Tryon, NC Native Nina Simone
There are several tributes to Tryon, NC native Nina Simone in her home town, including a mural, a plaza with a beautiful sculpture, and her recently restored childhood home. Simone was a child prodigy who began playing piano at age of 3. She was a lifelong activist for civil rights. Learning about Nina Simone at these sites is a great way to spend part of your day in this charming town in the First Peak of the Blue Ridge.
About Nina Simone
Nina Simone's distinctive voice, powerful blend of classical, blues, and gospel music, and passionate civil rights activism created a decades-long legacy that endures today. She was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon in 1933. She grew up in a three-room clapboard house. That is where she first learned piano. Her father was a Sunday School Teacher. Her mother was a minister. Simone began performing at an early age, singing and playing in church.
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A history of Simone included in the Asheville Black Cultural Heritage Trail states that "During her first recital at 12 years old, Ms. Simone took a stand against the injustices of the Jim Crow South by refusing to play until her parents were moved from the back row to their rightful place in the front."
She graduated from the renowned Allen School in Asheville, a segreated school for Black girls. NASA scientist Christine Darden is also a North Carolina native and alum of the school.
Mural
A large mural of Nina Simone against a floral backdrop is painted on the back side of the Tryon Food and Fuel convenience store on NC 176 in Tryon.
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Nina Simone Memorial Project: Sculpture and Plaza
Downtown Tryon has a sculpture of Simone playing piano that resides in a park-like setting in Nina Simone Plaza.
Directions to Nina Simone Plaza
Take I-26 to exit 67 for Highway 108 Columbus/Tryon. Travel west on Highway 108 for approximately 4 miles to downtown Tryon. The plaza is on the right, across from Upstairs Artspace.
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Nina Simone's Childhood Home in Tryon
Simone's unique musical fusion—which she called "Black Classical Music"—became instrumental in the American Civil Rights Movement. She performed all over the world. Despite her fame, little was known about Simone's childhood home in Tryon until 2016, when the severely deteriorating house faced demolition.
Four artists—painter Adam Pendleton, sculptor Rashid Johnson, collagist Ellen Gallagher, and abstract artist Julie Mehretu—founded Daydream Therapy, LLC and collectively purchased the home for $95,000. According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the organization's "African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund served as lead partner" alongside Tryon's East Side neighborhood residents, Nina Simone's brother Dr. Samuel Waymon, St. Luke CME Church (where Simone's mother was a minister), and architectural and philanthropic partners to save the home.
In 2018, the National Trust for Historic Preservation designated Nina Simone’s Childhood Home as a National Treasure. The home is protected with a preservation easement held by Preservation North Carolina. Rehabilitation on Nina Simone's childhood home was completed in fall 2025.
Directions to NIna Simone's Childhood Home
Take I-26 to exit 67 for Highway 108, Tryon/Columbus. Travel west on Highway 108 for about 3.5 miles. Turn left on East Howard Street. Turn left onto Cleveland Road, then turn right on Markham Road. Follow Markham Road past the “Big Green House” and Garrison Chapel Church. The Nina Simone house will be one block up on the left.
Visit Tryon to see where this music legend began her journey. The First Peak of the Blue Ridge region also celebrates another musical icon: Earl Scruggs, the banjo pioneer honored each Labor Day weekend at the Earl Scruggs Music Festival in nearby Mill Spring.