A once thriving lumber and mill town in the mountains of western North Carolina, Mortimer rose fast, becoming prosperous…until it was washed away twice in massive flooding events.

Shortly after a 1916 wildfire burned large tracts of timberland in the mountains,  two hurricanes struck the area back to back, causing historic floods not seen again in the area until Helene in 2024, nearly wiping out the town.

The people of Mortimer made a comeback driven by textile work and the CCC, until a final blow came from another flood in 1940. Today little remains of Mortimer along Wilson Creek. 

Mortimer’s story is another one of the Stories of Appalachia.

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