So 5 Years ago, I traveled to Florida to see my mommy, in my “new to me” 2008 Aliner Classic. The trip down was a 2 day race to get down there, the trip back was a leisurely 5 day drive through mountains and historic places

.  One of those places was the Mortimer campground near the start of the Wilson Creek Recreational Area. I have been wanting to go back since I got to North Carolina.  We stopped up in the winter, but of course the campground was closed. When I heard it would open, I knew it would be one of the first camping trips I would be going to.  And it is such a great Site.  The actual campground in on the site of a long gone Civilian Conservation corps camp from 1930’s.  If you know where to look (behind the maintenance building) you can see the original HQ foundation and artifacts.  But Mortimer was originally a big loggers and manufacturers town. At one time is was thought it would be the country seat. Up the Beach Mountain Rd from the campground, you can find the remains of the factories and operations from Logging, milling, and manufacturers. (Some excerpts below from some old articles)

You can still see part of the boiler room and a few intact boilers from the old cotton mill in Mortimer if you know where to look. There’s also a white maintenance building built by the CCC during the 1930s, and some other CCC building foundations remain behind it. Mortimer, NC had been built rapidly to house workers for the Ritter Lumber Company, which had bought the land for timber in 1904. Ritter Lumber Company’s sawmill and a small textile mill provided jobs for the community’s 800 residents. Substantial logging took place between Wilson and Steel Creeks, and the trees were hauled to the mill via Ritter’s narrow gauge railroad, which followed Wilson Creek much of the way before ending in the village of Edgemont. The Hutton-Bourbannis Company operated various other narrow gauge logging railroad lines fanning out from Mortimer. There was a company store, a blacksmith’s shop, a church, a school, a hotel, and numerous houses. By 1906, the newly incorporated town even had a motion-picture facility and the Laurel Inn, which Teddy Roosevelt reportedly visited.

But the forest does not take kindly to those who destroy it, and in 1916 Appalachia exacted its elemental revenge. First, fire swept the slopes of Grandfather Mountain, the source of Wilson Creek. Then came the water. A devastating flood burst a dam upstream and took down houses, railroad bridges and the sawmill, bringing Ritter’s operations to an end. The company was gone within a year, leaving in its wake naked mountainsides and unemployment.

United Mills Company, a cotton mill, opened in 1922 and revitalized the town for a brief period. The Civilian Conservation Corps opened Camp F-5 at Mortimer during the Great Depression, and by 1933, had repaired many buildings damaged in the 1916 tribulations. In 1934, O.P. Lutz started a hosiery mill in the cotton mill buildings, but it never really succeeded. The Carolina & Northwestern Railway brought in mail every other day, but closed in 1938.

Then, on August 13, 1940, Wilson Creek jumped its banks again (this time prompted by a coastal hurricane.) The creek reached a flood stage of 94 feet and engulfed the town. This second flood, coming only 24 years after Mortimer’s first horrific experience, was enough to drive most remaining families from the area. Only three buildings survived, as the wall of water swept through the valley.

Betsey’s Ole Country Store, Owned by Bruce Gray, which serves as a grocery store, fishing tackle vendor, music venue, hot-dog cafe, cabin rental center and just about everything else a small town needs.  Alongside essential southern supplies such as buttermilk, cornmeal and grits, customers can buy “Where the hell is Mortimer?” bumper stickers.  Mortimer is the most remote accessed settlement on the East Coast, according to Gray. And no one will deliver stock for his store being so remote, just as communications companies refuse to put in any phone or cable lines. Instead Gray must make a weekly pilgrimage along the dirt roads to collect everything his store needs – a three- hour round trip.  The today the store serves the travelers and locals alike. Have Cheeseburger cookouts (just $4) and always hot dogs and sandwiches until the sun goes down or until it obvious everyone is gone.

In today’s trip to The Mortimer Campground there are a few newer signs warning about potential flooding, and not to try to leave the campground over the little bridge that crosses Thorpe Creek.  But there hasn’t been anything lately, and most of the campsites are a few feet up from the water line.  But the area certainly has a lot of great hiking trails, and wildlife. Wild Flowers, and natural garden greens if you know where to look.  And the fishing in Wilson creek is known to be world class, mostly because the fish are smart, and get to be big.  Or maybe its because they get a lot to eat from the numerous Kayakers working the rapids and spilling energy bars into the creek.

We again enjoyed our selves immensely, hiking, sitting around the campfire, and talking to the camera (ha ha). We met a guy there at the campground who had just got married Thursday, and he and his bride took their travel trailer and headed to Mortimer.  My kind of girl !!   There was a group fo about 8 young kids and at least 3 sets of parents playing around at the end of the campground in the “Group Campsite”.  And of course there was the birds and plants that just make me want to know their names and genus and species..LOL.  A throwback to my college days I suppose.  Well, so grab the marshmallows and come sit around the fire with me and let discuss where we are going tomorrow.  Whether on foot, Bike, Horse, or Boat.  I know we are heading for an adventure !!  So Don’t miss our Hiking Video either.  It has some really good items for the brave of heart.