[3] The county is home to Spruce Pine, nicknamed the "Mineral City of the World",[4] and Bakersville, "Gateway to Roan Mountain", which includes the world's largest natural rhododendron garden and the longest stretch of grassy bald in the Appalachian range.

It was named for Elisha Mitchell, professor of mathematics, chemistry, geology, and mineralogy at the University of North Carolina from 1818 until his death in 1857.

Dr. Mitchell was the first scientist to argue that a nearby peak in the Black Mountains was the highest point east of the Mississippi River.

In September 1923, a 75-year-old White woman named Alice Thomas accused John Goss, an escaped Black convict laborer, of raping her.

Governor Cameron Morrison, an ally of the infrastructure construction and mining industries, declared martial law and called in the National Guard in an attempt to stop the mob violence, but by the time the Guard units arrived two days later, the Black mine and construction laborers had already been driven from the county.

Ultimately, 86 members of the White supremacist mob were indicted for their actions, many of whom pled guilty to minor offences.

Goss was arrested in Hickory four days after the alleged rape, and at the orders of the Governor, jailed in Raleigh to avert lynching.

He was tried three weeks later in Mitchell County, convicted by jury after five minutes of deliberation, and executed by electrocution.

Several conservation lands are within Pisgah National Forest in Mitchell and neighboring Avery County.

Owing to its Civil War-era Unionist sympathies, along with its rural character, Mitchell has continuously been an overwhelmingly Republican county, even during the "Solid South" Democratic era.

The goal of the board is to promote the establishment, development, and retention of businesses in Mitchell County.

Spruce Pine is home to three schools: Greenlee Primary (K-2),[28] Deyton Elementary (3–5),[29] and Harris Middle (6–8).

Founded by an act of the North Carolina General Assembly in 1971, Mayland hosts some 35 curriculum programs and provides vocational and technical training, along with college transfer opportunities to residents of the region.

It is designed to educate students who will apply workable knowledge in creation of books, paper, clay, drawing, glass, iron, metals, photography, printmaking and letterpress, textiles, and wood.