Newland North Carolina

Newland is a town in Avery County, North Carolina. The population was 715 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Avery County.

Before its founding, the area was known as “Old Fields of Toe”. It was an early muster ground in the campaign against Indians and before the Battle of Kings Mountain. On November 9, 1783, the land was granted to Colonel Waightstill Avery.

The name comes from the legend of Estatoe, pronounced ‘S – ta – toe’, about an Indian chief’s daughter who fell in love with a warrior of a rival tribe. Because their love could never be accepted by either’s family, they jumped from a precipice into the depths of a nearby river. In an alternative version, their love caused a bloody war between the tribes, and Estatoe crafted a peace pipe with two stems in which both chiefs could smoke at once. The two rival chiefs assembled their respective followers on the bank of the river and smoked till peace was concluded and Estatoe married her lover.

In 1899, the Linville River Railway (LRR) began rail service in the area, with a flag stop at “Old Fields”. In 1911, upon the establishment of Avery County, Old Fields of Toe was designated as the site for the county seat and was renamed Newland, after North Carolina Lieutenant Governor William C. Newland. In 1912, the Newland Post Office was established; while in 1913, the Avery County Courthouse and Avery County Jail opened (both on the National Register of Historic Places). In that same year, Newland was incorporated as a town. In 1914, the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC), the successor of the LRR, opened the Newland Depot, which was equipped with telephone and telegraph services; burned down in 1921, but was soon rebuilt and continued operations until 1940.

At an elevation of 3,621 feet, it is the highest county seat in the Eastern United States (based on elevations in the USGS database).