Workforce Changed As Population Increased

The population of Brevard quadrupled between 1900 and 1930.  With this large increase the local economy and workforce was changing.  Many people continued to make their living in agriculture but they often supplemented it with other jobs.  Others left the farm, moving into Brevard where there was a growing need for skilled workers.

Construction workers at the Aethelwold Hotel.

Builders and contractors, like the Kilpatrick Brothers and J.A. Miller, hired both tradesmen and day laborers to help with the construction of the brick buildings that were replacing the old wooden shops downtown.  The booming housing market also required construction workers.  J.M. Kilpatrick’s time book for the construction of Silvermont in 1916-1917 lists worker's names, the days and hours worked, rate of pay (12.5-50₵ per hour), and monthly pay. 

Merchants opened shops in the new downtown buildings owned by the McMinns, Joe Clayton, Joseph Picklesimer, Thomas Shipman, and others.  These shops needed bookkeepers, clerks, sales people, and tradesmen.  There were bakeries, barber shops, butcher shops, clothing, furniture, grocery, hardware, millinery, and shoe stores.  

City and county government employed a number of individuals as bookkeepers, clerks, law enforcement officers, and in other positions.  

Banks and professional offices required trained workers as well.  The 1900 U.S. Census lists five lawyers in Brevard—William Breese, William Duckworth, Daniel English, Waightstill Gash, and Welch Galloway.  There were also five physicians listed within the town of Brevard. They were Edwin English, Charles Hunt, Mitchell King, William Wallis, and George Young.

Some of the Franklin Hotel staff.

As tourism increased service industry jobs grew as well.  The Aethelwold and Franklin Hotels employed bellboys, clerks, cooks, and housekeepers.  The Franklin also had groundskeepers.  

In addition there were numerous livery services and blacksmiths in the early 1900s.  Early tourism brochures advertised saddle horses and carriages available to lease at Brevard Livery and King Livery.  In the mid-1920s automobile dealerships and service stations began replacing the horse and buggy and livery stables.  

All of these offered employment opportunities to residents in and around Brevard.  In addition there were several manufacturing and industrial businesses within the town of Brevard during its first three decades.  Next week Picturing the Past will feature the Brevard Cotton Mill and other manufacturers.

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.

Large Homes Served As Boarding Houses

While downtown Brevard was constructing a brick business district prosperous local residents were building large homes in a variety of architectural styles for their families or to be used as boarding houses.

William Breese moved to Brevard in the 1890s.  He operated the Brevard Roller Flour Mill on King Creek.  Breese build a large, two-story frame house on Caldwell St. just south of King Creek.  The house had a two-tier porch across the entire front.  By the early 1900s Breese’s daughters were operating it as a boarding house known as the Transylvania Lodge.  They could accommodate about 30 guests. Prices ranged from $8-10 per week.  Later it was owned and operated by Ernest and Virginia Webb as Virginia Lodge.  Beginning in 1935 it was used by Brevard College as a dormitory for girls.  During the 1980s the Sharing House was located in it.  After attempts to relocate and preserve the house it was torn down in 2003.

The William Breese Jr. home on East Main St.
 had a one-story porch extending across the front and around both sides.

The family of William Breese Jr., a prominent local attorney, lived in a neoclassical revival-style home on East Main St.  The large Breese family included William, Jr. and his wife, Rebekah; their children; and Rebecca’s mother, Martha Woodbridge.  Mrs. Woodbridge had purchased the property in 1901 and built the home within a year.  A two-story central portico with Ionic columns dominated the front entry.  In 1920 Mrs. Woodbridge deeded the home to William and Rebekah Breese.  The house, which is the Inn at Brevard today, opened as the Colonial Inn in 1955.

John Duckworth built his home on Caldwell St. around 1905.

The Cooper House and Crisp House on Whitmire St. and the Duckworth House on Caldwell St. are all examples of Queen Anne style homes.  The Duckworth House has a steep, hipped rood with multiple gables.  It’s most distinguished feature is a three-story tower with a conical roof.  One corner of the wrap around porch has a projecting gazebo with a conical roof.

Through the teens and 20s housing expanded in areas like East Main, Franklin, Maple, and Probart streets, as well as Park Avenue.  Many of Brevard’s early homes were photograph in 1990 for a county-wide architectural survey.  Photographs are available in the Local History Room and at DigitalNC.org in the Transylvania: The Architectural History of a Mountain County collection.

Next week Picturing the Past will look at employment and industry in Brevard around the turn of the 20^th century.

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.

Railroad Dramatically Boosted Brevard's Population

Railroad depot in Brevard.

In 1894 the railroad arrived in Brevard bringing with it a new era.  Branson’s Business Directory lists the population of Brevard as 350 in 1890, by 1896 it was 500.  According to the U.S. Federal Census the population of Brevard jumped from 327 to 584 between 1890 and 1900, an increase of 78.6%.

Transylvania Pioneer, Brevard’s first newspaper, had started on July 22, 1887.  It was in business less than a year.  Other short-lived newspapers followed but The Sylvan Valley News was the first long running paper.  Begun in November 1895, The Sylvan Valley News operated for more than 20 years and is a good source for local news of the early 20^th century.

West Main Street, early 1900s. 
Davis-Walker Drug Company on left, McMinn Building on right.

