FLETCHER, N.C. — Preston Blakely's family has a deep history in Western North Carolina, and, as mayor of the Henderson County town of Fletcher, he says there's no place he'd rather be.

What You Need To Know

  • The youngest mayor in North Carolina oversees the town of Fletcher

  • At 28 years old, Preston Blakely leads the 8,000-resident town

  • He also runs his family business

“I planted my roots here after school and I’m really glad to be here,” Blakely said.“I planted my roots here after school and I’m really glad to be here,” Blakely said. At 28, he said he is the state's youngest mayor.

“I mean, walking into this office is pretty surreal and seeing the on the wall and seeing the certificate of election on the wall that has my name on it. To be the mayor of a town, that is literally a pinch-me moment. It’s almost hard to believe some days,” he said.

His family goes back several generations in the region. That makes Blakely especially proud as a graduate of Asheville High School, UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina University.  

“This is my grandmother and I. Oralene Anderson Graves Simmons. She was the first person of color, the first Black person, to attend Mars Hill University,” Blakely said.

Both sides of his family have a rich history in Western North Carolina, but he’s paving his own way.

“I’ve seen my dad and my mom work long nights to make sure I got my education and I was there with them,” Blakely said. "I’ve seen my grandmother do all of the civil rights work that she’s done and she’s dealt with things that you or I could not imagine and would not want to imagine.”

He loves meeting and greeting residents. 

“I love the people, I love the community, I love the small-town feel,” Blakely said.

He knows big cities are luring young people, but he wants to see his peers come back and grow with the town that raised them.

“We’re trying to build a community and a place to live where people want to live at, want to be at, businesses want to come to and more than anything, I want our young people to be able to come back home and live here,” Blakely said.

For the rest of his four-year term, Blakely has a bunch of goals, including improving the town center, but more than anything, he’s filled with gratitude.

“More than anything, I just want to keep serving the people of Fletcher. I love being mayor. I love seeing those roads get fixed. I love seeing the park get maintained. I geek out about the trash getting picked up. We have the best staff here,” Blakely said.

Gov. Roy Cooper recently appointed Blakely to the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice.