Mount Jefferson is a mountain located in Ashe County, North Carolina. The mountain is part of the Mount Jefferson State Natural Area. The mountain has an elevation of 4,665 feet (1,422 m) above sea level, and it sharply rises more than 1,600 feet above the towns of Jefferson, North Carolina and West Jefferson. Before the American Civil War the mountain was a popular hiding place for slaves who had escaped from their owners in the central and eastern sections of North Carolina. As a result, the peak was named "Nigger Mountain," then later the less offensive "Negro Mountain" for many years. Approximately thirty years ago, in an effort to find a less-racially offensive name, the mountain was renamed Mount Jefferson after the town at its base. A paved road leads to the mountain's summit; on a clear day the summit affords sweeping views of the surrounding countryside, the towns of Jefferson and West Jefferson, and the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
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