Where is Little Switzerland?
by Sally Meeting, Kennett Square, PA
I have heard people describe Little Switzerland as a
state of mind. Most who come to believe this fight
to spend leisure time or live in this special place
at least part of every year.
There are also folks who come to Little Switzerland
but don’t find it. It’s not always clear what they
expected to find, and possible that whatever it is
might never be found.
The roads, admittedly, are confusing to the
uninitiated. The correct paths from the Parkway to
Downtown Little Switzerland or back again could
justifiably be called bizarre.
Even more puzzling, though, are the folks who find
themselves at Geneva Hall, the Switzerland Cafe,
Ridge Road, or the post office muttering “Is this
it?”
Didn’t they think they would find spectacular
mountain scenery? Beautiful lodges and quaint,
curious cabins and houses nestled hidden in hollows
and on ridges? People with time to say hello...
Giant butterflies flying allegro up and down
hillsides? Squadrons of humming birds executing back
porch feeder raids? Wild orchids, blueberries,
blackberries, bears, trout, to say nothing of the
spectacular feasts of rhododendron and azaleas in
season?
Visitors who don’t “see” Little Switzerland should
keep on searching for their Shangri-la. Perhaps if
lucky, they might find themselves back on this
mountaintop another day when the fog has lifted.
Things could look different next time around.
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Little Switzerland? Where’s That?
By Delphia Lamberson
The first question we usually hear is, “Pardon me,
‘Where is Little Switzerland?’” We are asked this
question so often that it has become an ongoing
source of amusement.
We answer, “You are standing in it.”
People hear this and sometimes get a little angry.
“You mean we’ve come all that way for this?”
“You are lucky that you found us! This village is
known in nearby towns as ‘Brigadoon’ because it is
so often lost in the fog.”
“There isn’t much to it, is there?”
“That’s why we call it Little Switzerland!
“Well, what do you do all day in a place like this?”
“Nothin’.”
“How can you stand it, living here?”
“We love it! Lots of rain. Lots of fog. Lots of
interesting, close friends. No golf course.”
Ours is a mountaintop settlement, older than the
Blue Ridge Parkway by some 30 years. There is the
old road (NC 226A) which meanders up the mountain
along Armstrong Creek, and the new road (NC 226),
which climbs up beside Coxes’ Creek. These roads
separate at the bottom of the mountain and then,
some 12 miles up, they come together again, at the
Little Switzerland Post Office. The Switzerland
Store (circa 1926) is right across the road from the
Little Switzerland Post Office.
Several years back, Harold McKinney was spending a
lot of time sitting on the waitin’ bench outside The
Switzerland Store. When cars stopped and tourists
asked him, “Where is Little Switzerland?” he would
direct them to proceed down the mountain the way
they were headed on 226A until they reached the
bottom, then turn left on the first paved road they
came to, which would be NC 226. They could follow
the signs up to Little Switzerland.
“You can imagine the looks on their carsick faces
when, about 45 minutes later, they’d roll by again,
crank down their window to ask directions, and
recognize me still settin’ here!” |
