Our History

In the late 1920s, Howard Marmon came to Avery County and purchased land in the Pineola area. Included in the land he purchased, was the area west of US 221 that is now where part of Land Harbor is located.

Mr. Marmon was responsible for building the dam which formed the lake at the main entrance. In 1940, a major flood destroyed the dam that Mr. Marmon built, and in 1943, he sold all of his property to the State of North Carolina.

In 1969, the Carolina Caribbean Corporation bought the Marmon property from the State of North Carolina. They also bought the Anthony Lake Nursery and some other properties. These properties make up today's Land Harbor. The Carolina Caribbean Corporation planned to develop two resort areas, one in Little River South Carolina and the other in Linville, North Carolina. These resorts were to operate under the title "Land Harbors of America", thus our development was named "Linville Land Harbors".

On May 2, 1969, Ernie Hayes and Douglas Miller met with an engineer from Carolina Caribbean Corporation and a surveying engineer who was in charge of surveying property lines, road, water, and sewer lines. These four men planned Land Harbor's main entrance to the property from US 221. Before this entrance was built, the only way into the property was from Goose Hollow Road.

The original main entrance consisted of a guardhouse and a large sign that said "Linville Land Harbor". In 1998, the sign and guardhouse were torn down and, the present entrance was developed. Many say we have the most beautiful entrance in the area.

Click here to read the History of Land Harbor written by Will Saunders. Mr. Saunders passed away in October 2006.