George Phillip's Ran A First-Class Bakery

George Phillips was born in Wurttenburg, Germany in 1862.  As a young man he immigrated to the United States in 1889.  He later became a naturalized citizen of the U.S.  Phillips was a baker by trade.

On June 25, 1909 the Sylvan Valley News announced that George Philip (spellings of his surname vary in documents and articles), “a baker of long experience” was opening a “first-class bakery” in Brevard.

Phillip’s Bakery was located in the Jenkins store building on the southwest corner of Main and Caldwell streets.  The newspaper reported that the old oven at the Franklin Hotel was temporarily used to bake bread while the new business was being set-up.

Phillip's Bakery on West Jordan St., circa 1928

Around 1920 the bakery relocated to a new brick building on Jordan St. behind present day Bullwinkle’s.  The bakery continued to operate until the mid-1930s when Phillips’ health began to fail.  Apparently he lost his eyesight and was unable to continue working, then lost his business.

Phillips had never married and had little family in the United States.  A niece who lived in Colorado helped support him and offered to pay for his return to Germany.  The plan was for George to live with his brother and sister in Wurttenburg.  In September 1936 passage was booked on the steamship, Berlin.

In August 1939, Mrs. C.Y. Patton, the Welfare Superintendent for Transylvania County was notified that the German government considered Phillips a “pauper who was a burden on the State” and was sending him back to the U.S.  Mrs. Patton arranged for Phillips to once again make his home in Transylvania County through support from North Carolina’s State Blind Commission, the Transylvania Welfare department and local friends.

Phillips initially lived with the Ed Mackey family in Little River and later with the Herbert Bailey family.  He died on September 16, 1944 and is buried at the Cathey’s Creek Cemetery.

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.

Cemeteries Provide Another View of Life

There are more than 100 cemeteries scattered throughout Transylvania County.  These range from small family plots to abandoned cemeteries to church cemeteries to public cemeteries.

Gravestone for Alfred Erwin Gash located in the Orr Cemetery.  

The inscription states that Gash was 

“fatally wounded in the streets of Asheville, N.C. 

while endeavoring to make peace between two combatants.”

Cemeteries can provide another view of our past.  The monuments, from simple to ornate, and their inscriptions tell about individuals or families.

Cemeteries verify outbreaks of illnesses or other tragedies that strike a local area.  The Glazener-Kitchen Cemetery contains the graves of six children of J. & N. Glazener who died between 1842 and 1848.  Ben Fisher and three of his sons who drowned on May 16, 1936 are buried in Oak Grove Baptist Cemetery.

Often graves include references to military service, military markers or markers from fraternal organizations such as the Masons, Eastern Star and Woodmen of the World.   

Tombstone of Hume family 

beneath St. Philip’s Episcopal Chruch.

Transylvania County’s must unique cemetery is located beneath St. Philip’s Episcopal Church.  The original wooden church was built around 1890 but was destroyed by a Christmas Day fire in 1925.  The new stone church was built above the small cemetery behind the original church.  There are about a dozen graves dating from 1879-1907.

In the early 1980s a group undertook the task of identifying all of the cemeteries and tombstones in the county.  Transylvania County North Carolina Cemetery Survey is a compilation of cemetery locations, along with inscriptions from readable grave markers.   As noted in the book’s preface many graves are simply marked with fieldstones, others have not stood the test of time and are illegible.  And there were a few graves that were just missed, but overall this provides researchers with valuable information.

More recently individuals and groups have compiled lists of grave markers and supplemental information for specific cemeteries throughout the county.  The Rosman Historical Association has published four books covering Mt. Moriah Calvert Baptist Church Cemetery, Old Toxaway Baptist Church Upper Cemetery, Middlefork Baptist Church Cemetery & Galloway Memorial Park and the Glazener Family Cemetery.  The Cathey’s Creek Heritage Committee recently published Cathey’s Creek Baptist Church Cemetery. 

In addition the Library has copies of unpublished books for the Gillespie-Evergreen and Oak Grove cemeteries in Brevard, and Lakeside (Lake Toxaway Baptist Church), Oak Grove Baptist Church, Whitmire (Flat Creek Valley Rd.), E.D. Owen, James Reid, Miller, Union and Montvale/Whitewater cemeteries in the upper part of the county.

To access an index of Transylvania Times obituaries (1983-2013) visit the Transylvania County Library website at library.transylvaniacounty.org.  Click on the Local History button and then Indexes.  Digital copies of obituaries may be requested free of charge through the Library’s website.

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.

