Boone is a town located in the northern mountains of North Carolina and in Watauga County, North Carolina, for which it is the county seat and market town. The population was 13,472 at the 2000 census. Boone acquires its name from the famous pioneer and explorer Daniel Boone, who on several occasions camped at a site generally agreed to be within the present city limits. Boone was served by the narrow gauge East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (nicknamed "Tweetsie") until the flood of 1940.