Watauga County USA is a multimedia exploration of an Appalachian county located western North Carolina. Our goals for this project are:
1) To provide historical documentation of the people and places of this Appalachian county at this point in time.
2) To move the understanding of Appalachia beyond the traditional stereotypes of coal mining, poverty, and isolation.
3) To contribute to a more nuanced and complex representation of Appalachia by allowing the people of this county to share their stories. We have developed this project to provide a platform for their voices and perspectives of this Appalachian county and region.
Two of the largest employers in Watauga County are Appalachian State University, a public university within the the University of North Carolina system, and Samaritan's Purse, Franklin Graham's evangelical Christian relief organization.
The beauty of the High Country makes Watauga County popular with those who seek a vacation home in the mountains – and yet it also has a high poverty rate as well.
More than 55,000 people call this county home.