Alleghany County Sesquicentennial Committee is planning the Kick Off Event for the year-long Sesquicentennial Celebration. The event will be held at the Alleghany County Courthouse February 12,2009, beginning at 6:00 pm. The Library’s Black History Month Celebration featuring a presentation given by Mike Wiley about The Story of Emmitt Till will start at 6. The Sesquicentennial Kick Off will follow at 7:00 pm.

There will be talks given by Judge Richard Doughton, Sparta Mayor John Miller, and County Commissioner Chairman Ken Richardson. There will also be a reception with food and entertainment afterward at the Alleghany Jubilee.

February 12, 2009 will mark 150 years since the legislation that created the county passed in the North Carolina General Assembly. Alleghany County was formed in 1859 from Ashe County. It was named for an Indian tribe; the name is derived from a corruption of the Delaware Indian name for the Alleghany and Ohio Rivers and is said to have meant "a fine stream."

It is in the northwestern section of the State and is bounded by the state of Virginia and Surry, Wilkes and Ashe counties. The present land area is 233.03 square miles and the 2000 population was 10,677.

The act creating the county ordered the court to be held at Shiloh Church until the public buildings were erected unless otherwise directed by the justices of the peace. Commissioners were named to locate a site for the county seat at the geographical center of the county, acquire the land, establish the town of Sparta, and erect the courthouse. Sparta is the county seat.