Watauga County, North Carolina Genealogy

United States   North Carolina    Watauga County

History
The area that became Watauga and Ashe counties was part of Anson County during the early period; part of Rowan County in 1753, Surry County in 1771, Wilkes County in 1777 and was briefly part of the State of Franklin from 1784-89. After Franklin it was claimed as part of Washington County (part of the Southwest Territory, and later Tennessee) until it was annexed back by North Carolina into Wilkes County again in 1792. Ashe was incorporated as a separate entity by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1799. North Carolina erected Watauga County primarily from Ashe County in 1849.

Parent County
1849--Watauga County was created from Ashe, Caldwell,Wilkes, and Yancey Counties. County seat: Boone

County histories are available such as:


 * A History of Watauga County, North Carolina : with sketches of prominent families by John Preston Arthur (1915)

Record Loss
1873--Courthouse fire destroyed all of the land records and most of the court records.

Neighboring Counties

 * Ashe
 * Avery
 * Caldwell
 * Johnson County, Tennessee
 * Wilkes

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Howard's Chapel

Yearbooks

 * Appalachian State University: 1923-2006
 * Watauga County students at NC colleges - via the NCGenWeb Yearbook Index

Web Sites

 * NCGenWeb: Watauga County - free genealogy resources; part of the national USGenWeb Project