by: Jonathan Widener
As you travel NC 16 out of Wilkesboro,
past Miller’s Creek and Wilbar, then climb the mountain, you deal
with many curves. Shoot, curves are a part of just about any road
traveled here in the foothills and mountains. But once you get to the top, past the
three passing zones, right at the Ashe County line, one curve stands
out. It stands out because it has a name.
How it got it's name I haven’t yet
determined. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the former
beer joint/trading post that sits there or not. Not that it looks like a bar from
how it looks now. For the most part it has to do with how it's situated along the road. No woods nestle or obscure the view and in the morning it
can provide a spectacular scene. The curve I speak of is called the
Jumpinoff Rock. Also called the Jumpinoff Place.
When I first received the invitation to
contribute to Wilkesboro and Beyond, one of the first things I
thought about was this place. A place so special it gets a name and
an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
So I took the question to Facebook. I
joined a group call Ashe Co. in the Know and posted to see if
anyone could enlighten me on the name’s origin. The closest I came
was from a contributor who was told by her dad, a lifelong Ashe
resident, that it was because of all the bodies found in that area.
Then someone shared the tale of Richard Lynn Bare and posted a link to his tale. He and an accomplice
reportedly assaulted and murdered Sherry Hart, a 24 year-old divorced
mother in 1984, then dumped her body at the curve. Currently, Richard Lynn Bar is wanted by the FBI to this day after escaping the Wilkes County Jail in 1985. To be fair to
all, his family maintains his innocence but there a lot of
unanswered questions.
Jumpinoff cemented its reputation in
2013 after a Mecklenburg County resident, Holly Fischer, was found in
her vehicle after making the 100 foot drop. Apparently she never knew the curve
was there, because there were no skid marks. Primarily, due to this event, additional guardrails were installed to help prevent future tragedies.
As for that Parkway overlook, it’s
about a mile from the curve. It features picnic tables and a hiking
trail that is measured right at a half mile. This is deceiving, because the
hike is all uphill one way. It leads to a rock landing that provides
an impressive view, but when I was there it was causing a little
balance concerns. I felt like I was leaning forward.
I don’t think I would recommend using
this for a date. Think about that with common sense: “Come on,
baby, let’s go to the Jumpinoff Place.” It does have its place in
local lore, however, and is definitely something to think about the
next time you take the curves on highway 16.
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