West Jefferson is located in the northwest corner of North Carolina, a land once known for its cherry orchards. In 1779, Col. Benjamin Cleveland, a hero of the Battle of King's Mountain, received a grant for 320 acres in a mountain valley in return for his service during the Revolutionary War. In 1912, the Virginia-Carolina Railroad became interested in the area's timber, farming, and mining resources and began building a railroad into Ashe County, ending at Todd. When the railroad came, the area was already populated by farms and businesses, as it was only two miles from the county seat of...

West Jefferson did not exist until local entrepreneurs saw an opportunity to run the tracks from Whitetop Mountain in Virginia to North Carolina. In 1914, the Virginia Carolina Railroad came to Ashe County. Virgin timber grew in the mountains, luring the Hassenger Lumber Company into the area. Small sawmills and lumbering operations were located "up every holler," so the tracks were expanded into Elkland, known today as Todd. Until 1933, the train ran daily into the county, and communities such as Nella, Tuckerdale, Camrose, Bowie, Lansing, Warrensville, Berlin, and West Jefferson grew up...