Authentically Alleghany

08/27/2026

Also the Alleghany County Chamber posted this link!

https://square.link/u/wuMk9dhu

08/27/2026

As a new school year begins, we’ve said farewell to many of our wonderful student staff members who returned to college and high school.

With our smaller team, we are updating our hours to 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday through Sunday. We will be closed Monday through Thursday. We hope to see you soon at Doughton Park!

08/25/2026

08/25/2026

Donate what you can to the victims of this horrific overnight fire in our beautiful Downtown Sparta! 

***An Update on the Sparta Fire Victims***

We want to extend our heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who has so generously donated to help the families affected by the recent fire at 15–13 N. Main Street in Sparta. Your kindness and support have been overwhelming, and every donation has made a difference. ❤️

At this time, they have received many of the clothing, shoes, and bedding items they need. Moving forward, the greatest need is monetary donations and gift cards.

These gifts will allow the families to purchase the specific items they need as they begin rebuilding, such as toiletries, food, kitchen supplies, household necessities, and other personal items.

If you would like to continue supporting the fire victims, monetary donations and gift cards are greatly appreciated. Thank you for helping our community come together and support our neighbors during such a difficult time. Your generosity truly shows the heart of Sparta and Alleghany County. ❤️

Here is a link to send a donation online: https://square.link/u/wuMk9dhu
Thank you for continuing to give, care, and support our community.

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Help Our Neighbors in Need

The Alleghany County Chamber of Commerce is accepting donations to assist those affected by the recent fire at 15–13 N. Main Street in Sparta.

If you would like to help, we are accepting monetary donations, clothing, shoes, books, and bedding.

Every donation, big or small, can make a meaningful difference as these individuals begin to recover and rebuild.

If you are able to donate, please bring your items to the Alleghany County Chamber of Commerce. Monetary donations are also gratefully accepted.

Thank you to our caring community for coming together to support our neighbors during this difficult time.

08/25/2026

FYI! Alleghany CARES. 💚🩵💛

08/25/2026

Thinking about our beautiful Downtown Sparta today!

08/22/2026

According to Blue Ridge Country's "Best of the Mountains" Reader's Choice, the Blue Ridge Mountain Heritage Festival won the Platinum Awards for Best Arts & Craft Festival and Best Heritage Festival right here in Sparta, NC. Come see for yourself on September 19- better yet, sign up today to fill one of the few remaining vendor spots! Applications available at blueridgemountainheritagefestival.com

08/20/2026

Ancient waters 👌🏽🩵💚💛

North Carolina has a river that runs the wrong way, is older than the mountains it cuts through, and was very nearly drowned in the 1970s. 🌊

The New River rises in Watauga and Ashe counties and flows north, up through Alleghany and into Virginia, which surprises people who grew up assuming water in this state heads for the coast. Geologists call it an antecedent stream. It was already there, running in its bed, when the land underneath it began rising, and it simply cut down through the rock as fast as the mountains came up. The name is one of the great misnomers in American geography.

In the early 1970s a power company proposed a pumped storage project that would have put dams on it and flooded roughly twenty six miles of the valley, farms and churchyards and all. Ashe County families who had worked that bottomland for generations organized against it, and the fight went all the way to Washington. 🚜

In 1976 a stretch of the New was added to the national wild and scenic rivers system and the project died. Drive up there on a summer morning and it looks like nothing ever threatened it, which is what winning quietly tends to look like.

08/16/2026

08/16/2026

Ice Rock is putting on a little summer show. 💦✨

In August, the waterfalls spill and swirl through the rocks, creating a steamy, misty wonderland along the Parkway.

Take a slow drive, roll down the windows and enjoy the sights and sounds!