I don’t know who said it the first time “There’s no place like home” but these words so accurately express the sentiments of my heart about the area from which I have my roots. Green RiverTownship in Henderson County, North Carolina is where my family and I call home and it’s the greatest place on earth to call home. Don’t get me wrong; with the exception of a four year stint in the US Air Force, I’ve never ventured far from the “city limits.”

The wonderful folk who live in and around this small rural farming community are close knit and coupled with the Judeo Christian values that have been taught and passed along through many generations make it the special place that it has become for those of us blessed to live here.

Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Hendersonville, North Carolina we have been blessed with living in an area that has an abundance of natural beauty and an endowment of tranquility unparalleled anywhere else in the world. Within its borders are the headwaters of the Green River. Many might argue as to the status of it being a river since it is so small at the headwaters, only a few feet wide and not very deep. As the Green meanders its way into Green River Cove passing through Big Hungary and just inside the boundary line of PolkCounty, lies one of nature’s most challenging kayaks runs in the Eastern United States known simply as “the Narrows.” This is a formidable section in the river which is difficult and dangerous to those brave hearts who have attempted to conquer it as they paddle this infamous section of the Green. The “Narrows has claimed its share of canoes and sadly, in some cases, the lives of those who ventured to this impressive river run.

Along the banks of this pristine stream where it subtlety and quietly begins are the rich farmlands and homes of its residents who have been landowners dating back to the days just following the Revolutionary War who had either purchased or had gotten large land grants. The farmlands once rich and productive have been the source of livelihood for generations of these hearty folk who settled here and chose to live off the land. Family names such as Levi, Capps, Maybin, Ward, and Beddingfield are common and many still till their farms and are proud of their ancestral heritage.

Much of the land in our beloved homeland of Green River Township is still relatively undeveloped and with current codes by our county and state will remain so. Water has become a precious commodity and the Green River remains a pristine stream and the water although humble the headwaters is fast becoming of significant importance to not only the residents of our county but those that are our neighbors

For me, the Green River and its people is the Land of Beaulah, the land of my birth and close to my heart..