Brevard College Has Undergone Transitions

In April 1933 the Women’s Missionary Council of the Methodist Church, South, decided to close Brevard Institute after 35 years of operation.  Brevard Institute had grown out of Rev. and Mrs. Fitch Taylor’s school for girls established in 1895.  Within a few years it was providing accredited high school education for both girls and boys, along with religious, moral and physical training.

Also in 1933, the Western North Carolina Methodist Conference had been looking for a site for a new junior college being created by the merger of Weaver College and Rutherford College.  In July it was announced that the Brevard Institute property was donated to the conference for this purpose.

Brevard College map, drawn by T. McNeil, Oct. 11, 1939.

The Minutes of the Forty-Fourth Session of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference held November 15-20, 1933 in Charlotte included an itemized list of Brevard properties.  Included were “about 106 acres of splendid farm land in a high state of cultivation with about sixteen acres in an apple orchard”, as well as buildings.

The oldest building on the campus was Taylor Hall.  In a 1906-07 Brevard Institute catalog it was described as “new, modern in design, and contains over fifty large well lighted, well ventilated rooms.”  It had a furnace, electricity and running water on each floor.

From left:  new Taylor Hall, Spencer Hall, West (old Taylor) Hall.

By 1933 the building was in poor condition.  Brevard Methodist Church pastor Joseph West lead a crew of men to completely update and remodel it to serve as a girls’ dormitory, with a kitchen and dining hall.  At that time it was renamed West Hall.  The building served as the heart of the campus for many years until it was torn down in 1953 to make room for modern, up-to-date facilities.

The boys were housed in Ross Hall and a previously unnamed building that was renamed Taylor Hall.  Both were modern brick structures that had been constructed in the 1920s.  Taylor and Ross Halls, along with the barn, are the last remaining original buildings from the Brevard Institute era.

The barn had been built shortly before Brevard Institute’s closure.  It continued to be used for agricultural purposes until 1957 when it was converted into a gym.  Later it was used by the theater department for many years.

Spencer Hall was located between Taylor Hall and West Hall but faced west toward Hwy 64 (Broad St.).  It contained the administration offices, class rooms, laboratories and an auditorium that would seat about 250 people.  Built in 1914 Spencer Hall was renamed Dunham Hall in 1949.  In 1957 it became known simply as the Classroom Building.  It was torn down in 1971.

The value of the property was about $250,000.  Additional property was donated, leased or purchased from W. E. Breese, J.H. Picklesimer, C.W. Picklesimer, Mrs. Carrie Zachary, Miss Florence Kearn, the Brevard Building and Loan Association and the Town of Brevard.

In addition the Women’s Council and Brevard Institute donated or sold at very low cost farm implements, office equipment and dormitory furniture and fixtures to the college.  The Town of Brevard agreed to provide free water for the first 6 years.

The first Brevard College annual lists 39 members in the Class of 1935.  There were also 264 freshmen, 40 members of a commercial class and 11 preparatory students that first year.

Next week Picturing the Past will cover the struggles and growth of Brevard College’s early years.

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.