Valle Crucis & Banner Elk's History

     The Valle Crucis Church had its beginning in the year 1881 with eleven charter members. The members were mountain pioneers of mostly Scotch-Irish descent whose ancestors immigrated to America for land and a better way of life. According to Ruby Demyen, who attended the Valle Crucis Church form 1919-1928, new Bible truths reached the mountains in the late 1870’s from literature sent by a lady from New York.

     After reading the literature and studying their Bibles, they became agitated when their own church pastors could not give them a satisfactory answer about the Bible day of worship and sent to New York for help. Their request for help was received and Pastor C.O Taylor was dispatched to the area in 1876 and conducted a series of evangelistic meetings at Shulls Mills, six miles from Valle Crucis. In 1879, a church was organized at Schulls Mills, Watauga County, known as the Watauga Church. Then on May 15, 1881, Bethel Church was formed in the home of Larkin Townsend with eleven charter members. In 1882 the members decided to build a new church on donated land across Dutch Creek – the name of the church was later changed to Dutch Creek. The original church was only 64x14 feet and is believed to have been the first Seventh-Day Adventist Church building in the southern United Stated.

     After worshipping in the Dutch Creek Church for 30 years, by the year 1912 the congregation had grown and there was a decision to build two new churches in place of it – one in Banner Elk and a new one on Clark’s Creek near Valle Crucis. The church members living in Banner Elk built their church on a beautiful, level, beech tree-shaded lot on the road between Banner Elk and Balm (now Route 194). In 1929 the first Banner Elk Church building was sold and a building more centrally located between the members in Norwood Hollow and the members in Banner Elk was built on the site of the present day Banner Elk Church. The old church is now a remodeled two-story bed and breakfast establishment in Banner Elk’s prosperous downtown business section. The church members on the Clark’s Creek side of the ridge left their beloved little church on Dutch Creek to build a church on Clark’s Creek just over the steep ridge from Dutch Creek and about a mile above Valle Crucis. The original church on Dutch Creek was bandoned and in 1940 a disastrous mountain flood completely washed away the old building. Not one splinter of wood or stone was left to mark the site where it had stood by the creek.

Excerpts were taken from Ruby Demyen’s book:

Ruby Clark Demyen (2003). First Valle Crucis: Seventh-day Adventist Church and Church School and other mountain stories. Brushton, New York: TEACH Services, Inc..

History of New Life Fellowship of Boone

Coming Soon!