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With
18,114 people, Watauga County's population appeared
to have peaked. 23.5% of the population, were rural,
non-farmers, while 76.5 percent were rural farmers.
Also, 270, or 1.5 percent, of the 18,114 were African
American. During the decade, like its neighbors, Watauga
saw a slight decline that reflected a balance between
departing veterans and a growing Appalachian State
Teachers College. |
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In
the 1940s, 2200 Wataugans entered service for WWII.
63 of those people did not survive the war. |
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Watauga's
ranking compared to the other 99 counties in N.C.
in 1940:
#98 in the state in the per pupil
cost of white rural schools;
#93 in rural school expenditures per child;
#48 in white rural school attendance;
#45 in white public schools' high school graduates;
#84 in illiterate white adult females;
#83 in illiterate white adult males;
#2 in white population;
#84 in supreme court prosecutions per 1000 population;
#76 in supreme court convictions per 1000 population;
#54 in deaths per 1000 population;
#5 in infant mortality rates;
#64 in inhabitants per doctor;
#46 in population per hospital bed;
#5 in percent of land area under cultivation;
#74 in increase/decrease of farms;
#5 in percentage of white farm owners;
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2696 farms, equal to 160,798 acres, existed in Watauga
County in 1940, making up 78.5% of the county. The
average size of each farm was 59.6 acres. |
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In January, 1940, a tobacco warehouse opened in Boone,
serving Watauga and adjoining counties that produced
burley tobacco. |
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420 acres of tobacco were produced in 1939. By 1945,
tobacco acreage had increased to 1150 with a value
of $643,500, with the county averaging 1560 pounds
per acre. By 1949, the Boone market for tobacco equaled
2250 thousand dollars. |
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In
1945, Watauga had:
11,749 people living on 2591 farms;
73,982 acres to pasture;
7684 acres of corn;
9649 acres of meadow;
3824 acres of small grain;
330 acres of wheat;
3215 acres of Irish potatoes (shrinking to
a mere 2500 acres in 1949);
1248 acres of snap beans;
996 acres of cabbage;
153 acres of various other vegetables;
2099 acres of orchard/other fruits;
12,944 cattle;
6406 sheep;
3408 hogs;
2086 horses/mules.
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That
same year, the value of all farm products equaled
$2,189,523. |
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In
1945, A. Grady Farthing (D) of Watauga was a U.S.
Senator. |
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In
1947, 124 Watauga County students attended ASU, with
148 attending the summer session. |
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In 1941, Blowing Rock had three hotels with a maximum
capacity of 475 patrons. The Mayview Manor was the
largest, able to accommodate 275 guests, with the
Green Park Inn and Blowing Rock Hotel able to house
100 guests apiece.
The
three hotels were open for three months a year,
from June 15 through September 15, with an average
grocery bill for all three averaging about $400-$500
per week.
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In 1940, Blowing Rock had 200 summer houses standing
empty in the winter due to the drop from 2500 residents
in summer to about 600 in the winter months. |
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Valle Crucis had between ten and twelve summer homes
in 1940. |
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According to The Economic Geography of Watauga County,
N.C. by Julian C. Yoder, summer homes in Boone in
1940 were "conspicuously absent." |
