Mount Airy High School - Airmont Yearbook (Mount Airy, NC)

Page 8 text:

WE PROUDLY CARRY OUR Circled by mountains, we carry with pride our heritage from them in charac¬ ter, beauty, and way of life. The Blue Ridge - an extremely old range - has been softened, rounded, and made livable and lovable by millions of years of wind and rain. Through the seasons our mountains offer an ever changing, ever satisfying panorama and unparalled opportunities for scenic diversions. Long before the Blue Ridge Parkway became the nation ' s most visited park area, it was a treasured part of our way of life. 4

Page 10 text:

In colonial times along old Hollow Road from Salem in Wachovia past Pilot Mountain through Fancy Gap across the Blue Ridge Mountains, settlers began to make their homes. Midway between Salem and Wythville, on a high hill, Frank Unithank ' s house became a stage coach stop-called Mount Airy because travelers found it cool and airy. By 1850 the magnificent road across Fancy Gap, kept up by public tolls, was the only graded passway along the mountains for 7 5 miles and an important passenger and com¬ mercial outlet. Naturally a hotel was Mount Airy’s first business. In 1885 the town-then with no def¬ inite shape or permanently located streets- was incorporated. There were few clear¬ ings outside the yards and gardens, the whole ridge being almost original forest. Mount Airy today i s more than the incor¬ porated town of 7,000 plus; it is really Greater Mount Airy Township which has a population of approximately 22,000- a large increase over 1850’s 400 persons. MOUNT AIRY ' S MAIN STREET before the automobile. EARLY INOURCENTURY a car was indeed a proud possession. PAST IN 1890 Mount Airy was being promoted as a sum¬ mer resort. AND PRESENT EFFORT