Recycling Prevalent During WWII

Although the idea of recycling seems new to those who have grown up in the age of mass production and disposable goods it is not a modern concept.  The practice of reusing and recycling has ebbed and flowed throughout history.

Difficult economic times of the 1930s, followed by the high demand for goods during WWII led to increased conservation and recycling efforts.  Citizens were asked to help through scrap drives. 

Before the United States even entered WWII an aluminum drive was organized in Transylvania County.  The Boy Scouts of Brevard initiated an informal contest between town and county residents.  The Girl Scouts and Junior Missionary Club joined in collecting items from town residents.  In the county, 4-H and Grange Clubs gathered the items.  Together they collected approximately 300 pounds of aluminum during the first week of August 1941.

A load of scrap metal for the war effort, October 19, 1942.

A statewide scrap metal drive sponsored by North Carolina newspapers in October 1942 offered prizes for largest poundage collected.  Transylvania County placed 2^nd with a total of 2,491,031 pounds.  The county was awarded a $500 war bond or a cash equivalent to be used for public good.  

The Salvage Committee opted for the cash prize of $375.  The money was donated to the Monroe Wilson Post of the American Legion, local schools, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

On the county level $25 war bonds were given to the business or individual reporting the largest poundage, the school with the highest per student amount and the junior organization and women’s organization with the largest contributions.

Ecusta was the largest industrial contributor in the county with 879,883 pounds. The school prize went to Pisgah Forest School.  They collected 467 pounds per student.  No women’s organizations participated so the 2^nd place school, Brevard High, was awarded a prize as well.   Harry Straus donated Ecusta’s $25 war bond prize to the 3^rd place school, Little River.  The Junior Commandos won the prize for junior organizations.         

In addition to providing valuable resources to the government scrap drives offered citizens a means of contributing to and aiding in the war effort.

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.

Gaging stations

Rosman Gaging Station

Gaging stations are facilities used by hydrologists to monitor streams, rivers, lakes or other bodies of water.  Instruments at these stations collect information such as water height, discharge and water chemistry and temperature.

The US Geological Survey has gaging stations at thousands of locations across the United States.  Measurements from these stations are useful for flood prediction, water management, and recreation and navigation purposes. 

Transylvania County has gaging stations on the French Broad River at Rosman and Blantyre.  There was also a gaging station on the south side of the French Broad River at Calvert until 1955.  On the Davidson River there is a gaging station located downstream from Sycamore Flats.

Calvert Gaging Station

The small concrete structures at Calvert and Davidson River were constructed using WPA funds in 1934.  The buildings are quite small, about 3 feet square.  Both have an art deco look to their poured concrete exteriors.  They contain vents with slats or louvers and narrow metal doors.  A small window allows some light into the Calvert structure as well.

The Rosman station was built in 1935 but is much plainer.  The small frame structure, with a simple wooden walkway, is raised on a cinder block foundation.  A trapdoor in the foundation provides access to the measuring panel.

The Blantyre station is a cinderblock building constructed in the 1950s.  Access is from metal ladder attached to the bridge and then across a wood and metal suspension walking bridge.

Measuring sticks or staff gages, which were basically giant rulers, measured the height of the water above a fixed point.  Stage values could be converted into discharge values for the stream.  The old gages would have been read manually.

Flood stage at Rosman is 9 feet.  The highest recorded stage was 14.95 feet on October 4, 1964.  The drainage area covers nearly 68 square miles. 

Blantyre Gaging Station

At Blantyre the drainage area is 296 square miles and flood stage is 16 feet.  The record at Blantyre is 27.10 feet on July 16, 1916.

The drainage area for the Davidson River site covers 40 square miles.  Flood stage is 9 feet, with the highest recorded stage at 12.08 on August 17, 1994.

Today measurements are computerized.  Data is recorded at 15-to-60-minute intervals and transmitted to USGS offices every 1 to 4 hours, although it may be more frequent during critical events.  Information is available online at waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt for the Blantyre, Rosman and Davidson River sites.

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.

BC 1960s

When Emmett K.  McLarty became president of Brevard College in the summer of 1957 he saw the need to strengthen academics, particularly the science, music and arts departments.  Within two years he had begun a capital campaign to build additional classrooms and dorms, a new gym, administration building, library, dining hall and student union.

By the start of the 1965 fall term three new buildings were open, new athletic fields were in place, streets had been paved and renovations for the music department were nearly complete.

The Bryan Moore Science Building opened in August 1961.  It housed the math, chemistry, physics and biology departments.  The building was also home to the Chelf Gem and Mineral Collection featuring over 700 specimens from the U.S. and foreign countries.

The Cary Boshamer gym was completed in 1962 and its indoor pool opened in January 1963.

The new administration building was completed in 1965.  It was named for Grier Beam, a college Trustees and strong supporter of the building expansion program.  It provided space for offices formerly located in the Campus Center.

This allowed for renovations of the Campus Center for the music department.  Renamed Dunham Music Center, it offered classroom space, teaching studios, a music reference library and offices all under one roof.  Previously it had been scattered throughout the campus wherever space was available.

Construction of the new library in 1967.  The old library, before it was
expanded into the Student Union is to the right of the construction site.

By the fall of 1966 the new Lena Sun Beam Dorm had opened and the new library was under construction.  Beam dormitory originally housed 180 girls in private and double rooms built as suites.

The new James Addison Jones Library, which opened in May 1967, had three times the book capacity of the former library.  It also had seminar rooms, group study rooms and a faculty research area. 

