The little crossroads community of Pisgah Forest officially
came into existed in December 1906 when a post office was opened there. Pisgah
Forest was actually the last of the current Transylvania County post offices to
be established.
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| Brevard Tannin Company |
A few years earlier the Brevard Tannin Company began
operations on the north side of the French Broad River on Wilson Road. According to the Certificate of Incorporation
of Brevard Tannin Company dated January 13, 1903 the initial stockholders were
George L. Adams, Frank K. Adams, W.A. Gash, Charles McNames and William P.
Long. The company’s objectives included
“manufacturing, making and obtaining tanning extracts” from timber by using
large machinery to break down the logs.
The resulting product was then loaded into tankers and shipped via rail
to northern tanneries.
Brevard Tannin consisted of a maze of buildings that
included a Carpentry Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Machine Shop and Bark Mill. In addition several acres of property on the
other side of Wilson Road were used as a wood piling ground.
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| Inside Barnett's Machine Shop |
Sid Barnett
was the head machinist for Brevard Tannin. When the tannin plant closed Barnett bought the lathes
and welding machines and opened his own shop at the intersection of
Hendersonville Hwy and Wilson Road in 1923.
For nearly 80 years farmers, mechanics and businesses throughout the area
relied on Barnett’s to custom built anything they needed made of metal and for
metal repair work. Through the years
customers included Transylvania Tannery, Pisgah Mills, Whitmire Mill, Ecusta,
DuPont, Smith Systems, Transylvania County Schools and the Forest Service. Barnett’s Machine Shop closed in 2000.
Other
manufacturing businesses in Pisgah Forest were the Carr Lumber Company and
Ecusta. They will be featured in Picturing the Past articles during the
next two weeks.
Photographs and
information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina
Room, Transylvania County Library. Visit
the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about
our history and see additional photographs.
For more information, comments or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org
or 828-884-3151 X242.
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