Origins of Area Names between milepost 299-317

Montezuma - A tiny community between Linville and Newland. The name came from a committee which wanted to recommend the name "West End" for the town. To ensure that their favorite name would be chosen, they decided to only suggest two names and make the second name so impossible and ridiculous, that "West End" would be a shoo-in. The other name they chose was "Montezuma". So the names were proposed and to the "clever" committees' surprise, they chose MONTEZUMA!