Thursday, June 16, 2011

A late afternoon cruise through Bethania, NC , Pinnacle, NC and Pilot Mountain, NC and back home. Also some history of the three communities.

I headed out for a late day cruise. I didn't intend for it to be over 70 miles in length. My route took me through the communities of Bethania, Pinnacle and Pilot Mountain. Beautiful scenery is what has made this one of my favorite areas to ride in for many years. The temperature was nice and it worked out OK since I got back just before dark.

The Visitor's Center in Bethania,NC

Bethania, NC

A National Historic Landmark

The town was established in 1759 as a self-sufficient farming community which allowed both Moravian and non-Moravian settlers.

Surveyor Christian Philip Gottleib Reuter designed Bethania to withstand the challenges and dangers of the often hostile frontier landscape during the tumultuous years of the French and Indian Wars. Borrowing from town designs used in Medieval Europe, Reuter clustered the individual home lots in the center of the 2,500 acres that comprised the Bethania Town Lot and surrounded these residential lots with land segregated into orchard lots, bottom land lots, and upland lots. The town included houses, tradesman shops, a church, school, barns, and gardens. Now more than 250 years later, historic Bethania is the only example of a European style “open field” agricultural village remaining in North Carolina.

This Town Plan, and many of the historic Moravian-influenced buildings of Bethania, has been preserved to the present. An agricultural and trades community by design, Bethania exemplifies Old World planning and New World adaptation. Bethania's 500-acre Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has also received the highly-respected designation of National Historic Landmark.

A hazy view of Pilot Mountain on the road to Pinnacle, NC

The Town of Pinnacle, NC

The town was originally known as Culler, named for Emanuel W. Culler who owned the land on which a railroad station was built and served as the towns first mayor. The present name was adopted in 1894. Pinnacle was incorporated in 1901 but the charter was repealed in 1903.

The Town of Pilot Mountain

The Town of Pilot Mountain is home to Pilot Mountain State Park, which is a remnant of the ancient Sauratown Mountains. The Saura Indians who inhabited the area knew Pilot Mountain as Jomeokee, the "Pilot"or "Great Guide". The Cherokee Indians eventually drove the Saura Indians out of the area.

The Town of Pilot Mountain is best recognized as "Mt. Pilot" from the Andy Griffith show. Andy made numerous references to travel to this wonderful place the locals simply know as "Pilot".