Peggy Crosby Center

Issue: 2020/07 – July | Photograph By: Marjorie Christiansen Photography

Even though the Peggy Crosby Center is practically a legend in Highlands, there are still those who aren’t sure of its true purpose. 

Simply put, the Peggy Crosby Center provides low-cost office space to aid helping-hand organizations and small business ventures on the Plateau. 

Why is that crucial? Peggy Crosby Center Board members responded:

Martha Anne Carmichael: “So, I’ve decided I want to help my community.  I want to help/support/educate/train.  The people that need an ear to listen, need someone to teach them a language, someone to show them how to fill out a form, put them in touch with other people.  I want to do all this, but how do I start?  Where can I find a space to organize this, a place where everyone can come and join, a place where the work is valued and can be expanded upon? Ah…the Peggy Crosby Center.  A place by the community and for the community.” 

Joan Dyer: “Peggy, with her pretty face and open arms, welcomes those who visit her to learn, heal, preserve, obtain assistance and enhance our community. Peggy Crosby Center is a real gem in our town. Her concept is unique and we are the envy of other communities.“

Robert E Smith: “The town’s nonprofits are greatly aided when affordable office space can be obtained. This also goes for small business ventures. Keeping and maintaining a key older building by re-purposing it preserves our history and memories as well as demonstrating the value of preservation of the property and in our case its historic trees.”

Ellis McIntyre: “I love the energy I get from working with the Peggy Crosby Center. Watch the transformation of this old dingy building into a bright lively building filled with tenants going about the business of making the Highlands community a better place and watching the grounds being transformed from dry, eroded landscaping to a cutting edge conservation-oriented pollinator habitat is amazing to me. In my nine years serving on the board of PCC, the entire campus has moved from outdated into the modern age. The fact that our tenants can create their magic for Highlands, knowing that their low rent rate lets them increase their programs and outreach in our community is very gratifying to me. I wish everyone in Highlands knew the story and could appreciate the fact that giving to PCC helps every single tenant in our building.”   

If you’d like to know more about the center, located at 348 South Fifth Street, call (828) 526-9938, or, and this is the Highlands way, stop in for a chat with Executive Manager James Plemmons.