Last Updated on August 20, 2024 2:40 pm
SPRUCE PINE, NC – The Blue Ridge Parkway is hosting the 33rd annual Overmountain Victory Celebration on the grounds of the Museum of North Carolina Minerals, milepost 331, on September 12 to 14, 2024. This living history encampment celebrates the Overmountain Men who crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains on their way to a battle with British forces at Kings Mountain that turned the tide of the Revolutionary War in favor of the forces for Independence.
Local school and home school groups are invited to attend the event on Thursday, September 12, or Friday, September 13, by reservation. Participating students will interact with park staff and re-enactors at over 15 stations featuring elements of colonial life and the story of the Overmountain Men. The school group days open at 9:30 a.m., allow students approximately 25-minutes at the various stations, and conclude by 2:30 p.m. each day. To make a reservation for a school group, email blri_info@nps.gov.
On Saturday, September 14, the encampment is open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Guests are invited to stroll through the encampment taking part in various demonstrations and visiting with re-enactors to learn what life was like during the colonial era.
In the fall of 1780, during the Revolutionary War, the American fight for independence was struggling. British Major Patrick Ferguson demanded allegiance to the King of England from the people living in the Carolina backcountry and the Appalachians. Referred to as the Overmountain area, these settlements were west of, or “over” the Appalachian Mountains. At that time, this was the boundary dividing the thirteen American colonies from the western frontier. The Overmountain area included parts of North Carolina, Virginia, and what is now Tennessee.
More information about the Overmountain Victory Celebration is available on the Blue Ridge Parkway’s website at https://www.nps.gov/blri/learn/historyculture/overmountain-men.htm
