CHIMNEY ROCK, N.C. (WLOS) — If you happen to be coming into Chimney Rock from Bat Cave on US-64, the change in the area is obvious.
From the drastic shifts in the landscape post-Helene, to the businesses still working their way back, to the wandering goat who has adopted the town as its new home.
“Chimney Rock is a special place. It kinda gets ahold of you,” Peter O’Leary said.
He would know. He opened Bubba O’Leary’s General Store over 30 years ago.
“I was at another job at Chimney Rock Park and left there, and we decided we wanted to stay in Chimney Rock and didn’t know what to do, so we said, ‘Let’s start a general store,” O’Leary said.
He also happens to be the mayor of Chimney Rock.
As business owner and mayor, O’Leary’s been at the center of the flurry of activity, which might be why he looked to someone else to take a big-picture approach to the new coat of paint going on the side of his general store.
SEPT. 2026 – A new mural on the side of Bubba O’Leary’s General Store in Chimney Rock, North Carolina. (Photo: WLOS Staff)
“I don’t paint canvases. I’ve never painted canvases,” said Andrea Martin. “I love the challenge. I love being up on a lift and having that freedom of just me and the wall.”
The wall is her canvas, and Martin isn’t quite alone; the furry, four-legged namesake of Bubba O’Leary sometimes joins her as she decorates the side of the business with a mural of some of Chimney Rock’s hallmarks.
Bubba’s portrait is, of course, a focal point of the business, which is appropriate since Mayor O’Leary says, “We’ve always had a Bubba as a mascot.”
Martin got to work a few weeks back painting a mural, with Bubba supervising.
With the town welcoming visitors back and the general store still under construction, O’Leary felt like the timing was right for a new mural.
“We said, now’s the time to do it. Now’s the time to do something new and beautiful that tells a little bit of the story about Chimney Rock, about Bubba’s, about the recovery,” the mayor said.
SEPT. 2026 – A new mural on the side of Bubba O’Leary’s General Store in Chimney Rock, North Carolina. (Photo: WLOS Staff)
Martin is no stranger to the area.
“We’ve spent so much time here, and I just think about all the great memories we’ve had,” she said.
The muralist also gets the bonus of witnessing the sights and sounds of progress as she works.
“I love seeing all the new activity now that they’re coming back, as I sit here and paint,” she said.
Whether people rediscover Chimney Rock or visit for the first time, they can stop by a general store with an unframed picture on the side that tells a little story of the area, to help give them a sense of history and place for the little town along the river they’re standing in.