Past Events
Each year the Highlands Historical Society offers a variety of programs related to Highlands history. This is an archive of those events.
Dahlia Patron’s Party - an “Elevated” Woodstock
ugust 27, 2024 | 5-8pmSeason Opening Celebration
Join the Highlands Historical Society for the opening of the museum for the season from 11:00 - 1:00 on Saturday, May 25th. Music will be performed by Laney and Bishop. Free hot dogs, chips and beverages will be available while they last. Come explore all of our exhibits and tour the Prince House - Highlands’ oldest standing residence.
13th Annual Dahlia Festival: Single Bloom Competition
Flowers will be accepted at the Bascom Saturday September 9th from 8:00-10:00. The registration fee is $20 for up to 8 blooms. Upon arrival there will be volunteers to assist you. Enter your blooms, and you could win “Best of Show.”
13th Annual Dahlia Festival
Dahlias and native plants, arranged attractively at historical sites around town.
View Information about the Festival
Big Hats and Bow Ties 2023
A Walk in The Park
Highlands Historical Society will present A WALK IN THE PARK again this year.
After an almost 20-year break, the Historical Society will once again tell the history of Highlands thru the voices of her long past founders and town members. The walk will be thru the Memorial Park Cemetery on Friday, July 14th and Saturday, July 15th beginning at 4 pm. Visitors will meet buses at the Community Building and travel to the Park where they will be met by 11 actors telling stories of early Highlands. Come and hear the stories of Joe Webb, Samuel Kelsesy, Mary Lapham, Charlie and Helen Wright and Helen McKinney Thompson. Some of the actors are actually descendants of the people portrayed that helped to shape Highlands.
Tickets are $15.00 for adults, and children under the age of 12 are free.
Tickets can be purchased at the Highlands Historical Society Museum on 4th Street Thursdays-Saturdays 10-4 pm. Vans will take visitors to the Park. No private vehicles will be allowed in the Park during the presentations. Parking is at the Community Building In case of rain, all presentations will be in the Community Building.
12th Annual Dahlia Festival
Dahlias and native plants arranged attractively at historical sites around town.
Kelsey Kids (Ages 11-13)
A Day Camp for children (Ages 11-13)
Learning & experiencing Highlands history and life in the late 19th century.
For more information please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
[download application for June 27-July 1]
Kelsey Kids (Ages 8-10)
A Day Camp for children (Ages 8-10 )
Learning & experiencing Highlands history and life in the late 19th century.
For more information please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
[download application for June 20-24]
11th Annual Dahlia Festival
Dahlias and native plants arranged attractively at historical sites around town.
10th Annual Dahlia Festival
Dahlias and native plants will be arranged attractively at historical sites around town.
9th Annual Dahlia Festival
Highlands Civic Center
Dahlias and native plants will be arranged attractively at historical sites around town
Social Event of the Season on Kettle Rock Mountain
Kelsey Kids
A Day Camp for children (8–11 years)
Learning & experiencing Highlands history and life in the late 19th century.
https://www.highlandshistory.com/past-events#sigProId3fe40f2f5b
Dulcimers, Denim, & Dedication
"Dulcimers, Denim, & Dedication" (Dedication of the Prince House National Register Plaque folowed by the Dahlia Patron Party) at the Highlands Historic Village.
Open House for the Prince House: 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
National Register Dedication: 5:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Patron Party: 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
8th Annual Dahlia Festival
Highlands Civic Center
In September of 2011 the Historical Society staged its first Dahlia Festival. This fundraiser has evolved into a very popular annual event, where amateur and professional dahlia enthusiasts compete on an equal basis to celebrate the beauty and enjoyment of these gorgeous flowers that grow so well in our beautiful mountains.
All dahlia aficionados are urged to join in the competition. Prizes will be presented in multiple categories. Don’t be concerned; this is not a serious competition. Come and bring your blooms to share with other dahlia lovers.
Party at Old Howell Barn
"Party at Old Howell Barn," a quaint 80-year-old stone barn is the setting for a Highlands pulled pork BBQ dinner complete with all the fixin’s and full array of beverages at Highlands Country Club home of Frances and Obie Oakley
The Vittles of Summer 2017: Big Hats, Flapjacks & Bloody Marys
Big Hats, Flapjacks & Bloody Marys, will be held on Kettle Rock with dialogue about Annie Lynn Sullivan, who used to host the same Sunday Brunches many years ago.
Kelsey Kids (9am-3pm)
A Day Camp for children (8–11 years)
Learning & experiencing Highlands history and life in the late 19th century
6th Annual Dahlia Festival
Dazzling Dahlias!
