incorporated town, and named
after Privateer Captain
Otway Burns [pictured]. Bartlett Yancey and Otway Burns never
lived in Yancey Co. but were prominent political figures heads that
influenced the development of the area.
County is a mountainous region having the highest average of elevation of
any county in North Carolina with 19 peaks rising over 6,300 feet.
It's surrounded by the
Blue Ridge area of the
Appalachian Highlands. The
Black Mountain Range crosses the south end of the county, intersected
by the Blue Ridge and the
Unaka Ranges. Mt.
Mitchell [part of the Black Mountain chain] is the highest peak in
eastern North America with an elevation of 6,684. It was named after
Elisha Mitchell, a professor at the University at Chapel Hill who
studied the area. The South Toe and Cane rivers are the
county's major waterways feeding most of the tributaries.
COUNTY FACTS AT A GLANCE:
--Established in 1833 from Burke and
--311 Square Miles / 200,704 Acres
--Mountainous region with a unique ecosystem
of flora and fauna
--County Seat: Burnsville
2012 Facts Sheet
--Population in 2000: 18,421 [per
US Census Bureau]
--Average Temp: 22-47 degrees winter /
80 degrees summer
--Average Annual Rainfall: 44 inches;
Average Annual Snow: 21 inches
--Historical Industries: agriculture,
mining, textile, lumber, pottery
--Historical Religions: Baptist, Presbyterian
--Primary Historical Ethnicity: Irish, Scottish, German, English,
Cherokee Native American