Abstract:
The famous Bailey Deer Park, started by James and Polly Bailey in 1875 as a private enterprise some two miles northwest of the present town of Spruce Pine, was the first wildlife preserve established in western North Carolina. To do it, they had to fight and win against resentful hunters. The only reminders of the park left today are a 15-bed wing added in 1959 to the Spruce Pine Community Hospital and a 1,200-acre development, Deer Park Lake Estates, opened soon thereafter.