A Visit to Mount Airy, NC

Floyd Allen

Smallwander.com stopped by Mt. Airy on March 13 for a brief visit. Members of the team hit all the hotspots suggested by the Visitor’s Center. You of course know that Andy Griffith grew up in Mt. Airy, so we checked out The Andy Griffith Collection located at The Andy Griffith Playhouse. Be sure to eat at Snappy Lunch, the only true Mount Airy establishment mentioned on the Andy Griffith show.

I personally appreciated the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History, where I learned about the Hillsville Massacre. Unbelievable. If you do anything, stand in the top floor of that museum and read a copy of the original newspaper article about this courtroom shootout in 1912 in nearby Hillsville, which left the entire law dead in the county. But, it really is more of a family-friendly place. Learn about the amazing Eng and Chang, the original Siamese twins.

And, make sure you visit the largest open-face granite quarry on the planet, the North Carolina Granite Corporation. I’m really just scratching the surface here.