Morganton, North Carolina

Tucked in the lush Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Morganton is a nice little town along Interstate 40 about an hour east of Asheville. It’s the Burke County seat and has a history dating back to Spanish Conquistadors and mound-building Mississipeans. Tourists stop in while visiting the Blue Ridge.

Morganton has a hometown feeling and has been named by at least two national publications as a great place to live. It is dotted with dozens of historic properties and sites, including the Quaker Meadows Cemetery, with grave markers from the mid-1700s, the Gaston Chapel, an African Methodist Episcopal church, and the Hunting Creek Railroad Bridge, a stone railroad bridge.

The town core is a nationally recognized historic district with two and three story buildings that house coffee shops, bookstores, wine bars, art galleries, eateries, breweries and more. Neighborhoods have a country vibe and boast everything from ranch ramblers, Cape Cods and bungalows to Victorians and Federals.

Events include the Third Thursday Art Crawl, the Historic Morganton Festival, which is held at the historic Burke County Courthouse, the TGIF Summer Concert Series and the juried Art in the Hall. The famers’ market takes place every Wednesday and Saturday from May to October and has live music.

Locals enjoy nearly a dozen parks, two recreation centers, a community garden and an extensive greenway system. Outdoor adventure abounds, particularly at Lake James, a 6,812-acre reservoir with 150 miles of shoreline. It is just 20 minutes from town and is the spot for water skiing, fishing, hiking and camping.