It was named for Waightstill Avery, a colonel in the American Revolutionary War and the first Attorney General of North Carolina (1777–1779).

According to local legend, Elk Park citizens were upset at the decision to move of the county seat from their town, and they refused to give up the books.

The sheriff was leery of confronting the irate local Elk Park citizens, so his wife baked cookies and had their pastor deliver them as a peace offering.

At 5,526 feet or 1,684 metres, Beech Mountain (also shared with Watauga County) is the highest incorporated community east of the Mississippi River, while at 3,606 feet or 1,099 metres Newland is the highest county seat in the Eastern United States.

Building inspector is former NBA star Tommy Burleson and the County Board of Elections is headed by Sheila Ollis.

The county's elected Soil and Water Board District supervisors are Bill Beutell, David Banner, Ann Coleman, and Jack Wiseman.

The current school board chairman is John Greene, with retired teacher Kathy Aldridge serving as vice chair.

Other county services includes a 911 emergency dispatch center that provides service to all county law enforcement (Sheriff's office, 6 town police departments and three company police agencies, plus communications support to the NC Highway Patrol Troopers, NC Wildlife officers, state alcohol agents and state park rangers assigned locally), fire, EMS and rescue services in the county.

Owing to its Appalachian highland location, rural character, and powerful Unionist sympathies from the Civil War (1861-1865), Avery County has continually voted overwhelmingly Republican in Presidential elections, even during the Solid South Democratic era.

[21] The county contains local attractions such as Grandfather Mountain, Grandfather Mountain State Park, Linville Gorge Wilderness, Linville Falls, Pisgah National Forest and the Blue Ridge Parkway, which all attract large numbers of visitors.

In October, the annual "Wooly Worm" festival at the old school in downtown Banner Elk draws world visitors who come to see caterpillar races that locals happily claim can predict the severity of coming winters based on the fur coats of the worms.

The Grandfather Mountain Highland Games is held each year the first full weekend after July 4 and is one of the largest Scottish gatherings outside Scotland and features bagpipes, bands, Scottish food, music, authentic clothing and games such as log and caber toss and use of dogs in sheep herding.

Second homes, gated communities, condominiums, rental properties, hotel-motel lodging, bed and breakfasts, campgrounds and real estate in general all are critically important sources of jobs, income and tax revenue.

The brilliant fall colors or the foliage of the surrounding mountains, winter sports, mountain bicycling, hiking, horseback riding, warm weather camping, hiking, wildlife viewing, hunting and searching for geological finds all make for a year-round tourism-generated and regular real estate market.

A third prison facility, the BRIDGE Unit, was a novel project to use non-violent, first-time youthful felony offenders to work on state lands and fight forest fires as "smoke jumpers."

Other major employers are: the Avery County School System, Mayland Community College, Cannon Memorial Hospital, Lees-McRae College, Avery County government, Lowes Foods, Unimin, Beech and Sugar Mountain Resorts, the YMCA of Avery County, and various large tree farms and mining operations which are also important local employers.

ARC was founded by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 to address poverty in the 13 Eastern states of Appalachia.

Based on 2006 statistics from the US Government, the five classification categories for factors such as unemployment, income and poverty rate, the levels are: Distressed (worst), At-risk, Transitional, Competitive and Attainment.

Shrubbery, landscaping and greenhouses all are important agricultural aspects of the county's economy, as is beef cattle farming.

Avery County Airport (7A8) is a small, public general aviation facility with no control tower.

It primarily serves private aircraft and has no regularly scheduled commercial or cargo flights or major carriers.

The facility jointly serves Avery and Mitchell Counties and is located on Grassy Creek Road, just off US19E near the Mitchell County Line in Green valley, 10 miles south of Newland and 4 miles east of Spruce Pine.

The county has made cursory inquiries into resurfacing the airport to a heavier weight rating, to allow NC Air National Guard C-130 aircraft from Charlotte Douglass International Airport Air National Guard Base to conduct intermittent landing and "touch and go" combat exercises.

The US Marine Corps on the NC coast at New River and Cherry Point Air Stations has also expressed an interest in conducting mountain landing training for Osprey vertical takeoff aircraft if the airport runway is thickened, as has the NC Army National Guard for its helicopters located in Salisbury.

Mission Hospital in Asheville has also been approached to possibly establish an air ambulance base at the airport.

Television coverage is primarily based out of Charlotte, which the county is in its Designated Market Area (DMA).

The new campus also hosts the Sloop Medical Building, which houses various doctor's and dentist's offices, the local YMCA complex, and a pharmacy.

The hospital is a critical care facility with a 24-hour emergency department as well as imagery, lab, surgery, and other services.

Critical illnesses and injuries and trauma patients are often stabilized at Cannon, then are flown or transported by ambulance to hospitals in Charlotte, Asheville, or Johnson City, Tennessee.

They provide paramedic-level emergency medical care via three ambulances and a supervisor's SUV at all times, at station locations across the county.