BHS Has Fielded Teams Since 1920

Brevard’s first high school opened in 1908.  Almost from its beginning Brevard High had intramural sports.  The earliest record of teams competing against other schools are from 1922 when a men’s basketball team was formed.  Baseball, football, track and tennis teams were added in the 1920s, as well.

The 1928 Brevard High girls' basketball team was the
Western North Carolina Champions.
L-R: 1st row:  Coach Tilson, Mildred Clayton, Lillian Ponder, Josephine
Clayton, Vera Jones, Dot Fetzer.
2nd row:  Molly Snelson, Liza Nicholson, Francis Morris, Sue
Hollingswoth, Beulah May Zachary, Adelaide Silversteen.
3rd row:  Mary Osborne Wilkins, Ethel McMinn, Ruth Snelson.

In the early 1920s with a fast growing enrollment plans were made to construct a new high school.  An August 22, 1924 Brevard News article states, “In order to cut down the cost, the Board of Education cut out the swimming pool which was in the original plan.”  This would have been an indoor pool in the basement of the school and may have led to the addition of a swim team.

Girls began playing inter-school basketball during the 1925-26 school year.  These early teams wore black uniforms with loose fitting bloomer-style shorts.  Vera Jones Stinson talking about the first game they wore shorts stated, “We were so busy trying hide behind each other out of embarrassment, we lost the game.”

First Brevard High football team, 1925.

Brevard High School played their first football game on October 10, 1925 against Canton.  Their first win was a 6-0 victory over Weaverville on November 27.  Initially all games were played during the day. 

In 1945 the Brevard Athletic and Recreation Association was formed with the goal of providing improvements to the athletic fields at Brevard High and Brevard College.  The Blue Devils played their first night game on October 5, 1945.  Approximately 500 people attended the game despite a cold and rainy night.  Three weeks later the second night game draw over 2000 people.

The Blue Devils won their first State Championship in 1960 under Coach Cliff Brookshire.  In 1963 the team made history when it became the first integrated high school team in North Carolina.  That team finished the season with a record of 10-1-1 and was the Class AAA Co-Champions.  The championship game was a very somber affair as it was played on November 23, 1963—the day after President Kennedy was assassinated.  The championship trophy is on display at the Library with the Hometown Teams exhibit.

As schools went through the integration process of the mid-1960s cheerleading squads lagged behind.  At Brevard High African-American girls tried out for cheerleading every year but were led to believe they were not talented enough.  Finally in 1970 the African-American students protested by refusing to leave after school one-day.  There was a lot of controversy involving students, parents, community members and the School Board before an African-American girl was selected and added to the squad as an alternate.  She was only allowed to cheer at home games though.

Today Brevard High athletes participate in baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, softball, soccer, tennis, track & field, volleyball and wrestling. 

Cheer on the Blue Devils this coming Friday evening when they meet Tuscola High for the 2015 Homecoming game.

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.

Rosman High Has Strong Sports Tradition

1933 Rosman High School basketball teams.

Sports have a strong tradition at Rosman High School.  While early records and statistics are difficult to find Rosman High had basketball teams by the mid-1920s.  A January 21, 1926 newspaper article mentions the boys’ team being defeated by Brevard High while the girls’ team won their game against Brevard.

Rosman fielded its first football team in 1959 with Bill Cathey as the head coach.  During Cathey’s 10 seasons the Tigers compiled a record of 52-39-7.  They were named co-champions of the Pisgah Conference in 1964 and co-champions of the Appalachian Conference in 1968.  Coach Jim Fox, who led Rosman during two stints as head coach (1980-1983 and 1997-2006) has the most wins (88) and most games (170) with the Tigers.

For several years in the 1970s and 1980s Rosman High held an annual powderpuff football game.  Two teams of girls would compete in flag football.  In a change of roles the boys served as cheerleaders.  One former participant remembers it as a fun-filled evening with support from the entire community.

 

1954 Rosman High School cheerleaders--Polly Petit, Sylvia Robinson, Joann Hall and Hope Owen.

Rosman High fielded its first baseball team in 1965, track & field started in 1973.  Girls gained two new sports during the 1976-77 school year with the addition of volleyball and softball.  Wrestling began in 1985, cross country in 1989 and a golf team was formed in 1999. 

In 2002 Rosman captured its first state championship in any team sport when the volleyball team defeated Midway High School for the 1-A title.  They finished the season with a record of 33-2.  Their trophy will be on display at the Library throughout the Hometown Teams exhibit.

Information on athletics was gathered from newspaper articles, the Rosman High School football statistics website and high school annuals.  The Local History Room at the Library still needs copies of several Rosman High annuals, including 1949, 1952, 1953, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1972, 1973, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2003.  If you would like to donate any of these to the Library please contact the Local History Room.

Today Rosman High athletes participate in baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, softball, track & field, volleyball and wrestling. 

