Flat Rock, North Carolina: “Tucked Away In The Mountains”

Isolated in an area rich with granite and foliage, Flat Rock basks in the Southern sun while cooling off as the wind breezes by the Appalachian Mountain tops and onto the grassy meadows. Flat Rock’s location orients itself in the Western-most part of North Carolina, just shy of the South Carolina border. Geological composition of Flat Rock was discovered to be granite rock, which can still be found being used in the buildings that make up the village. Over the years since its development, Flat Rock has remained a pristine historical area of close-knit relationships and generations of residence. Flat Rock has gone through various shades of importance and development; beginning as a point of destination for American Indians in the 18th century, later a getaway for wealthy South Carolinians, then quickly it sprawled into development and business, and now rests comfortably being cushioned by the surrounding mountains but rapidly approaching questions of environmental responsibility. Within the encompassing aspects of history, geography, and environmentalism, Flat Rock remains quaint but strong.
In the wake of the 18th century Flat Rock was a well-known gathering location of American Indian tribes such as the Cherokee and Catawba, spanning from the areas of North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. Deerskin trade between colonial settlers and tribes paved its way through time and opened up recognition of what was known as the “flat rock.” In the literal sense, this trade tradition marked the decision to pave a road known then as, the old Saluda Indian Path, and today as Old State Road; “the path of the road went through Green River community and Zirconia to the ‘flat rock.’ A branch of this early Indian path then cont...

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... locally owned restaurants, Apple festivals and historic homes. The natural environment and landscape of Flat Rock is a perfect example of what it means to live within nature. Trees dazzled in photosynthesized leaves, mountains reaching towards the clouds, and an aroma of Earth bring together all of the defining aspects of Flat Rock, which make it a place of peaceful tranquility.
The early settlers of Flat Rock envisioned a place for summer relief and relaxation, but were quickly enchanted by the sheer beauty and originality of the land, that growth and permanency were inevitable. Flat Rock is not only a place of personal desire, but it is a place that I am fortunate enough to call home. In a house that sits atop a mountain overlooking the town of Flat Rock and mountain ranges beyond, lives my family and as the years pass by our connection to the land only grows.