Journal of Black Mountain College Studies, Volume 16: Living with the Land
Published September 2025
Mountain. The word is at the center of Black Mountain College, and the town in which it existed. And both Black Mountain College campuses are surrounded by a rim of mountains: the Swannanoa Mountains to the South and the Great Craggy Mountains to the North. Everyone who arrived at the College could not help but notice being surrounded by these extensive mountain ranges as well as some of North Carolina’s highest mountain peaks.
While at the center of Black Mountain College and everyone’s experience living there, the mountains and landscapes surrounding the two BMC campuses have received little scholarly attention. I return to this topic after having lived in the town of Black Mountain for two years, during which I contemplated, hiked, and gazed out from the multiple peaks surrounding me. By focusing on the mountains around BMC, examining their geology, as well as how BMC faculty and students experienced them, I hope to show how central the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains were to people’s experiences at Black Mountain College.