Amateur - Professional
All dahlia enthusiasts are urged to join in the competition. Prizes will be presented in multiple categories. Don’t be concerned; this is not a serious competition. It is to celebrate the beauty and enjoyment of these gorgeous flowers that grow so well in our beautiful mountains. Come and bring your blooms to share with other dahlia lovers.
Patron Party
Thursday, September 8 @ 6:30 pm
Highlands Falls Country Club
Founders Park Day
Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park
Corner of 5th and Pine streets
Kelsey Kids (9am-3pm)
A Day Camp for children (8–11 years)
Learning & experiencing Highlands history and life in the late 19th century
Open House
Visit the Historical Museum, Prince House, & Bug Hill.
Listen to the old-time and bluegrass music of the WellStrung Band.
Enjoy light refreshments & companionship.
5th Annual Dahlia Festival
Dazzling Dahlias!
Amateur - Proffesional
All dahlia enthusiasts are urged to join in the competition. Prizes will be presented in multiple categories. Don’t be concerned; this is not a serious competition. It is to celebrate the beauty and enjoyment of these gorgeous flowers that grow so well in our beautiful mountains. Come and bring your blooms to share with other dahlia lovers.
Patron Party on Thursday, September 10 @ 6:30pm
Kelsey Kids (9am-3pm)
A Day Camp for children (8–11 years)
Learning & experiencing Highlands history and life in the late 19th century
SPECIAL EXHIBIT A Botanical History of the Highlands Plateau: In the Footsteps of the Ancients
In the Footsteps of the Ancients Created by the Land Stewards of the Highlands Plateau in collaboration with the Highlands Historical Society, this exhibit is open for viewing June through October.
Highlands Historical Museum in the Highlands Historic Village
Fridays & Saturdays
10:00 - 4:00
Dedication of the Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park
Dedication of the Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park
Corner of 5th and Pine Streets
4th Annual Dahlia Festival
Dazzling Dahlias!
Amateur - Professional
Highlands Recreation Center
All dahlia enthusiasts are urged to join in the competition. Prizes will be presented in multiple categories. Don’t be concerned; this is not a serious competition. It is to celebrate the beauty and enjoyment of these gorgeous flowers that grow so well in our beautiful mountains. Come and bring your blooms to share with other dahlia lovers.
Kelsey Kids (9am-3pm)
A Day Camp for children (8–11 years)
Learning & experiencing Highlands history and life in the late 19th century
SPECIAL EXHIBIT A Botanical History of the Highlands Plateau: In the Footsteps of the Ancients
Created by the Land Stewards of the Highlands Plateau in collaboration with the Highlands Historical Society this exhibit is open for viewing June through October.
Highlands Historical Museum in the Highlands Historic Village
Fridays & Saturdays
10:00 - 4:00
3rd Annual Dahlia Festival
Dazzling Dahlias!
Amateur - Professional
All dahlia enthusiasts are urged to join in the competition. Prizes will be presented in multiple categories. Don’t be concerned; this is not a serious competition. It is to celebrate the beauty and enjoyment of these gorgeous flowers that grow so well in our beautiful mountains. Come and bring your blooms to share with other dahlia lovers.
The Mystery of George Masa Solved
A celebration of 100 photographs by George Masa on display in the Frank Cook Gallery at the Highlands Historical Museum. Audio-visual presentation by Dr. Ran Shaffner.
Kelsey Kids (9am-3pm)
A Day Camp for children (8–11 years)
Learning & experiencing Highlands history and life in the late 19th century
Indian Cultural Heritage Talks
"In the Presence of the Elders"
Don Wells, President of the Mountain Stewards, will give two talks about (1) Indian Trail Trees and (2) Native American Culture, Spirituality, and Wisdom.
6 - 7:15pm
Reception for the Restoration of Dr. Mary Lapham's Dress
Dedication of the N.C. Highway Historical Marker Honoring André Michaux
The French botanist André Michaux made his first foray into North Carolina and the North American wilderness when he camped near modern Highlands on June 15, 1787.
West Main Street (US 64/NC 28)
Reception afterwards at Highlands Historic Village
Highlands Arts & Craft Show
Business After Hours
2nd Annual Dahlia Festival
Highlands Recreation Center
Amateur - Hobbyist
All dahlia enthusiasts are urged to join in the competition. Prizes will be presented in multiple categories. Don’t be concerned; this is not a serious competition. It is to celebrate the beauty and enjoyment of these gorgeous flowers that grow so well in our beautiful mountains. Come and bring your blooms to share with other dahlia lovers.
Wine & Cheese Festival
Promotional Benefit for the Highlands Motoring Festival
HISTORY LIVE!
