Spruce Pine in Mitchell County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Spruce Pine Store Company
Photographed by Mark Parker, September 28, 2025
1. Spruce Pine Store Company Marker
is listed in the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
Erected by United States Department of the Interior.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Notable Buildings. A significant historical year for this entry is 1923.
Location. 35° 54.956′ N, 82° 4.179′ W. Marker is in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, in Mitchell County. It is at the intersection of Locust Street and Crystal Street, on the left when traveling east on Locust Street. The marker is attached to the brick post at the far right corner of the storefront building. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 171 Locust St, Spruce Pine NC 28777, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s and he Mountains in the High Country. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Crystal Palace (a few steps from this marker); Near This Point (a few steps from this marker); Penland School (approx. 3.1 miles away); Sounds From the Mountains (approx. 3.8 miles away); The Loops (approx. 3.8 miles away); First Mountain Parkway (approx. 4 miles away); Gillespie Gap (approx. 4.4 miles away); "The Blackwater Men Had Come Over the Mountain" (approx. 4.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Spruce Pine.
More about
this page online
Regarding Spruce Pine Store Company. Excerpt from the Downtown Spruce Pine Historic District Nomination Form #03000855 (page 9):
The Spruce Pine Store Company was one of two general stores in town (the other was Burleson's Store), serving as a retail store for a large rural population in other parts of the county as well. The original wood frame Spruce Pine Store Company building was built in the same location as the present building in 1910, by C. J. Harris, founder of Harris Clay Company. In the late 1910s the store was located in part of the Burleson Store, and in 1923 this large brick building replaced the old store on the same site. The Spruce Pine Store Company stayed open during the Depression and did business on credit. The building remained in use as a general store until the Belk-Broome Company remodeled the building and occupied it beginning October 15, 1955.
Also see . . . Downtown Spruce Pine Historic District Nomination Form (pdf). Form prepared by Sybil Arqintar Bowers, Preseryation Planning Consultant,
Photographed by Mark Parker, September 28, 2025
2. Spruce Pine Store Company building. Marker is at the far right corner
Credits. This page was last revised on October 2, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 1, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 54 times since then and 11 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 1, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
