Maces Springs is a small settlement on Route 614, a spur off Route 421 that cuts through Poor Valley, in Scott County, Virginia. The settlement consists of a small number of houses and the population is around 200 residents, most of whom live off the road up in the hills. There are now no stores in Maces Springs and its main claim to fame is its association with the country music group, the Carter Family. Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter also known as "Doc" or "AP" was born in Maces Springs and in 1914 he brought his sixteen year old bride Sara Dougherty Carter to live there. They are both buried in the graveyard behind Mount Vernon Methodist Church. AP, Sara and AP's sister in law Maybelle Carter formed the Carter Family in 1927.

Route 614 is now called the AP Carter Highway and two of AP and Sara's children, Joe and Janette, have opened a music hall called "The Carter Fold" on the Clinch Mountain side of the road. The Fold features traditional country music much like that sung and played by the Carter Family.

Further reading

• In The Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music, Nicholas Dawidoff, Vintage Books, 1998. ISBN 0-375-70082-x