Spruce Pine is a town in Mitchell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,175 at the 2010 census.

Spruce Pine was founded in 1907 bearing in mind the Clinchfield Railroad made its mannerism up the North Toe River from Erwin, Tennessee. The town was originally centered regarding a tavern operated by Isaac English, located upon an obsolete roadway that ran from Cranberry, North Carolina, down to Marion, NC. The Old English Inn still stands at its native location near the middle of town. In 1923, after an escaped convict allegedly raped a local resident, a large armed mob rounded taking place scores of men who were laboring on a road construction project and forced them to depart town upon boxcars. North Carolina Governor Cameron Morrison deployed National Guard troops to Spruce Pine suitably that the workers could return and unconditional the road.

The railroad, combined with a quickly expanding mining industry (the town is the namesake of the well-known Spruce Pine Mining District) made Spruce Pine the largest town in the Toe River Valley, as it became the hub of commerce and culture for the area. Spruce Pine was the home of The Feldspar Company and Spruce Pine Mica, and additional major mining interests had operations in and around the town.

With the subside in use of railroads to ship goods, along past increasing automation in the mining industry, the town has recently seen its fortunes dwindle and has undertaken a major effort to reinvent itself. Tourism has become a major economic force in the region, and the town’s proximity to the Blue Ridge Parkway, combined gone its location close the edge of the Blue Ridge Escarpment, has helped make Spruce Pine a travel destination for many. The town plus boasts the moniker of “The Mineral City of the World”.