(formerly A Walk in the Park)
Our Mountains and the People Who Named Them
will celebrate Herman Alley, Billy "Dismal" Barnes, Lilla Nourse, Mack Wilson, Rising Fawn, Julia Dryman, and Jule Phillips and feature Whiteside, Big and Little Fodderstacks, Big and Little Bearpen, Queen and King mountains, Satulah, Scaly, and Shortoff and Yellow.
Events Garden of the Highlands Historic Village
Park your car at the Recreation Center.
Performing Arts Center
on Chestnut Street
Friday-Saturday June 22-23 6:00 - 7:15 pm
(single performance each evening)
Sunday, June 24 4:00 - 5:15 pm
Kelsey Kids (9am-3pm)
Five days of interactive sessions
devoted to learning about life in 19th-century Highlands, including field trips to Foxfire, Highlands Country Club, a chicken farm, a hike on the Ranger Trail, and demonstrations of crafts, milking, dogging, mountain music, and more. Lunch will be served daily.
Museums in Partnership Meeting
Museums-in-Partnership Meeting for Western North Carolina
Presentation on Archival Techniques,
includes tour of Highlands Historical Museum and Archives, the oldest home in town, and a cottage from the State's oldest sanatorium
Kelsey Kids (9am-3pm)
Five days of interactive sessions
devoted to learning about life in 19th-century Highlands, including life stories of some of its earliest residents.
1st Annual Dahlia Festival
Amateur - Hobbyist
Highlands Historic Village
All dahlia enthusiasts were urged to join in the competition. Prizes were presented in multiple categories. This was not a serious competition. It was to celebrate the beauty and enjoyment of these gorgeous flowers that grow so well in our beautiful mountains.
(Exhibitor fee was $10.)
https://www.highlandshistory.com/past-events#sigProId0c9314be7a
HISTORY LIVE!
(formerly A Walk in the Park)
Road Builders of Early Highlands
will celebrate Samuel Kelsey, Celia Hill, John Jay Smith,
Herman Wilson, Florence Ravenel, and Prioleau Ravenel, Jr.
(Tickets are $10 each, students free)
Events Garden of the Highlands Historic Village
Park your car at the Recreation Center.
Refreshments 5:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Performing Arts Center
on Chestnut Street
Friday-Saturday
June 24-25
6:00 - 7:30 pm
(single performance)
June 26
Sunday 4:00 - 5:15 pm
Dining Out for HHS
15% of your meal's cost
will be donated to the Highlands Historical Society
Lakeside Restaurant
Smallwood Avenue
Tour of Historic Homes
Homes in the Highlands Country Club area
including Cobb Road and North Cobb
Take the shuttle from the Community Building near the Ball Park.
(Last shuttle leaves at 3:00 pm)
Boy Scouts Reception
Honoring all current and former Scouts of Highlands
Grand Opening
of a new Boy Scout exhibit at the Museum
A Walk in The Park
Early Highlands Women Speak from the Grave
will celebrate Mary Amanda Davis, Charlotte "Charlie" Elliott, Corinne Froneberger, Martha Norton "Mat" Gottwals, Eléonore Raoul Green, Vinetta Norton Rice, & Albertina Staub.
Highlands Memorial Cemetery
Friday & Saturday, take the shuttle from the Recreation Park.
(Last shuttle leaves at 7:30 pm)
Performing Arts Center
on Chestnut Street
Friday-Saturday
June 25-26
6 - 7:30 pm
June 27
Sunday, 4 pm
Kelsey Kids (9am-3pm)
Two months of interactive sessions
devoted to learning about life in 19th-century Highlands, including lifestories of some of the earliest residents.
Thursdays
Christmas Showhouse
The Downing/Stewart/Michael House, ca. 1889
after the 11:00 am Christmas parade
on Saturday and on Sunday
Dec. 5 (Saturday)
1-4:30 pm
& Dec. 6 (Sunday)
1-4:30 pm
Tour of Historic Homes
Homes in East Highlands
Take the shuttle from the Civic Center.
(Last shuttle leaves at 3:00 pm)
Highlands Historical Society 10th Anniversary and Mortgage Burning Party
524 North 4th Street
(next to the Recreation Park)
A Walk in The Park
Highlands Pioneers Speak from the Grave
The tenth anniversary of Walk in the Park
will celebrate Samuel Kelsey, Baxter White, Margaretta Ravenel, Henry Bascom, Mary Chapin Smith, Dr. Mary Lapham, and Prof. Thomas Harbison.
Highlands Memorial Cemetery
Take the shuttle from the Recreation Park.
(Last shuttle leaves at 7:30 pm)
Performing Arts Center
on Chestnut Street
Friday-Saturday
June 26-27
6 - 7:30 pm
June 28
Sunday, 4 pm
Christmas Showhouse
A Joe Webb House on Satulah
after the 11:00 am Christmas parade
Dec. 6 (Saturday)
1-5 pm
& Dec. 7 (Sunday)
1-5 pm
Tour of Historic Homes
The Clemson Colony in Highlands
(including two Joe Webb Cabins)
Take the shuttle from the Civic Center.
