Davidson River Is One of County's Oldest Cemeteries

The Davidson River Cemetery in Pisgah Forest is among the oldest cemeteries in Transylvania County.  It is just over 2.3 acres and contains approximately 600 graves.  The oldest marked tombstone reads, “Thomas Patton b. 1726, d. Mar 29, 1808.”  Many early settlers and county leaders are buried there.  Family names include Cagle, Clayton, Deaver, Davidson, English, Gash, Hamilton, Lyday, Mackey, Neill, Orr, Patton, Poor, Young and many more.

Smoke from the burning of cleared over growth gives the old cemetery
an eerie appearance.

In 1914 Glade Creek Baptist Church paid $100  for about 0.16 acres on the northeast corner of the cemetery for a place to bury African-American members of the community.

In 1976, Edna Street Reid was instrumental in creating the Davidson River Cemetery Board of Trustees.  Her interest stemmed from a desire to revitalize the cemetery where much of her family was buried.  Reid and others worked tirelessly to clean up trash and over growth, erase motorcycle paths, repair sunken graves, clean and repair headstones, and raise funds to support the once neglected cemetery.  They also undertook deed research to establish the property's boundaries.  The group won 2^nd place in the Western North Carolina Beautification program for their efforts two years in a row.

The Waightstill Avery Chapter of DAR has worked to mark the graves of Revolutionary War soldiers, beginning with Thomas Patton’s grave in 1976.  There are also a number of veterans of the Civil War, WWI, and WWII, as well as others who served in the military buried at Davidson River.

In early 2017 David Reid donated his mother’s cemetery records to the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room to provide current and future researchers with access to this information.  Included is a three-binder containing the Board’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, years’ worth of minutes and other records, plus correspondence.  An additional notebook provides a census of burials and information on unmarked graves.  A scrapbook kept by Mrs. Reid contains photographs and articles chronicling the journey to restore and protect the Davidson River Cemetery.

Clean-up reveals an important piece of Transylvania's history.

Over the next few week’s Picturing the Past will feature a few other Transylvania cemeteries.

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 828-884-1820.

Neighborhood Clubs Served Multiple Purposes

Community map of the Dunn's Rock area from the
Dunn's Rock Community Club 1955 scrapbook.  A
corresponding list identifies who resided at each
numbered location.

The Scrapbook Collection in the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room at the Transylvania County Library contains approximately 150 Community Center, Home Demonstration Club, and 4-H Club scrapbooks. 

In the 1950s rural neighborhoods organized community clubs to bring people together for educational, civic, and social purposes.  Each community club was encouraged to create an annual scrapbook featuring the people and places within their community through newspaper articles, photographs, and other memorabilia.  These scrapbooks have proven to be a wonderful record of life in Transylvania County from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. 

The scrapbooks were scanned by community volunteers.  A few communities decided to leave their books at the Library to be stored, while others took them back to their centers.  Only a small number are available online.  Sixteen Little River Community Club scrapbooks can be viewed at DigitalNC.org.  The others can be viewed at the Library with advance notice.

Photograph of Fortnightly Club members, circa 1920s, from a
Fornightly Club scrapbook.

Women’s Clubs and Garden Clubs also used scrapbooks as a way of recording their activities in the community.  Some of these groups have also donated their photograph albums, minute books, and other supporting materials to the Library to preserve a record of their organization and its work.  The AAUW, Fortnightly Club, Mathatasian Club, Waightstill Avery Chapter DAR, Wednesday Club, Sylvan Valley Garden Club, and Transylvania Garden Club are among those who have some records preserved in the Local History Room.

Changing lifestyles have led to less involvement in community and civic clubs throughout the United States.  Transylvania County is fortunate to still have several active community centers and clubs that connect us to our community and to have these records showing past activity.

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 828-884-1820.

Ecusta Collection Contains Articles, Photographs

Diagramatic drawing of proposed Davidson River site for
Champagne Paper Corp., March 11, 1938.

The Ecusta Collection consists of newspaper clippings, company publications, and photographs donated to the Local History Room at the Transylvania County Library by former employees and their families.  There is also a large amount of information collected by Brian Du Toit while researching his book, Ecusta and the Legacy of Harry H. Straus.  After publication Du Toit donated the material to the Library.

The newspaper articles range from site selection in 1938 to post plant closure.  Subjects include early construction, Harry Straus, the Olin era (1949-1985), the Glatfelter era (1987-2001), Unions and strikes, sale to Nat Pari, plant closure, environmental concerns, and general history.

The collection also contains numerous company publications--brochures, employee bulletins, manuals, memos, and newsletters.  Documents covering Camp Straus buildings and grounds, the landfill, the dam, and the water system are available as well.

Ladies in the Hand Booklet Department.  Do you recognize anyone?