Go out and cheer for the Tigers this coming Friday evening when they take on Hayesville in the 2015 Homecoming game.

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.

Nature's Playground

The Smithsonian traveling exhibit, Hometown Teams, is now up at the Library.  As part of the Museum on Main Street program the goal is to bring the Smithsonian to small towns across America and to connect local history and resources with the communities across the nation.  While the exhibit is here Picturing the Past will be featuring stories of how sports have shaped Transylvania County.

Tennis at the Franklin Hotel in Brevard.

Although the exhibit features traditional sports and their impact on American culture it purposefully does not define sports.  In Transylvania County recreational sports and activities have played an important role since the late 1800s.   Early advertisements and tourism brochures urged city dwellers to enjoy the outdoor life in “Nature’s Playground.” 

Thousands of visitors came for clean mountain air and water and the cool summer climate.  They took full advantage of the leisurely lifestyle and recreational activities offered at exclusive mountain resorts and homey boarding houses where the emphasis was on health and relaxation. 

Fairfield Inn on Lake Fairfield was actually in Jackson County but visitors travelled through Brevard and Transylvania County to reach the resort.  Fairfield offered swimming, boating, fishing and horseback riding.  The last standing of the famed resorts, Fairfield Inn burned in 1986.

Sapphire Inn on Lake Sapphire provided boating, fishing and horseback riding for its guests.  The Sapphire Inn was destroyed by fire on July 25, 1906.

A day on Lake Toxaway.

The most developed of the mountain resorts in terms of recreational offerings was Toxaway Inn on Lake Toxaway.  In addition to boating, fishing, horseback riding and swimming, Toxaway Inn had a golf course and tennis courts.  The Toxaway Inn closed after the dam burst on August 13, 1916 draining Lake Toxaway.

Although Toxaway Inn was torn down in 1947, Lake Toxaway was revived by Reginald Heinitsh, Sr. in the early 1960s.  Today Lake Toxaway offers boating, fishing, swimming, golf, tennis and croquet to residents and visitors.

With the creation of the Pisgah National Forest in 1916 thousands of acres in Transylvania County truly did become a natural playground for those with less financial means as well as the wealthy.  In 1938 the Pisgah Forest Highway (Hwy 276) was built and construction on the Blue Ridge Parkway from Mount Pisgah to Beech Gap began in 1939 expanding access to recreational opportunities throughout the Pisgah National Forest.

Enjoying a bike outing.

Today Transylvania County’s natural playground provides an outdoor gym for residents and visitors in its forests, rivers and parks. Bracken Preserve, DuPont State Recreational Forest, Gorges State Park, Pisgah and Nantahala National Forest and the French Broad River and its tributaries offer mountain and road biking, boating, canoeing, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, kayaking, rock climbing and swimming.

Transylvania County truly is a place for both competitive and recreational sports.  Next week Picturing the Past will feature sports at Rosman High School.

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.

Springhouses Were Once a Local Necessity

Spring houses were an important building on farms, large and small, in the past.  First, they protected the clean water supply from debris and animals.  Second, they provided natural refrigeration for meats, fruit, vegetables, milk, butter, cheese and other products that spoiled easily during hot weather. 

A dry-stacked fieldstone wall retains the bank
next to a large poured concrete spring box.

Rock, stone or concrete was used to line a natural spring or the water source was diverted to a suitable location where the spring house could be built.  Spring houses were often built into a bank or hillside in a shady location.  Larger spring houses may have had shelves, either of wood or stone, built into the walls.

Because they were constructed of stone rather than wood, spring houses have often survived long after other farm buildings disappered.   

Small spring box.

The most basic versions were a spring box built of stone around the water source and covered with a flat stone, concrete slab, tin or even wood.  Sometimes water was diverted or pumped to a concrete trough on a back or side porch.  Items were placed in the trough to stay cool.

1859 spring house of dry-stack field stone.

Possibly one of the oldest and finest spring houses in Transylvania County has the date “1859” carved in the stone lintel 
above its wood frame doorway.  The spring house is constructed of 


dry-stacked flat field stones that are mortared on the interior.  It has two louvered windows and a tin roof.   A trough running through the center is lined with flat rocks paving the floor on either side.  The water exited through a small hole at the back of the building.   There is also a large stone enclosure around the front of the building that appears to have had a roof at one time.

Spring tub created from an old bathtub. 

One of the more interesting is a spring trough inside a smokehouse.  River rock was used to face an old iron bathtub mostly inside the smokehouse.  A portion of the spring trough/tub projects through the exterior wall.  From the outside the tub faucets are visible, although the water comes from a spigot and pipe running down the side of the building.

The architectural survey of Transylvania County conducted in 1990 identified approximately 30 spring houses.  It’s certain there are many more scattered across the county.

The architectural survey files are available in the Local History Room at the Library.  Copies of Transylvania:  the Architectural History of a Mountain County are still available at the county’s Planning and Community Development department. 

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.