EDITOR’S NOTE: Western North Carolina is weird. From local legends to Bigfoot encounters, the Blue Ridge Mountains have long been a home for the quirky and bizarre. Join us in exploring the mysteries, histories and curiosities of “Strangeville.”

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OLD FORT, N.C. (828newsNOW) — It would be hard to pass through the small mountain town of Old Fort without noticing the large, stone arrowhead at its center.

The pink granite statue sits on top of a 15-foot river rock base and stands proudly in front of the Old Fort Depot and Museum at 25 West Main St.

According to a plaque on the statue, the arrowhead rests at the site of an old Native American fort, which gave Old Fort its name in the late 18th century.

However, a character from a news report at the time of the monument’s July 1930 dedication shared a conflicting version of its immortalized origin.

Gertrude Dula, the publicity chairman for the local Memorial Association, interviewed a 90-year-old Old Fort resident named J. A. Dalton, who cast dispersions on the history of the Old Fort name.

“I never heard tell of Indians building a fort,” Dalton said. “It is against all their nature to build fortifications. They roved the woods, did their fighting from behind the trees in the ‘bushwacking’ fashion and didn’t come out in the open to make a stand without being led by whites. I’ve never heard my father and other old settlers talk about the Indians and I’m sure they knew it was the whites who first built it.”

Despite Dalton’s claims, local historians disagreed, collaborating over the course of years to source the funds for the statue and determine its dedication.

Furthermore, Chief Tahquittee and Chief Sam T. Blue of the Cherokee and Chief Carl Standing Deer of the Catawba were honored at the dedication ceremony, held on July 27, 1930 by Old Fort leaders.

According to local travel site Destination McDowell, the Cherokee and Catawba were historic rivals, though they “formally smoked the pipe of peace” at the arrowhead’s unveiling.

The statue was unveiled for more than 5,000 people. A nine-year-old girl named Margaret Nesbitt, the daughter of descendants of Old Fort settlers, pulled the cord to reveal the statue for the crowd.

The moment was the consummation of a long-developing project by local historians.

“The idea of erecting some memorial to explain the origin of the name of Old Fort was first conceived some years ago by the Women’s club of the town,” reads a local July 20, 1930 newspaper clipping. “Interest never died in the hearts of many of the foremost citizens and a year or so ago a monument of attractive proportions was decided upon.”

Several interested parties banded together, eventually crafting the arrowhead monument which they believed would “add materially to the historical interest of the town and section and stand for many generations to remind the young people of their debt of inheritance.”

The statue still stands today.