Prior to 1972, a group of people who loved theatre came together to perform plays whenever and wherever they could. Mrs. Elizabeth Barlow, an English and journalism teacher at Beaver Creek High School, played a key role in bringing people together and producing many plays by local playwrights. These productions were performed at Ashe County schools. Dinner theatre shows were also staged at the Greenfield Restaurant and Blue Ridge Elementary School. Props, costumes, and set pieces were stored in the basement of the Jon Marc Department Store, known today as Hometown Furniture.

After 1972, the group began performing three to four shows a year, reorganized, and became Ashe County Little Theatre (ACLT). In June 1981, ACLT incorporated as a nonprofit corporation without capital stock under Chapter 55A of the General Statutes of North Carolina. ACLT has been a part of the Ashe County community for over 50 years and is still going strong. Today, ACLT rents space at the Ashe Civic Center, which is proudly known as “The Home of the ACLT.”