(Last shuttle leaves at 3:00 pm)
Center For Life Enrichment Class
"The Early Highlanders: A Visual Record"
Dr. Randolph Shaffner, Archivist
A Walk in The Park
Early Highlands Artists Speak from the Grave
featuring Louis Zoellner, Henry Scadin, Huger Elliott, Louise Bascom Barratt, Almetta Picklesimer Brooks, Polly Knipp Hill, and Fred Allen
Highlands Memorial Cemetery
Take the shuttle from the Poplar Street Conference Center.
Performing Arts Center
on Chestnut Street
Friday-Saturday
June 20-21
6 - 7:30 pm
June 22
Sunday, 4 pm
Christmas Showhouse
A Joe Webb log cabin
built for N. T. Ragland in 1925
Take the shuttle from the Civic Center
Dec. 1 (Saturday)
1-5 pm
& Dec. 2 (Sunday)
1-5 pm
CLASS: Pickens High School 12th Grade
Class on the History of Highlands at the Historical Museum. Randolph Shaffner, Archivist
Tour of Historic Homes
Homes in the Bowery-Playmore Historic District
Take the shuttle from the Recreation Park
LECTURE: "Henry Tanner's Landscape Paintings of Highlands, 1889"
Richard Gantt, UNC-G Department of Art
A Walk in The Park
Early Highlanders Speak from the Grave
Highlands Memorial Cemetery
Take shuttle from the Conference Center
Performing Arts Center
on Chestunut Street
Friday-Saturday
June 29-30
6-7:30pm
Sunday, July 1
4:00pm
CLE CLASS: "Wit and Wisdom Within Spittin' Distance of Highlands"
Randolph Shaffner, Archivist
The Prince House Christmas Show House 2006
On Saturday, November 24, 2006, the Historical Society held its annual Christmas Show at the newly restored Prince House, the oldest house in Highlands. Spearheaded by volunteers under the direction of Isabel Chambers, the rooms of the house were refurbished with furnishings from various periods, and walks back in time were being conducted from 1:00pm to 4:00pm each Saturday thereafter on December 2, 9, and 16, 2006.
Some of the rooms visited were Amelia's Room, named after Amelia Wright Bryson, who was born in this room 90 years ago.
The Victorian furniture in Amelia's Room belonged to Miss Susan "Tudie" Rice, who claimed to have worked for the author Thomas Wolfe (not yet documented) and, after his death, was given a bedroom suite.
Lizzie's Room was named after Mrs. Elizabeth Prince, who was the last of the Wrights to own the house.
The furniture in Lizzie's Room was made by Louis Edwards of Highlands, who made it from a log of curly burl poplar that grew in Horse Cove.
The Children's Room is filled with antique toys, and the walls and ceiling are covered with historic restoration paper. Some of the furniture was given to the Society anonymously, but the student desk came from Horse Cove School.
The Kitchen, usually the busiest room in the house, has an extensive collection of typical utensils. Sue Potts reminisces, "You can imagine the warmth that came from the stove as biscuits were baking. When they were done, you can visualize everyone sitting around the table, with fresh churned butter and wild strawberry jam for their biscuits." The sink was added after the advent of running water in 1927.
The fireplace in the Parlor, which had been faced with brick, was restored to its original granite, and Tommy Chambers fashioned the mantel after one of the same period at Fairview Inn, today's 4 1/2 Street Inn.
The Library now houses much of Professor Thomas G. Harbison's collection, which in his time, when he founded the Highlands Academy in 1886, was being extolled as "the best school library in Western North Carolina." The Bennett grand piano was the first piano brought to Highlands by T. Baxter White in 1876. And the pictures on the walls are unique collages of Highlands scenes, beautifully crafted from mosses, lichens, bark, ferns, and the wood pulp of hornets' nests by John Jay Smith in 1929.
The Dining Room has seen very few changes. It has still has its original wallpaper, and a small framed section of the wall reveals the lath and butcher paper that served as backing.
The Student's Room at the back upstairs still contains the wood heater that kept the room warm when young relatives from out of town boarded while they attended school in Highlands. They usually helped with the cooking, looking after the children, and various chores around the house to offset the cost of their room and board. Boarders also used what is now the library, which had a separate door onto the front porch to allow them entrance and exit without bothering the family.
Some of the many visitors who have enjoyed a walk into the past at the Prince House
CLASS: Pickens High School 12th Grade
Class on the History of Highlands at the Historical Museum. Randolph Shaffner, Archivist