The Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center is dedicated to the history of the “Old North State,” with a year-round focus on the pioneer era through the early 20th century. It hosts activities, programs, reenactments, and festivals, including the annual Pioneer Day festival on the last Saturday in April. Senator Clyde Norton and Mrs. Janet Norton created this park-like venue in 1982. The building, constructed by the Works Progress Administration around 1937, originally served as a community building. Valuing the history of Old Fort and the culture of Western North Carolina, the Nortons purchased and moved to the grounds two log cabins built in McDowell County around 1860 to 1880. The Mauney House serves as the museum office, service center, and workshop space, supporting non-profit museums and historical societies in Western North Carolina. Old Fort is a North Carolina Mountain Heritage Trout Town, and the museum serves as the center for that program. The North Carolina Wildlife Commission maintains and stocks the creek as a delayed harvest site, and the location is also included on the North Carolina Birding Trail. This place is also part of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, a regional trail of heritage sites recognizing the natural beauty and living traditions of music, craft, agriculture, and Cherokee culture in the mountains and foothills of North Carolina.