Paper Plant Opened Before World War II

Ecusta property, before construction

“Paper Plant To Locate on Davidson River Site” was the banner headline for the May 5, 1938 Transylvania Times.  According to the press release the Ecusta Paper Corporation had purchased approximately 225 acres to construct a plant to manufacture cigarette papers.  It was to be the first of its kind in the United States.  Previously almost all high quality cigarette papers were made in France.  The plant would use raw materials from the United States to produce the paper.

The company had spent several months evaluating sites to locate the new plant, including three within Transylvania County.  An “abundant quantity of virgin mountain water of the purest quality” was the deciding factor in selecting the Davidson River location.

Early construction

For the next 15 months over 1000 workers were employed in the construction of 17 plant buildings and a large office building.  Buildings included a raw products warehouse, machine and carpentry shop, a main building with four paper production machines and a finished product warehouse.  There was also a 225-foot high brick smokestack and four water tanks.  The office building was two-story with a basement and boasted of built in air conditioning.

Construction, 1939

Originally the Davidson River went under the bridge on the Asheville Hwy and looped north, then swung back behind where the plant was being constructed.  This looped was diverted to provide better access to the much needed water of the Davidson River.  A pumping station and filtration plant were located near the river.

Davidson River 

Ecusta, 1939

As the opening of the plant neared the steam whistle blew for the first time on June 14, 1939. In July 1939 it was announced that Harry Straus was also relocating the headquarters for both Champagne Paper Corporation and Boucher Cork Company to Pisgah Forest.

 On September 9, 1939 a huge picnic was held at the Pink Beds for the construction crews and new plant employees along with local businessmen celebrating the completion of the Ecusta Paper Corporation.

Early aerial view,
 notice the tree lined loop of the river
north of the straightened section of the Davidson River.

This information was taken from Transylvania Times articles from May 1938 through September 1939.

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.

Saw Mill, Lumber Yard and General Store Were Three Early Pisgah Forest Businesses

In the early 1900s Pisgah Forest had businesses located on both sides of the Davidson River.  On the west side Louis Carr built a saw mill and lumber yard for his logging company. 

Carr had come to the U.S. from Italy as a youth.  He worked a variety of jobs and saved his money until he got into the railroad and timber business in West Virginia.  

Carr Lumber Yard, 1941.  Pisgah Forest Depot on left.

In 1912 he purchased nearly 70,000 acres from Mount Pisgah to Pisgah Forest from George Vanderbilt.  Carr also owned and operated over 100 miles of standard gauge railroad to transport the timber to his saw mill.  He had a double band saw, a planeing mill, a flooring plant, and a dry kiln.  Customers included Biltmore Hardwood Flooring and numerous furniture plants in North Carolina. 

With over 500 employees Carr Lumber was the largest employer in Transylvania County until 1949.  In addition Carr operated a large timber company in New Mexico from the late 1920s until 1945.  Carr Lumber in Pisgah Forest closed in 1957, four years after Louie Carr’s death.

Carr Lumber employees at Company Store.

More information about Carr Lumber can be found in Heritage of Transylvania County, Volume 2 and Volume 3, Logging Railroads of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains by Tom Fetters and A Man Named Luigi by Frank Carr, Jr.

 A swinging bridge over the Davidson River provided easy access for Carr Lumber employees to Hedrick’s Store on the east side of the river.  The old Davidson River Presbyterian Church and the old Pisgah Forest School were also located on the east side of the Davidson River.

Howard Hedrick had operated a general store in a sawmill town in West Virginia in the early 1900s.  When the mill closed he decided to move to another sawmill town.  During a trip to western North Carolina he visited Carr Lumber and Pisgah Forest.  Hedrick liked what he saw, purchased property across the river from Carr Lumber and soon moved his business and family here.

Hedrick’s early 3-story store in Pisgah Forest.  

Pictured from left:  Sunday, Howard, Lorena,  Tina and Ada Hedrick.

The original store was 3-stories and had 30-rooms, including apartments.   That building was completely destroyed by fire on Thanksgiving Day, 1930.  Hedrick rebuilt a smaller store nearby.  Local mill workers, farmers and school children kept the store busy.  The Hedrick family also had living quarters at the store.

In a 1972 article by Cal Carpenter, Lorena Hedrick stated that penny candy was a hot item with school children.  “The children brought their pennies to buy candy.  They used to bring hen eggs, too, and we bought them for whatever they were worth at the time so the children could buy candy with the money.”

Lorena Hedrick continued to run the business after Howard’s death in 1952. Hedrick’s closed around 1973.

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.