The Ecusta Echo was the company’s monthly newsletter.  The first issue was published in February 1940.  For 15 years it served as the voice of Ecusta and the larger community.  It covered news and events from each department, recreational activities, and the lives of employees and their families.  All issues of “The Echo” are available in the North Carolina Room thanks to Fritz Merrill who donated his bound copies to the Library.  It is also available online at DigitalNC.org.

Ecusta often offered public tours of the facility.

In addition the Library has approximately 500 photographs of the plant both inside and out, people at work, and recreational activities.  Most of the pictures date from the Straus and Olin time periods.  We are interested in identifying departments, machinery, and work taking place, as well as individuals in these photographs.   If you would like to help please visit the Local History Room.

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 828-884-1820.

Pennsylvania Businessmen Created Toxaway Co.

R Henry Scadin photographed the scenic Sapphire Valley and its resorts
for the Toxaway Company to use in publicity.

One of the larger document collections in the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room at the Transylvania County Library consists of Toxaway Company land records.

In the late 1800s northern investors saw opportunities to purchase land for mining, timber, and development in Western North Carolina.  A group of prosperous Pennsylvania businessmen created the Toxaway Company to buy thousands of acres in the Sapphire Valley region of Transylvania and Jackson counties.  The company title was granted on January 4, 1896. 

They quickly saw that the true value of the property was in creating luxurious mountain resorts for the wealthy tourists drawn to the area for its pure air and water, mild climate, scenic landscapes, and outdoor adventures.  In 1896 they built the Fairfield Inn on Fairfield Lake.  A year later they constructed Sapphire Inn.  Both inns were built on lakes on property purchased from the Sapphire Valley Mining Company.

The Fairfield Inn on Fairfield Lake

In 1902 an agreement was made by the Toxaway Company for development in the Toxaway River Basin.  The plan included timber manufacturing, mining large deposits of corundum, and constructing a man-made lake and modern hotel.  The five-story Toxaway Inn opened on Lake Toxaway in August 1903.

The Sapphire Inn burned in 1906.

The Toxaway Company Land Records Collection consists of legal documents related to land acquisition and efforts to verify land ownership so the Toxaway Company could purchase property.  Documents include land grants, deeds, and supporting documentation from at least 73 families, Fairfield Mining, Sapphire Valley Mining Company, and the Western North Carolina Mining and Improvement Company.  There are also numerous correspondences and information on court cases.  The earliest material dates to George Lattimer’s 1796 land grant from the State of North Carolina.

“Ticket to Toxaway” by Jan Plemmons provides additional information on the Toxaway Company and the development of the Lake Toxaway area.

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 828-884-1820.

Residents Save The Horsepasture River

The 18-mile-long Horsepasture River begins in Jackson County, flows through Transylvania County, and empties into Lake Jocassee in South Carolina.  The rugged river drops 1700 feet on a stretch of approximately four miles from Drift Falls to Lake Jocassee. 

In 1984 Carrasan Power Company gained preliminary approval to construct a water turbine powered electrical plant on the river.  A grass-roots campaign led to the organization of Friends of the Horsepasture.  Through their efforts the project was stopped and in 1985 North Carolina designated four-and-one-half miles of the Horsepasture River as a state Natural and Scenic River.  In 1986 it received National Wild and Scenic River status.   

Bill Thomas was the driving force in the creation of Friends of the Horsepasture and the battle to save and preserve the river.  Thomas amassed a collection of hundreds of correspondence, documents, and newspaper articles pertaining to the group’s work.  In 2016 he donated this material to the North Carolina Room at the Transylvania County Library as documentation of the importance of preserving areas like the Horsepasture River.  Also included in the Horsepasture River Preservation collection is the Carrasan Power Company’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission application and related documents.

Rainbow Falls in the third of the five major falls
on the Horsepature River.

In his 1998 booklet, The North Carolina Sierra Club’s Guide to the Jocassee Gorges: The Horsepasture-Bearwallow-Toxaway Region Thomas stated, “It is our hope that this national-park-caliber area will be preserved and managed for the protection of its wildness, its rare plants and animals, its scenic beauty, and for the enjoyment and inspiration of future generations.”

Today Drift Falls, Turtleback Falls, Rainbow Falls, and Stairway Falls are all located in the Pisgah National Forest.  At Stairway Falls the property transfers to Toxaway Game Land, owned and managed by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission.  Windy Falls is the only major Horsepasture River fall within the Toxaway Game Lands although there are numerous others including Bear Rock Falls, Rooster Tail Falls, Sidepocket Falls, and Standing Up Falls.  While the Horsepasture River is outside of Gorges State Park, access to many of the waterfalls is through its trail system.

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 828-884-1820.