What's highest NC town? Highlands? Or Beech Mountain?

The other day the U.S. Department of Interior sent around a news release about a new national trail in what it said was the highest incorporated town east of the Mississippi, in Highlands, N.C.


Sharp-eyed reader Joshua Harris of Denton, Texas begs to differ: The highest town in North Carolina is Beech Mountain, he writes, and points to the town's Website noting its altitude as 5,506 feet, well above Highlands' 3,838. The Website notes that Beech Mountain, begun as a private resort, was incorporated by the legislature in 1981.  Maybe there's more to the story why some folks think it's Highlands.

Here's the note:

Thank you for the blog post about the new trail in Highlands. However, I must point out that, despite what the Department of the Interior says, Highlands, NC is not the highest incorporated town east of the Mississippi. As a former resident of the High Country I had always heard that that distinction went to the town of Beech Mountain on the border of Avery and Watauga Counties. Wikipedia confirms this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beech_Mountain,_North_Carolina )
as does the Beech Mountain town website (http://www.townofbeechmountain.com/.

Thanks,

Joshua Harris

Denton, Texas