Moravian Falls; one of the outstanding beauty spots in the Brushy
Mountain section.
The Brushles
They're» not as hi jilt as some of
I In» peaks further west in \orllt
Carolina, hut for beautiful and
interest in»' scenery you'll find
I Iteni hard to heat.
»!/
EDGAR
А НЕК ЧЕТНА’
IT'S a .afi> hot that mo?! of you
have no idea whore these mountains
are. if indeed you ever so miieli as
heard of fhoin. The Brushies extend
from r.enoir >omo 115 miles northeast
to Pilot Mountain, including portions
of Caldwell. Alexander. Wakes,
Yadkin, and Surry eounties. In the
two latter counties the mountains
aren't much more than good-sized
hills; and Pilot Mountain, although
technically a part of the Brushy
range, i* for all practical purposes
an isolated peak. This article will
cover the genuinely mountainous area
between Lenoir and the Yadkin
County line, n distance of about 35
miles.
Several paved highways lead into
and through this region; No. 1*0 from
Statesville to Taylorsville, and thence
to Lenoir; No. 1* from Lenoir to
Moravian Fall»: No. 10 from Mo¬
ravian Falls to Taylorsville; and No.
115 between Wilkc*boro and States¬
ville. any of these will Inks- you into
the Brushies. If you really want to
know what the country is like, though,
you'll have to get off the pavement.
This i» no hard'll i|>. for the State
Highway Department has done a
wonderful job of locating and main¬
taining the numerous roads which
wind their way through almost every
portion of the area. Of course, they
are crooked, narrow, and sleep in
places, but they present no real diffi¬
culties. Few rural sect ions of the state
arc so well provided with roads, even
outside the mountains.
The Brushies are exceptionally 'veil
watered. Springs bubble forth from
every likely and unlikely location,
even high up on the mountain sides.
Streams, ranging in size from mere
trickles to vigorous creeks, are found
on every hand. You can’t go far on
any road without crossing a bridge,
sometimes several of them within a
hundred yard» or so. None of these
streams are very large, for the main
ridge of the Brushio* form* the di¬
vide between the Catawba and Yad¬
kin watersheds, hence it’s only a few
miles lo the source of any stream
found in the region.
Many of these water-courses are
extremely beautiful ns they tumble
over rocks and cascade down sharp
declivities among the rhododendrons.
Perhaps the host known and most im¬
pressive of these is the waterfall on
Moravian Creek from which the town
of Moravian Falls derives its name.
The falls are less than a mile from
the center of town. Take No. 13
towards Lenoir for a couple of hun¬
dred yards, then turn left on a good
dirt road, which takes you right to
the foot of the fall*. The water cas¬
cades over a tremendous ledge of rock
in two section*, n total drop of 55 or
CO feet, I'd say. With the evergreen
trees and shrubs on either side, and
the deep, dark green pool at the foot
of the fall-, you won’t find a lovelier
spot anywhere. The ruins of an old
dam. long since abandoned, are a
couple of hundred yards above the
falls, hut today they serve no utili¬
tarian purpose.
Old Mills Still Extant
Not all the old mill* in the Brushies
have been abandoned. Fight or ten
miles from Taylorsville, on highway
No. 1*0. traveling towards Lenoir,
you'll see a sign at an intersecting
dirt road, reading, “Brown's Mill.
This mill i- on Middle Little
River, and. with its great overshot
wheel, is well worth driving in to see.
The mill itself is in Alexander
County; the dam is just about on the
line, and the pond i“ in Caldwell.
When I was there, early in April, the
flume had been wa-hrd out by high
water, hut lumber was on hand for
rebuilding, and it should In- in opera¬
tion by now. .Said the old millc-r.
whom I found cutting briars nearby:
"I was grinding when the flume went
out, and I don't know why the build¬
ing didn't go. too, mile'* it was my
prayers kept it there."
Fanners in the Brushies are hard
workers. Saturday afternoon is tra¬
ditionally a holiday with most
farmers, hut on a recent trip, follow¬
ing the hack road* through Caldwell
County, I found someone working in
nearly every field. Most of them wore
