Spruce Pine Facts

Located geographically between Mt. Mitchell and Grandfather Mountain, the two highest mountain peaks east of the Rockies, Spruce Pine lists among its assets the unsurpassed beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Spruce Pine, Mitchell County’s largest city of just over 2,000 people sits poised along the North Toe River.

Spruce Pine was once referred to as “The Kim Thickets”, after resident and axe handle and shovel maker Kim Mchone.  Traveling salesmen would come to Kim Thickets and try to reach the “ol’ spruce pine tree” beside The English Inn before nightfall.  Although the name of the town has changed to Spruce Pine, the “ol’ spruce pine tree” is still standing.

Chartered in 1913, Spruce Pine was built around the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railroad Depot.  When construction began on the railroad shortly after 1900, only one house stood where downtown Spruce Pine is today.  The town was literally built between a river and a mountainside.  Spruce Pine soon became the commercial center of the Toe River Valley.  Between 1918 and 1928 its population quadrupled.

One of the first industries in Spruce Pine was the Harris Clay & Mining Company.  Employees of Harris Clay got paid in scrip and used it to purchase goods in company stores.  Today, mining has proven to be the town’s economic mainstay.  You’d be hard pressed to find a geologist that has not heard of Spruce Pine.

Spruce Pine has a more concentrated area of feldspar than any other area on earth and accounts for 60% of the United States production of the mineral.  Feldspar is used in bathroom fixtures, ceramic tile, paint, dinnerware, electrical wiring devices, art ware (pottery and ceramics), fiberglass insulation, and glass containers from mayonnaise jars to Coke bottles.  Though you probably don’t realize it, if you live east of the Mississippi River, your home almost certainly contains a bit of Spruce Pine!  If you have ever lifted a drink bottle to your lips, you’ve touched a product of Spruce Pine.

About 100% of the United States and the world supply of ultra-pure quartz, which is used in the manufacture of fused quartz apparatus used in the production of semi-conductors, come from the Spruce Pine area.  If you have a computer you may rest assured the computer chips were manufactured from Spruce Pine quartz.

Spruce Pine offers the uniqueness of having not one but two main streets, Upper Street (Oak Avenue) and Lower Street (Locust Avenue).  The nicknames are appropriate given the respective altitudes.  The town offers many shops, stores, and dinning establishments.  The Town of Spruce Pine has 164 business licenses issued for businesses, from video rentals to investment brokers, inside the town’s corporate limits.

Home of the Mineral and Gem festival (early August), the Hillbilly Heritage Festival (October), the Hammerin’ by the Toe Blacksmith Jamboree (April), Toe River Story telling Festival (July) and spring and fall tours of art studios, Spruce Pine offers many attractions for visitors and residents alike.