Driving Tour of Madison County North Carolina
Wind your way through Madison County passing sites of historical, architectural, cultural, and natural interest. Of historical interest are the Civil War sites indicated by historical markers in the towns of Hot Springs and Marshall. This driving tour also takes you past the 1906 County Courthouse in Marshall designed by the head architect of the Biltmore House in Asheville, Richard Sharp Smith. Other sites of architectural interest are a WPA-built school which has been renovated and is now a local Community Center as well as an old school that is now the home to artists’ studios. The drive highlights Madison County’s role in traditional music culture as you pass the home of one of the ballad singers–Jane Gentry–who provided many of the songs for Cecil Sharpe’s 1916 collection of traditional ballads.
The whole tour is a snapshot of the natural treasures that make Madison County one of the most beautiful in the southeast as you drive along the French Broad River, under (and even–for a while– on) the Appalachian Trail, and through the country roads of the Pisgah National Forest.
Download Driving Tour Brochure
