EDITOR’S NOTE: Strangeville explores the curious and unexplained stories that have long defined Asheville and Western North Carolina. The region is full of unanswered questions, from old folklore and local legends to eerie encounters, unsolved moments in history, and the true-crime mysteries that still leave people wondering. Each week, we look back with an open mind and a sense of curiosity, trying to understand why some stories take hold and why some can never be explained.
BREVARD, N.C. (828newsNOW.com) — A Cherokee legend describes a village near present-day Brevard where residents are said to have entered a mountain and never returned. According to the story, the people of Conestee were warned of danger by the Nunnehi, described in Cherokee tradition as hidden or supernatural beings. After fasting for seven days, the villagers followed the Nunnehi into a nearby mountain for protection and were never seen again.
A roadside plaque now marks the “Conestee Lost Settlement” along U.S. 276 in Transylvania County, just south of Brevard. The marker, placed in 1958 by the Cherokee Historical Association, the Transylvania Historical Association and other groups, states that British troops visited the settlement in 1725 and that it “disappeared” in 1777…