Howard Knob is a mountain in the North Carolina High Country, located in the town of Boone. According to the US Geological Survey, the mountain's proper name is Howard Knob, but it is known to locals and tourists as Howard's Knob. Howard Knob and the surrounding area are part of the Appalachian Mountain Range. The mountain has an elevation of 4396ft above sea level, and rises nearly 1000ft above the town of Boone and the campus of Appalachian State University.HistoryHoward Knob was named after Benjamin Howard, a British loyalist, contemporary of Daniel Boone, and early settler of the area. According to local legend, Howard hid from Whigs on the knoll which was to be named after him.In 1977, the Federal Energy Research and Development Administration and the Department of Energy announced that Howard Knob had been selected as the site for an experimental wind turbine, which was later built by General Electric in October 1978. The project was part of a surge in renewable energy research which began under then-President Jimmy Carter. The turbine, formally known as MOD-1, was managed by NASA and operated by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation. It stood 131ft tall and had two 97ft long steel blades that rotated counterclockwise at 35mi/h. It was designed to power 300 to 500 average-sized homes, given wind speeds of 25mi/h.
