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Backus Lodge: Remnant of an Era

 

Front view of Backus Lodge, circa 1988

At the turn of the century, many urban industrialists were drawn to the southern Appalachian mountains as an escape from the stresses of their city lives. In 1906 one such man, Edward McAllister Backus of Brooklyn, New York, bought 1450 acres of land straddling the line between Jackson and Transylvania Counties atop Cold Mountain Gap in Lake Toxaway. He was a frequent visitor to the area, thanks to the Toxaway Inn where he spent his leisure time with prestigious guests such as George Vanderbilt, Carl Schenck, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and Henry Ford. He immediately had “Backus Lodge” built in the Adirondack style that was popular at the time.  

The Lodge was built using unpeeled chestnut logs which were packed in straw before being loaded onto ox-driven carts to protect the character of the bark during the bumpy journey up the mountain. The  Lodge's interior is fully hardwood, with exposed poplar ceiling beams and oak planking for both the walls and floors. In addition to the main lodge, a stable and servants’ cottage were constructed. Earth mounds and a block-and-tackle pulley system were utilized in the construction of all buildings, and afterward the dirt was redistributed to even out areas around the small lake that was also created at that time. Backus/Baccus Lodge is on the National Historic Register and is unique in that other than kitchen updates and the addition of electricity in 1986, it remains true to its original construction and unaltered.  

After the bursting of the Toxaway Dam in 1916, Backus sold his property to Jerome Moltz and left the area for good. Moltz was a lumber baron from Pittsburgh and may be remembered by his ownership of what is now the Greystone Inn. He owned the railroad in that area for lumber transportation and extended the tracks to reach The Lodge. In 1922 Moltz sold the ten-acre tract that contained the lodge, stable, and cottage to Sallie Joyner Davis of Greenville, NC. 

Rear view of Backus Lodge, circa 1988

Upon obtaining ownership of Backus Lodge, Sallie, her mother, and her sister Katherine renovated the caretaker’s cottage and stable to include a board-and-batten second story and added a shingle cottage, now known as Davis Cottage, that they used as their family home. They opened the property as an exclusive girls’ camp catering to the wealthy known as “Camp Toxaway” and renamed the main lodge building “Cold Mountain Lodge”. The camp closed in 1935. Katherine continued to live on the property as a private residence until she sold it to Rev. Dan and Christine Williams of Greenville, SC.  

Rev. Williams also constructed two additional buildings: a recreation building and an A-frame chapel. He redubbed the property “Canaan Land” and designated it as a religious retreat. All of the buildings were given Biblical names, which they still bear today. In the mid-1980s Williams passed away and the property was purchased by George and Nancy Corbett of Florida. The Corbetts continue to run Canaan Land as a private retreat for ministry workers and their families.  

The Corbetts purchased approximately 10 acres that they have since added to the property and have continued to improve the land. One such improvement is the addition of twelve “birdhouse” cabins that were transported from another local Christian summer camp, The Wilds, during their camp renovation. Although Backus Lodge has passed through many hands, it’s been preserved as a remnant of an important era in history. Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. This article was written by Local History Librarian Laura Sperry Gardner. For more information, comments, or suggestions, contact NC Room staff at ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.  

C.M. Doyle: Turn of the Century Hardware Man

 

This photo was taken shortly after a barn raising party in 1910 on property owned by Southern Stock & Farm.

On January 19, 1906 new advertisements began appearing in the Sylvan Valley News for Southern Stock and Farming Company of North Carolina. The company was owned by B.G. Estes of Hamburg, New York and managed locally by Charles Montegue “C.M.” Doyle. Doyle was born in Pittsburgh, PA and lived in New York prior to moving to Brevard to manage the business. Estes also moved to Brevard according to the 1910 Census, but then moved away sometime before 1920. The storefront was in the McGaha building until the end of September 1907 when Doyle moved it to the Pickelsimer building. The Pickelsimer building at that time was located where OP Taylor’s and Blast From the Past and Gravy Gift Shops are located today. Behind the building where the locally famous Pickelsimer building would be built in 1922 were a hitching shed and a number of small warehouses for vendors.  Their advertisements predominantly featured farming implements, fencing, horse-drawn buggies, fertilizer, and seed potatoes. The company received its official charter of incorporation in October of 1908.

Southern Stock and Farm was not a long-lived company in Brevard. In March of 1912, Doyle was overseeing the division and sale of at least a portion of the company’s land into residential lots along what is now Broad, North Country Club, Turnpike, and Ashworth roads. Doyle himself purchased a lot located roughly where Gordon Family Pharmacy is today. The last advertisements in the Sylvan Valley News for Southern Stock and Farm appeared in April 1912.  Over that summer Doyle ran a few ads in the newspaper independent of the company, advertising clover and grass seed and selling out of C.C. Yongue’s Grocery.

Charles Montegue Doyle. Photo courtesy of Andy Doyle.

In December of 1912, Doyle opened Brevard Hardware in the same location. It would seem that he had purchased Southern Stock and Farm from Estes as he advertised that he was selling off their old stock and all debts previously owed to the company were now payable to him. Doyle ran Brevard Hardware until October 1919 when Harry P. Clark bought an interest in the store and took over as manager, and Doyle departed on a “business trip north.”

