RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Watauga Falls ...

So far, we found very little information about Watauga Falls. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Watauga Falls to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Watauga Falls, please Contact Us.

Watauga Falls would have been located within present day Watauga County<2>.

The pronunciation of Watauga Falls: wa-TAW-ga<3>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Watauga Falls, you might consider that their post office opened in 1853.

While the community is gone, the present day location for Watauga Falls is 2,650 feet [808 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the elevation of Watauga Falls is ½ mile above sea level.

Time Zone: The area where Watauga Falls was located is in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

The Area Code where Watauga Falls was located: 828

Communities near Watauga Falls ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Watauga Falls.

  • Shell Creek
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Shell Creek is located in Carter County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell Creek
    • Estimated population in 2014: 21,037 people
  • Boone
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Boone is located in Watauga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boone
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,003 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boone <5>
  • Mountain City
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Norris
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Norris is located in Johnson County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norris
    • Estimated population in 2014: 1,652 people
  • Trade
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Trade is located in Johnson County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trade
    • Estimated population in 2014: 1,441 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trade <5>
  • Roan Mountain
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Blowing Rock
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Banner Elk
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Newland
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Elk Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Watauga Falls. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Watauga Falls.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Watauga Falls. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Watauga Falls.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Watauga Falls. See our Newspapers Page for Watauga Falls.

Adding Watauga Falls to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Watauga Falls in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Watauga Falls was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Watauga Falls post office opened in 1853. The Watauga Falls post office closed in 1928.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Watauga Falls.

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Watauga Falls, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including Watauga, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<3>The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Watauga Falls. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Watauga Falls - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/