Tryon

Tryon calls itself the Friendliest Town in the South, and its visitor bureau describes it as historic, hospitable, horsey and artsy. Trade Street is the main street, lined with galleries and shops, the Tryon Theatre, and Nina Simone Plaza, because Tryon is Nina Simone's hometown. The Tryon Fine Arts Center has run concerts, films, jazz and theater since 1969.

Morris the Horse stands at the corner of North Trade and Pacolet streets. The first Tryon Horse was built in 1928 by the Tryon Toy-Makers and Wood-Carvers to advertise the Tryon Riding and Hunt Club's horse show. The original was wood. Today's Morris is fiberglass and stays in the center of town, and at Christmas the town hangs a wreath on him.

The weather is part of the draw. Tryon sits in the Thermal Belt, a band of hillside where frost is less likely than above or below, which brings milder winters and a longer growing season. Our State reports that Carter Brown came to Tryon in 1917 partly for that climate and for the long hunting season it allowed.

Horse life is woven into the town. Brown founded the Tryon Riding and Hunt Club in 1925, and the club celebrated its 100th year in 2025. Its Block House Steeplechase ran for the 76th time in 2024 and now runs each spring at Green Creek Race Course. FENCE, the Foothills Equestrian Nature Center, sits on about 384 protected acres on Hunting Country Road, and Tryon International Equestrian Center is in Mill Spring, a short drive north. The private trails around Tryon run across members' farms through FETA, so trail access is something we check for every property.

For everyday life, the county seat of Columbus is next door, with AdventHealth Polk, a 25-bed hospital managed by AdventHealth since October 2024.

Available here now: The Hayloft, $2,695,000.