In July of 1920 the Brevard News reported that Doyle had returned to Brevard for a short visit after spending several months in Cuba, Florida, and Texas, and would leave for New York and other northern cities in a few weeks. The brief story closed with “While C. Doyle is as quiet as the Sphinx, at the same time we predict that he will again startle Transylvania in the way of a big business venture in the near future.” It was not to be however. By 1925 Doyle appears in the city directory for Forth Worth, Texas. According to the 1930 Census records he sold life insurance and his wife Blanche was a school teacher. The Doyles remained in Fort Worth until his death in 1961 and hers in 1962. 

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. This article was written by Local History Associate Hale Durant. For more information, comments, or suggestions, contact NC Room staff at ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820. 

Thelma Harrington Bell and Corydon Whitten Bell: Husband and Wife Writing and Illustrating Team

Corydon and Thelma Bell

Corydon and Thelma Bell moved to Rainey Knob in Sapphire in 1944. The duo partnered on seven children’s’ books: Thelma as the writer and Corydon as the illustrator. Many of their books featured the North Carolina highlands as a setting, such as "Mountain Boy." At the time, children’s books were an up-and-coming genre, and their unique perspective on southern Appalachian life was novel and previously unseen in children’s book publishing.

Thelma was born in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Western Reserve University with B.A. in English and minor in Psychology. She worked as a copywriter in advertising for a large department store in Cleveland, Ohio before marrying Corydon and putting her career on hold to focus on raising their three children: Patricia, Whitten, and Nancy.

Corydon was born in Tiffin, Ohio and attended the University of Michigan as a pre-med major, but his studies were interrupted by World War I before completion. He was stationed at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, working as a bacteriologist on the base during the day and conducting the camp’s theatre orchestra in the evenings. Post-war, Corydon abandoned the idea of becoming a doctor and turned to graphic arts. He and Thelma opened an advertising studio in Cleveland, Ohio where he created advertising art while Thelma wrote the copy for their clients. 

After the children were grown, the couple left Cleveland and moved to Rainey Knob in the Sapphire area of Transylvania County. Thelma loved the plant life that now surrounded them and in addition to writing, painted rhododendrons, mushrooms, and flowers of the southern Appalachians. Her art was more than a hobby – her plant illustrations were published and in high demand.

Thelma was an award-winning children’s author. In 1959 she received the AAUW Award in North Carolina for “Captain Ghost”, and in 1961 the same title received the Dorothy Sanfield Fisher Children’s Book Award. “Captain Ghost” and “Yaller Eye” were both Junior Literary Guild selections. In addition to her fiction writing, she also wrote children’s science books such as “Thunderstorm,” “Snow,” “The Riddle of Time,” and “North Carolina.”

"Mountain Boy" illustration, published in 1947

Corydon was one of 150 artists whose works were included in the Ford Times Collection of American Art. The collection, created by the Ford Motor Company, was grouped into 12 exhibits that traveled the world. He illustrated numerous magazine articles and children’s books in addition to those written by his wife. He also was a writer and completed a history of the Champion Paper Company that is currently held in the Western Carolina University Special Collections.

In addition to being a skilled artist, Corydon was also a proficient musician, playing both piano and organ as well as composing his own musical works. The Bells had a close relationship with the Brevard Music Center’s director, James Christian Pfohl, when the site was known as Brevard Music Camp. Some of Corydon’s compositions were played by the NBC Orchestra in Cleveland, Ohio and the Transylvania Symphony under Pfohl’s direction. The couple donated Corydon’s large collection of sheet music to the Western Carolina University music department in 1978.

Corydon passed away in 1980 in Knoxville, TN. It’s unclear why the couple moved there, but five years later when Thelma also passed away, she was also in Knoxville. The impact they left on children’s literature and the admiration that they gave to this region will be forever remembered. Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. This article was written by Local History Librarian Laura Sperry Gardner. For more information, comments, or suggestions, contact NC Room staff at ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820. 

The Ecusta Medical Center: Ahead of Its Time

 

The construction of the Ecusta Medical Center in February 1951, as published in "The Echo" company magazine.

The Ecusta Paper Plant was once a major employer for the region, with over 2,000 employees working on their 225-acre site. It’s hard to believe that one of the few remnants of this once-expansive site is the medical center building, which is in the process of transforming into the new home for Ecusta Brewing.

Built in 1951, the 8,800 square foot building was more than just brick and mortar—it was a revolutionary approach to health and wellness for industrial workers. Harry Straus, the founder of the company, had a vision for the medical center when he brought on his personal friend, Dr. Mac Roy Gasque, as the medical director for the planned facility. When Straus approached Gasque, he expressed the intention of collaborating to create “the best industrial medical department anywhere.”

Gasque was involved in all parts of the planning and implementation of the initiative. As the years went by, Gasque also stayed with Ecusta through its transition to Olin and eventually became the company president before his retirement. Ahead of its time, the facility focused on preventative medicine, though they also provided medical and surgical care, counseling, and routine examinations for employees. The facility was meant to supplement, not replace, the employees’ regular physicians. The concept was so revolutionary that Gasque even won awards and the facility’s initiatives were written about in prestigious medical journals.

When the plant changed hands and then closed in 2003, the medical center was the only building left. It now takes on a second life as a community hub and part of the thriving tourism industry that now bolsters the local economy. Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. This article was written by Local History Librarian Laura Sperry Gardner. For more information, comments, or suggestions, contact NC Room staff at ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.