Elisha Mitchell (1793-1857) is considered to be one of the greatest professors in the history of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—teaching math, science, botany, and geology at the nation's oldest public university more than three decades prior to the Civil War.
However, Mitchell will forever be remembered as the man who measured the height of the mountain that later bore his name, Mount Mitchell.
In this episode of Exploring North Carolina, learn the storied history of the man behind the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River and the controversies that surrounded this high peak.
