West Jefferson is a historical small town nestled within the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains of northwest North Carolina. Established in 1915, West Jefferson has always held on to its small town appeal. Many businesses located in the Town have always remained local and have help build what West Jefferson is today. Listed on the National Register of Historical Places, West Jefferson gives visitors a sense of history as well as a mix of modern culture.

For many decades West Jefferson was served by the Northwestern Railroad, better known as the “Virginia Creeper”. The railroad was the primary reason for the creation of West Jefferson, as the town became a major stop on the railway. The railroad carried mostly freight, which brought West Jefferson’s initial commercial growth. Soon, land offices, lumber companies, banks and other businesses catering to rail traffic were all aiming for space beside the tracks.

Beginning in 2012, several streetscape design projects aimed to make the downtown a more walkable, aesthetically pleasing community with the replacement of stop lights with 4-way stop sign intersections, curb extensions for pedestrian safety, landscaping, benches and decorative streetlamps. Downtown West Jefferson has won several awards for their street enhancement efforts and the Town continues to improve its downtown with another phase of streetscape in the works.

2015 marks a big year for the Town of West Jefferson as we celebrate our centennial! A centennial committee has been formed and several events are planned throughout 2015 celebrating our 100 year anniversary. Some planned events include a West Jefferson Land Company descendant celebration, all-day checkers tournament, an official 100th birthday event, a reunion party welcoming everyone “home to West Jefferson” and much more! Also, a book has already been published and is for sale by the Ashe County Historical Society entitled “Images of America: West Jefferson” which shows the Town from its beginning all the way up to present day with stories included! Centennial bricks are also for sale which are century-old bricks taken from West Jefferson’s oldest building, The Old Hotel. A 30 minute DVD has also been produced by Germain Media entitled West Jefferson Centennial: A History of our Town.