State

Tar Heel Towns By Emily Sarah Lineback Pilot Mountain The town known as Mount Pilot in ‘The Andy Griffith Show' offers a kindness that is contagious to visitors. Daniel Boone climbed il. O. Henry sketched it and visitors and locals alike still marvel at the mountain that is the town of Pilot Mountain's namesake. The small town was incorporated March 9. 1889, and shares its name with the most famous of Surry County’s natural landmarks. People have lived around the 2,700- foot-high mountain since the 1700s. The mountain, now a National Natural landmark and home to Pilot Mountain State Park, was used in the Civil War as a lookout. Native Americans used it as a landmark, calling the mountain Jomeokec. meaning “great guide or pilot." After people tried out many titles and nicknames on both mountain and town — from Mount Ararat (some still say that Noah’s footprints rest atop the peak) to God’s Castle Rock to Olive Mount to Nog Wallow (a nickname earned by the well-trodden muddy roads of the area) — both settled natu¬ rally into their present-day joint moniker. The first 100 years of this animated, picturesque town have seen many changes, and quite a few people are still around who can vividly relay, first¬ hand. some ol this century’s firsts that were seen, heard and tried out in the town. One of the town’s favorite stories to pass down involves Central Telephone Company, which intro¬ duced Pilot Mountain to the telephone in 1935. Nonnie Redman began her duties as the town’s first switchboard operator from above Smith Drug on Main Street. She had a perfect view of all of down¬ town. and il someone tried unsuccess¬ fully to ling someone, she’d do more than say the person wasn't available. She’d simply take a peek out the win- Ihmn In Shrrrir k-.l.m I «и li dow, take a minute to locate the person walking out of a store or perhaps into Pilot Mountain Bank, and say. "Oh. they’re not answering at the store, hut I just saw them go in the bank. Let me ring them there." That’s the kind of personal service the town of 1.182 resi¬ dents still retains today. Even before Pilot Mountain's incor¬ poration. a railroad running through the town was completed in 1880. It connected Winston-Salem and Wytheville. Virginia, and the depot was the center of all commercial and social activity. Train travelers often stayed over between stops, helping the town prosper. By the early 1900s, Pilot Mountain was a thriving, bustling town with wealth and was fully recovered from a horrible and extensive April The State/Scptcmbcr 1995 1899 fire that destroyed several down¬ town stores. Old family names abound today, with several generations continuing their lives in a place full of history and her¬ itage and earning on the businesses their ancestors began. G.M. Nichols & Son Plumbing is in its third generation. Fannie Fowler, who in 1917 was the town's first woman to drive an automo¬ bile. still resides at her Butler Street home. However, new faces are always warmly greeted — usually the old-fash¬ ioned way, with unofficial welcoming committees of neighbors bringing over housewarming food. Present-day Pilot Mountain is a delightful mix of old and new, and offers not only the usual kinds of ser¬ vices, but wonderful, unique amenities. The Colmant House, a well-regarded restaurant on Main Street which occu¬ pies an 1875 home, is an example of the old. The cuisine, which includes Louisiana seafood gumbo, shrimp etouffe, grilled pork tenderloin and barbecue chicken, receives rave reviews not just from the locals and area visi¬ tors, but from food critics such as the Greensboro News iff Record's John Batchelor. Visitors can enjoy a cozy sojourn at the Pilot Knob Bed and Breakfast, a haven of six cabins that have been con- Doumtoum Pilot Mountain bears a striking resemblance to fictional Mayberry. 10