Mount Mitchell
Mount Mitchell, viewed from Mount Craig
Elevation	6,684 ft (2,037 m)[1]
Prominence	6,089 ft (1,856 m)[2]
Listing	Ultra U.S. state high point
Location
Mount Mitchell Yancey County, North Carolina, United States
Range	Appalachian Mountains
Coordinates	35°45′53″N 82°15′54″W / 35.76472°N 82.265°W / 35.76472; -82.265Coordinates: 35°45′53″N 82°15′54″W / 35.76472°N 82.265°W / 35.76472; -82.265[1]
Topo map	USGS Mount Mitchell
Climbing
Easiest route	Hike

Mount Mitchell is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in the eastern United States. It was the highest point in any state of the United States until Texas joined the union in 1845. The nearest higher point east of the Rocky Mountains is Harney Peak in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Mount Mitchell is located near Burnsville in Yancey County, North Carolina, in the Black Mountain subrange of the Appalachians, and about 32 miles (51 km) northeast of Asheville. It is protected by Mount Mitchell State Park and surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest.

History[link]

The mountain was named after Elisha Mitchell, a professor at the University of North Carolina, who determined its height in 1835, and fell to his death at nearby Mitchell Falls in 1857, having returned to verify his earlier measurements.

The ascent of Mount Mitchell is now rather easy, since a road off the historic and scenic Blue Ridge Parkway runs nearby, and a 980-foot (300 m) trail leads through a conifer forest to the summit. The 40-foot (12 m) stone observation tower on the summit was torn down in late 2006. A new observation deck was constructed and opened to visitors in January 2009.^[3] Also on the summit is the tomb of Dr. Mitchell.

Environment[link]

The mountain's summit is coated in a dense stand of Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest, which consists primarily of two evergreen species— the red spruce and the Fraser fir. Most of the mature Fraser firs, however, were killed off by the non-native Balsam woolly adelgid in the latter half of the 20th century. The high elevations also expose plant life to high levels of pollution, including acid precipitation in the form of rain, snow, and fog. These acids damage the red spruce trees in part by releasing natural metals from the soil like aluminum, and by leaching important minerals. To what extent this pollution harms the high-altitude ecosystem is debatable.^[5]

While the mountain is still mostly lush and green in the summer, many dead Fraser fir trunks can be seen due to these serious problems. Repairing the damage is a difficult issue, as the pollutants are often carried in from long distances. Sources can be local or hundreds of miles or kilometers away, requiring cooperation from as far away as the Midwest.

Wildflowers are abundant all summer long. Young fir and spruce trees do well in the subalpine climate, and their pine cones feed the birds along with wild blueberry and blackberry shrubs.

The second highest point in eastern North America, Mount Craig at 6,647 feet (2,026 m), is roughly a mile to the north of Mount Mitchell.

Climate[link]

Sign atop Mt. Mitchell

The summit area of Mount Mitchell is marked by a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), with mild summers and long, moderately cold winters, being more similar to southeastern Canada than the southeastern U.S.. High temperatures range from 34.2 °F (1.2 °C) to 67.9 °F (19.9 °C) in January and July, respectively. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the state occurred there on January 21, 1985 when it fell to −34 °F (−37 °C), during a severe cold spell that brought freezing temperatures as far south as Miami. It is also the coldest average reporting station in the state at 43.8 °F (6.6 °C) which is well below any other station.^[6] Unlike the lower elevations in the surrounding regions, heavy snows often fall from December to March, with 50 inches (127 cm) accumulating in the Great Blizzard of 1993.^[6] Snow flurries have been reported on the summit even in the summer months of June, July, and August. Due to the high elevation, precipitation is heavy and reliable year-round, averaging 74.5 inches (1,890 mm) for the year, though September and October are noticeably drier. The summit is often windy, with the record being 178 miles per hour (286 km/h).^[7]

See also[link]

	Geography portal
	North America portal
	United States portal
	North Carolina portal
	Mountains portal

• Outline of North Carolina
• Index of North Carolina-related articles
• List of U.S. states by elevation
• Mount Mitchell State Park
• Mountain peaks of North America
• Mountain peaks of the United States
• The Assault on Mount Mitchell, bicycling endurance

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mount Mitchell

• Mount Mitchell State Park

Mitchell May (July 10, 1870 Brooklyn, Kings County, New York - March 24, 1961 Brooklyn, New York City) was an American lawyer and politician.

Life[link]

He attended the public schools and Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. He graduated from Columbia University Law School in 1892, was admitted to the bar in 1893, and commenced practice in Brooklyn.

May was elected as a Democrat to the 56th United States Congress, and served from March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1901. From 1906 to 1910, he was a member of the New York City Board of Education. He was an Assistant District Attorney of Kings County from 1910 to 1911.

He was Secretary of State of New York from 1913 to 1914, elected in 1912, but defeated for re-election in 1914. He was county judge of Kings County from 1916 to 1921, and was a justice of the New York State Supreme Court from 1922 to 1940, when he retired after reaching the constitutional age limit. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law.

He was buried at Valhalla Cemetery, Staten Island.

References[link]

• Mitchell May at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

v t e Secretaries of State of New York J Scott • L Scott • Hale • T Tillotson • Jenkins • T Tillotson • Jenkins • Hale • Jenkins • Rensselaer • Porter • R Tillotson • Cooper • Yates • Flagg • Dix • Spencer • Campbell* • Young • Benton • Morgan • Randall • Leavenworth • Headley • Tucker • Floyd-Jones • Ballard • Depew • Barlow • Nelson • Scribner • Willers • Bigelow • Beach • Carr • Cook • Rice • Palmer • McDonough • O'Brien • Whalen • Koenig • Lazansky • May • Hugo • Lyons • Hamilton • Knapp • Moses • Flynn • Walsh • Curran • DeSapio • Simon • Lomenzo • Ghezzi • Cuomo • Paterson • Shaffer • Treadwell • Daniels • Milano* • Jacobs • Cortés-Vázquez • Colón* • Perales * denotes Acting