The community of Bat Cave, including the Middle Fork section, borders on Rutherford and Buncombe counties. Grave sites of many of the earliest settlers in the community are most likely located in cemeteries within Rutherford County, near Chimney Rock and Lake Lure, and in Buncombe County.
There are three church cemeteries in the community. Two of these are located at Bat Cave Baptist Church and the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration. The Huntley Family Cemetery is listed as Middle Fork Baptist Church Cemetery in the Henderson County N.C. Cemeteries book. Early 1900s newspaper reports called the cemetery the Middle Fork Cemetery.
From a Charlotte newspaper after the Flood of 1916: “Highway 74 (Charlotte Highway) had just been completed. The road and all its bridges were totally washed away, as were the Gerton, Bearwallow, Bat Cave and Chimney Rock Post Offices. Middle Fork, between Gerton and Bat Cave, was one of the areas most affected by the flood. The sides of the mountains gave way; one farmer could only stand by and watch as the mountain collapsed and swept away his house. The farmer’s wife and all his children were killed. At least two who died in the flood are buried in Middle Fork Cemetery. Many other bodies were never found, and many people who lost everything could not afford to mark their loved ones’ graves.”
There are six family cemeteries in the Bat Cave community.
Bat Cave Baptist Church and Cemetery
Conner (Connor) Family Cemetery
Edney Family Cemetery (Edney Inn Road)
Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration and Cemetery
Hill Family Cemetery (Bat Cave)
Middle Fork Baptist Church and Cemetery (Huntley Family Cemetery)