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A look at some of the events
that shaped the High Country during the decade. |
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In
1970, 23,404 people made their home in Watauga County,
8566 people lived in Boone and 875 resided in Blowing
Rock. The Town of Boone represented approximately
37% of Watauga's total population, while Blowing Rock
was only 3.8% of the total. |
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37.4%
of the population was urban, 46.2 % rural non-farm,
while 16.4 was considered rural farm, as opposed to
40.5% in 1960. |
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In
1970, the total assessed valuation of taxable property
estimated for fiscal year ending June 30, 1970 was
$145,042,751, with an assessment rate of 65%. |
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Appraised
value of land in Boone equaled $37,852,751, $14,040.000
in Blowing Rock and $93,150,000 for Watauga County
as a whole. |
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The
tax rate in 1970 was $1.10 for Watauga County and
Boone, while the rate in Blowing Rock was $1.40. The
total bonded indebtedness for the three governmental
units was $4,087,500. |
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Indebtedness
per capita equaled $226.75 for Boone, $154,66 for
Blowing Rock, and $107.89 for Watauga County. |
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The
life expectancy in Watauga in 1970 was 67.4 years
for males and 75.8 years for females, with the infant
mortality rate equaling 26.5 deaths for 1000 births. |
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In
1973, the civilian labor force equaled 12,470. 250
people were classified as unemployed, while 12,200
were employed. Agricultural employees equaled 770.
Non-agricultural employees and wage/salary employees
equaled 19,810, with all other non-agricultural employees
numbering 1640. |
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Retail
trade for 1970 was $37,125,000. |
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Educational
attainment in 1970 was 9.6 years for males, 10.5 years
for females, or an average 10.05 years of school.
The state average was 10.6 years and the nation's
was 12.0 years. |
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The
1970 Census of Housing indicated 8595 housing units
in Watauga. 7427 were classified as year-round median
dollar value for owner-occupied residences was $14,000.
5960 of those units were one-unit structures. 4778
units were owner-occupied. 1747 rental units existed
in the county, 301 of which lacked some or all plumbing
facilities. |
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In
1970, eight elementary schools facilitated 2968 students.
Watauga High, the largest school, had 1219 students.
4625 students attended Watauga schools in all. |
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In
1970, expenditures by ASU student body, faculty and
campus visitors equaled $12,000,000. |
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The
number of students enrolled in ASU leapt from 2370
students in 1960 to 6665 students in 1970, an increase
of 4295 or 1.8 times. |
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$3.8
million in local business real property and $1.5 million
in local business inventories was due to ASU-related
business. |
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ASU
accounted for 905 jobs locally and paid $7.7 million
in 1970 in faculty/staff salaries. |
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In
1970, the Town of Boone paid out $66,538 for police
staff, $12,875 for the fire department, $90,710 for
street maintenance, $73,549 for sanitation, $16,800
for recreation and $93,129 for administration, equaling
$352,791. |
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In
1979, the Town of Seven Devils was formally incorporated. |
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The
most rain in one month in Watauga County's history
up until that point occurred in September 1979 when
rain fell for 18 consecutive days. The largest drop
in temperature in one day also occurred in 1979 when
the temperature dropped from 60 degrees to 12 degrees.
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