Enjoy a fun activity in Banner Elk year-round thanks to an easily downloaded app.
The Historic Downtown Banner Elk Walking Tour showcases two dozen iconic buildings and points of interest along a 1.5-mile self-guided stroll through town.
Created by the Greater Banner Elk Heritage Foundation, the app gets people out of their cars to learn about locations that played a pivotal role in the formation of Banner Elk. The tour takes about 90 minutes, depending on walking speed, and folks are welcome skip a spot or two.
As you move about, the GPS-enabled app adjusts to your position and provides an overview of the nearest tour location. This includes a summary of the significance of that point of interest, along with a collection of vintage and modern-day photos for each stop.
The route begins and ends at the Banner House Museum, the 1870 home built by one of the town’s founders, Samuel Banner. Samuel and his wife, Jane, raised seven children in the home, which stayed in the Banner family until 1977. Slated for destruction in 2005, it was saved by the Greater Banner Elk Heritage Foundation and converted into a museum open seasonally from June through September.
From the museum, the app guides you across Hickory Nut Gap Road (be sure to watch for vehicle traffic) to the Mill Pond and the Cheese House, probably the structure in Banner Elk that people see the most and know the least about.
The Cheese House was built in 1917 by residents who owned stock in the “Shawneehaw Cheese Cooperative.” Quality, award-winning cheddar cheese was made there and shipped as far away as Atlanta, until the co-op closed during the Great Depression. What was the house used for in the next nearly 100 years? Take the tour to find out.
Other stops along the route include the Clinchfield Caboose #1024, Historic Banner Elk School, 1910 Old Town Hall and Jail (now an art gallery), 1928 Village Grocery, which most people know as the Chamber of Commerce, and the 1920 R.O. Banner General Store and Tea Room, home nowadays to BJ’s Resort Wear boutique.
From Main Street, the walking tour veers into “Old Banner Elk” on the campus of Lees-McRae College. Learn which dormitory began its life as a hospital, the history of the Banner Elk Hotel, where the town’s first Ford dealership was located, and see the original Methodist Church that was attached to the dealership and later moved to its current spot.
The walk back to the Banner House Museum allows you to meander along Banner Road, once the only access road into Banner Elk, and learn about the 1912 Mill Pond Dam and how it helped provide hydroelectric power in the early days of the town.
If the Banner House Museum is open after your self-guided history walk, be sure to head inside for a docent-led tour. You’ll learn all kinds of things about the town’s formative years, including how Banner Elk got its unusual name:
“Five Banner brothers settled here from Surry County (NC),” says Meredith Olan, Executive Director of the Greater Banner Elk Heritage Foundation. “When the 1860 Census was taken, the Banner family had grown to more than 30 men and 20 women. Soon people began referring to the area as ‘where the Banners live on the Elk River’ or ‘Banner’s Elk.’ ’’
To download or learn more about the Historic Downtown Banner Elk Walking Tour app, click here.
Folks may also opt to pick up a walking tour brochure on the front porch of the museum. The Banner House Museum is located at 7990 Hickory Nut Gap Road, Banner Elk, NC 28604. For info, call 828-898-3634.
— Historical images in this post are courtesy of the Greater Banner Elk Heritage Foundation