North Carolinians Are Liars!!!

It may seem a sweeping generalization to call all the residents of a state liars but when it comes to highpoints you cannot trust North Carolina. The state is home to a large metropolitan area by the name of High Point. The only problem is that High Point, North Carolina is neither the highpoint of North Carolina nor is it anywhere near the 6366 ft Mount Mitchell that is the true highpoint. Don't skip High Point however or you'd miss the world's largest chest of drawers:

But enough about this den of lies and deception, we're supposed to be talking about actual highpoints. Mount Mitchell has many titles to its name including being the highest point in the country at one point (right up until TEXAS joined). It is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is named for one Elisha Mitchell and his grave lies atop the mountain:

Reverend Mitchell was a professor at UNC and at some point decided he would measure the height of the mountain that would eventually bear his name. Later in his life his measurements were challenged by a pesky Senator, forcing Mitchell to return to verify his data and defend his manliness. It was while doing this that he met his death. The Dictionary of North Carolina Biography describes the event thusly:

"Mitchell is best known for his measurement of the Black Mountain in the Blue Ridge and his claim that one of its peaks was the highest point in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. He first noted in 1828, in the diary he kept while working on the geological survey, that he believed the Black Mountain to be the highest peak in the area. In 1835 and again in 1838 he measured the mountain, showing the highest peak to be higher than Mount Washington in New Hampshire's White Mountains. In 1844 he returned with improved instruments and measured the highest peak at 6,708 feet, 250 feet higher than Mount Washington. By that time local people were referring to the peak as Mount Mitchell. However, Mitchell's claim was challenged in 1855, when Senator Thomas Clingman, arguing that Mitchell had measured the wrong peak, insisted that the one he had climbed and measured stood at 6,941 feet. As a result of the ensuing controversy, Mitchell returned to the Black Mountain in 1857 in a final attempt to prove Clingman wrong and justify his own previous measurements. On 27 June, leaving his son and guides, he started out alone, was caught in a thunderstorm, and apparently fell down a waterfall and drowned in the pool below."

Clingman and Mitchell's dispute may have been settled but we all know what truly matters; getting stuff named after you. Because, though not yet featured on the Hump Day Highpoint, the highpoint of Tennessee is known as Clingman's Dome. This means that the two men are tied in terms of lasting glory. Fortunately history has seen fit to set things right....that deadly waterfall; Mitchell Falls.