Myers Dining Hall opened in 1968.  It had a large dining room and two private dining rooms available for student or faculty meetings and special occasions.

The completion of the library and cafeteria allowed for renovations to their former spaces.  The Music Department expanded into the old cafeteria in the former Campus Center building, now Dunham Music Center.  The former library would be remodeled and expanded as the new student center.

In 1970 the McLarty-Goodson Classroom Building on the campus quad was opened.  It was named for President McLarty, who worked tirelessly to build both the campus and the student body.  He had died suddenly in 1968.  Kenneth Goodson was a college trustee and Methodist Church bishop in Birmingham, Alabama.

This mid-1980s photograph show Jones and Beam dormitories behind the library.
On the right are the Moore Science, Beam Administration and
McLarty-Goodson buildings.

When the Sims Student Union opened in January 1971 it completed McLarty’s plan to build excellent physical facilities at Brevard College.  It offered a lounge with a large color television, the Tornado Room with a grill, billiard and table tennis rooms, a mail room and a book store. 

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.

BC after WWII

Following WWII there was renewed sense of growth at Brevard College.  Enrollment rose to record numbers. The increased number of students and improved economic conditions combined to start a much needed and long dreamed of building boom on the campus.

In late 1947 a new cafeteria opened.  1948 saw the construction of a library, an infirmary and a new classroom building for the sciences.

The Mary Frances Stamey Memorial Infirmary was dedicated on July 10, 1948.  It was named in honor of a former student, who had died two years earlier.  Funds donated by her family financed the project.

On April 10, 1948 the new library was dedicated.  Named for benefactor and trustee James Addison Jones it contained 40,000 volumes and could accommodate 120 people.  

The third new building was a wood frame building constructed by the government to temporarily meet the college’s need for a science building.   It was used for physics, chemistry, biology and home economics until the Moore Science Building was constructed in 1961.

Also during the fall of 1948 two double tennis courts were constructed near the veterans housing, allowing the tennis team to hold home matches.

As Brevard College approached the centennial of one of its parent institutions in 1953 various alumni chapters came together to create the Centennial Gateway.  Constructed of brick, the entrance gate is directly across from First United Methodist.  In 1953 it offered easy access to the church from Dunham Hall which was the heart of the campus at the time.

The gateway is 36 feet wide and 14 feet high with an 8 foot wide entryway.  Marble plaques recognize Rutherford College (1853), Weaver College (1872), Brevard Institute (1895) and the merger into Brevard College in 1934.

Much needed new dorms were constructed in the 1950s for both women and men.  Annabel Jones Hall opened in 1953 and was expanded in 1958.  In 1957 a new men’s hall opened replacing the veterans’ housing.

This aerial photograph of Brevard College was taken in the early 1960s.  It shows Boshamer Gym and the Moore Science Building constructed in the 1960s.  Through the center of photograph are Annabel Jones Hall, Stamey Infirmary,
the first James Addison Jones Library (across from Stamey), the Campus Center building,
the old Dunham Hall, Green Hall and Taylor.

The following year, 1958, the long awaited Campus Center Building was completed.  It included a cafeteria and kitchen, student and faculty lounges, the campus post office, an auditorium that could seat over 500 and a book store.  The book store also featured a soda fountain.

The 1960s and early 1970s saw continued growth on the college campus.  Next week’s Picturing the Past will finish up the series of articles on Brevard College with a look at the McLarty era.

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.

BC Started During Great Depression

Brevard College got its start during the Great Depression.  Although times were tough the institution had big dreams.

Almost immediately there was a need for additional space.  Plans included a new women’s dorm, a science building, a library and an infirmary.

Construction of the Brevard College rock wall in 1937.

One of the first building projects was the stone wall along the west and south sides of the campus.  Students collected the river rock and WPA funds were used to hire workers.  The wall created a boundary along the football and baseball fields.  

The school's first gymnasium, located east of the athletic fields, was completed in 1939.   As mentioned in a previous article, this was built with mainly student labor.

The old Breese home, known as Virginia Lodge, and the Little Biddie Coop were used to house girls for several years beginning in 1935.   

In early 1941 Brevard College had an enrollment of approximately 400 students but the facility was considered sub-standard.  It was believed that Brevard could not meet the need for upgrades and investment.  Relocating the junior college and converting it to a 4-year college designed on a self-help model where students were trained and worked in industry and agriculture was proposed.  

The Western North Carolina conference of the Methodist Church agreed instead to develop the Brevard location.  The citizens of Brevard, Transylvania County and surrounding counties began a campaign to raise the funds required.

As the U.S. entered WWII and large numbers of young men entered into military service Brevard College made changes to assist with training citizens.  In September 1940 a Civilian Pilot Training Program was created.  In 1943 the program was renamed Civil Aeronautics Administration War Training Service.  It included 240 hours of ground school study.  Flight training was held at Meyer Flying Service in Hendersonville.

With fewer male students enrolled, the girls were now able to use Taylor Hall as a dormitory.   This provided temporary relief for the housing shortage on campus.  The 1944 annual lists just 56 seniors, only six were boys.  

Brevard College housing for WWII veterans.

By 1947 enrollment had boomed to nearly 500, including a small number of post-graduate students and a class of pre-college students.  Approximately 50% of the student body consisted of veterans.  As boys returned to college in record numbers temporary housing was built.  Four new two-story, barracks style dorms of wood construction were erected to house 200 men.

By the late 1940s, with enrollment back up, growth was on the horizon.  Next week’s article will look at the college’s building boom begun in 1948.

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.