Mount Mitchell: Jewel of the Black Mountains

The picture shown below is of the Observation Deck at the summit of Mount Mitchell, North Carolina. As the sign states, the peak stands at 6,684 feet and is the highest peak east of the Mississippi. The view is breathtaking as you gaze out over the Black Mountains, so named because of the dark native spruce and fir that cover the peaks. To the left of the sign is the corner of the final resting place of professor Dr. Elisha Mitchell who died in 1857. To the right of the sign is an outcropping of rock that wouldn't warrant a second glance by the average visitor. However the story of Mount Mitchell, the man who gave it its name, and the origin of its rocks is one of the most fascinating tales of North Carolina.

Image source and more information at: Mt Mitchell
https://maps.app.goo.gl/XzGmopQTjmRKaDwC8?g_st=ic

The story of the mountain begins a billion years ago, with deep sedimentary layers forming in a primordial ocean. About 360 million years ago, the ocean narrows and finally closes, caught between the collision of ancestral North America and ancestral Africa. 250 million years ago, where the two continents meet, a mighty mountain chain rose, the ancient Appalachians that may have rivaled the Himalayas in ruggedness and height. The force and pressure of the collision change the sedimentary rocks, aligning the grains into parallel orientation within them and forming the distinctive metamorphic "foliated" texture of gneiss and schist. 200 million years ago, the continents pull apart again allowing intrusion of igneous rock into the area that would some day be the Black Mountains. Over the millenia, wind, water and other forces wear down the pinnacles to their rounded and shorter profile of today. Only the erosion-resistant igneous and metamorphic rocks allowed Mount Mitchell to retain some of its dramatic height of 6,684 feet.

More on the formation of the Black Mountains here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mountains_(North_Carolina)#Geology

Dr. Elisha Mitchell began teaching at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1818 and by 1825 was teaching courses in chemistry, geology, and mineralogy. He was also given a great task by the Governor to survey the mountains for a possible road to encourage trade, increase travel, and connect the eastern and western sections of the state. As part of his survey work, he first saw the Black Mountains in 1827 and commented even then that they seemed higher than Mount Washington in New Hampshire - then regarded as the highest peak in the region. In an 1829 geologic report he wrote that he felt the Blacks had the highest peaks. To measure the height of the mountains, Mitchell used barometric equipment in an 1835 trip up the mountain and returned again with improved equipment in 1844 and measured the highest peak at 6,672 feet - a mere twelve feet under modern calculations. Some contention arose between Mitchell and a former student who claimed Mitchell was wrong. In 1857, at the age of 63 Mitchell set off to make a last measurement of the mountain. His body was later found at the bottom of a waterfall where he had slipped and drowned. He was buried on top of the mountain that later came to bear his name. In 1881-1882 the U.S. Geological Survey upheld Mitchell’s measurement of the highest peak on the Black Mountain Range and officially named it after him.

More on Dr. Elisha Mitchell and his mountain here: https://fhsarchives.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/mt-mitchell-where-mystery-intrigue-and-forest-history-meet/
And here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Mitchell

Today Mount Mitchell is part of Mount Mitchell State Park formed in 1915. A beautiful observation deck is built next to Dr. Mitchell's burial site that allows visitors to drink in the glorious views of the other mountain in the Park, and a museum provides information on the heritage and history of the area. Many great trails and campgrounds allow visitors to get a close up look at the wildlife, forests and geology and to enjoy the beauty of the jewel of the Black Mountains.

More on : https://www.nps.gov/places/mount-mitchell.htm

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