Nathan McMinn built the first brick commercial building on the northwest corner of the town square in 1899.  Earlier that same year McMinn had organized the Brevard Banking Company.  It moved into the front of the new building when completed.  The McMinn Building, currently home of Number 7 Arts, remains a cornerstone of downtown Brevard. 

Across the street on the southwest corner a two-story brick commercial building was occupied by the Davis-Walker Drug Company.  It was later Davis-Long Drug and then just Long Drug Store.  Today it is the home of O.P. Taylor’s.

On the southeast corner of the town square John McMinn, son of Nathan, build the Aethelwold Hotel.  The first floor housed the hotel lobby and various businesses.  In August 1903 Brevard Banking moved into the Aethelwold building where it remained until March 1925.

The town square now had prominent brick buildings on all four corners.  Soon other brick businesses lined West Main and South Broad streets.  Others would follow on East Main, Caldwell, Jordan, and Gaston streets as the town expanded.

In 1907 the Brevard Post Office moved into the new Fraternity Building on South Broad next door to the Sylvan Valley News.  The little village was now a bustling town with a bank, hotel, newspaper, a central post office, and numerous businesses around the town square and courthouse. 

Over the next several week’s Picturing the Past will continue the story of Brevard’s development through the 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 828-884-1820.

County Courthouse Complete in 1881

Last week Picturing the Past covered the selection and laying out of a site for the town to serve as the seat of the newly created County of Transylvania in 1861.  One of the first tasks for county officials was the building of a courthouse.  Traditionally a county courthouse is viewed as the center of power and law as well the center of community activity. 

Community leaders wanted to reflect the importance of the courthouse through its design and construction.  At the first meeting of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions in May 1861 William Deaver, Benjamin Akins, and Jeremiah Osborn were appointed as the Building Committee for a “good court house and county jail, both to be built out of brick.”

The new county and town had been created just as the Civil War was beginning and it does not appear that a building was constructed specifically as a courthouse until after the war.  Later minutes call for “a two story court house built in the town of Brevard in said county to be a wood frame building and under the direction of a Building Committee and also a good and substantial jail be put under contract immediately.” 

In January 1866 lumber was acquire for the construction of a temporary courthouse.  In August the contractors where paid $400 and in September George Clayton & Co. Contractor were paid an additional $50 for work on it.  Joshua Orr was paid $12 to build four window shutters and Lankford receive $75.35 for furnishing hardware for the court house.

This early postcard, published by T.B. Allison, shows the architectural
details on the courthouse in its early days.

In 1874 commissioners approved a tax be levied to appropriate $12,000 for the building of a new courthouse and jail. Transylvania County finally completed its long desired brick courthouse in the county seat of Brevard in 1881.

The two-story brick building is Italianate Victorian in style.  The main facade has a dominate three-story tower topped with a concave mansard roof.  Originally there were stars in cut-outs on each side of the roof.  The courthouse has unusual paired loopholes rather than windows on the front of the first floor.  A belt course creates a visual break between the first and second story. 

Over the next several week’s Picturing the Past will continue the story of Brevard’s development through the years.  The January 16, 2018 Bag Lunch program at the Library will showcase the evolution and growth of downtown Brevard through photographs.

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.

Brevard Incorporated 150 Years Ago

2018 marks the 150^th year of the town of Brevard.  Although the site was selected, surveyed, and laid out in 1861 the town was not incorporated until 1868.

When Transylvania County was established in 1861 a supplemental act was passed for the creation of the county seat.  Rather than locating the court house at one of the existing communities it stated that a new town would be established.  The town was to be named Brevard and located within five miles of W.P. Poor’s store.

James L. Siniard, Joshua Bryant, George Orr, Francis Johnstone, Joseph Hamilton, and Alec Henry were appointed to select and acquire property for the new town.  After determining the exact site a deed was drawn up from L.S. Gash, B.C. Lankford, and Alexander England to James W. Killian, Chair of the Court of Pleas and Quarters for Transylvania County on June 8, 1861 giving the county ownership of the property. 

First map of the Town of Brevard, 1868.

Killian, Poor, and Charles Patton were appointed to lay off lots within the site. They were to designate lots for public use, including a public square in the center.   All other lots were made available for public sale.  The funds raised from the sale of the lots was to be used for the construction of a court house and jail.

The primary street coming into town from the north was named Caldwell for B.C. (Braxton Caldwell) Lankford, who was known as Caldwell by family and friends.  Other north-south streets were England, Gaston, Johnstone (now Johnson) and Rice.  Broad Street began at the town square and ran south out of town.

Main Street was the primary east-west avenue.  The other east-west streets were Jordan, Morgan, and Poor.  Poor Street’s name was later changed to Probart for W.P. (William Probart) Poor.

Early stores on West Main, late 1800s.

In its early days the town consisted of a few wood-frame buildings.  Often the business or store operated out of the main level and the family lived on the second floor or the in the back of the building.  L.S. Gash own a store that was operated by his wife’s uncle, W.P. Poor.  The store was located on the current site of the Red House on Probart St.  In 1912 it was completely rebuilt and is unrecognizable as the former store.

The England family had a large home nearby on the west side of town and the Lankford family built a home on the east side of town on Rice St. 

Over the next several week’s Picturing the Past will continue the story of Brevard’s development through the years.  The January 16, 2018 Bag Lunch program at the Library will showcase the evolution and growth of downtown Brevard through photographs.

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.