Pebbledash Was Popular a Century Ago

This week Picturing the Past is featuring two craftsman style pebbledash homes that will be part of the upcoming Historic House Ramble. 

Pebbledash is a rough stucco exterior finish mixed with pebbles.  It was popular in Brevard and throughout Western North Carolina during the early 20^th century.  Much of its popularity was likely from well-known Asheville architect Richard Sharp Smith.  Smith had come to Asheville as the supervising architect for the Biltmore House in 1889 and went on to build a large private practice. 

The west side of the Henry House features many elements noted architect
Richard Sharp Smith commonly used.

He designed several buildings in Brevard, including the Henry House in 1903.  The one-and-one half story Craftsman style home includes Smith’s signature details of pebbledash stucco and half-timbered exterior, with diamond-paned windows and multiple gables.  Some of Smith’s architectural drawings, including Mrs. Henry’s Cottage, are available online at ncroom.buncombecounty.org.

The Cleveland-Kizer House, built a few years after the Henry House, has a combination of exterior finishes as well.  The walls are pebbledash stucco with contrasting brick corners.  Wood shingles cover the large front gable.  Alex Kizer rented the house around the time he was appointed as county accountant in December 1930.  The Kizer’s purchased the home, which is still owned by family descendants, in 1932.

Next week Picturing the Past will the stone houses that will be open during the Historic House Ramble.

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.

Galloway-Radford House Combined Various Styles

Picturing the Past is featuring some of Brevard’s historic homes over the next several weeks starting with those that will be part of the upcoming Historic House Ramble.  In general residential architecture in Transylvania County followed along traditional lines from the time of the county’s establishment until 1895. 

During the boom period of 1895-1916 Brevard experienced significant growth in housing “ranging from the pretentious mansion to the humble mill dwelling” according to Transylvania:  The Architectural History of a Mountain County.

There were numerous good examples of the late Victorian, Queen Anne, and Colonial Revival architecture throughout Brevard.  The Galloway-Radford House combines these styles.  The exterior reflects the late Victorian, Queen Anne form with its asymmetrical features and a wrap-around front porch with rounded corners, smooth classical columns, and a simple balustrade.  The interior has a Colonial Revival stairway and mantels.

The expansive porch provided a view of the river valley
and a cool place to relax.

The home was constructed in 1910 by Thomas Galloway who had purchased property on the outskirts of Brevard overlooking the French Broad River valley to the south of town.  Thomas Galloway was 72 years old when returned to his native Transylvania County with his 26 year old bride, Belle. 

Guests at the Radford House could enjoy a stroll along the nearby
French Broad River.

After Galloway’s death in 1917, Belle married Samuel Radford in 1919.  They continued to live in her home where she operated a boarding house for many years.

Located just over one-half mile from the courthouse downtown the location was quiet and offered one of the best views available.  Although the Galloway-Radford House will not be open for the upcoming Historic House Ramble guests are invited to walk the grounds or sit on the porch and visualize the view as it would have looked 100 years earlier. 

Next week Picturing the Past will feature a couple of craftsman style pebbledash houses.

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.

Red House Was Originally a Trading Post

Picturing the Past will feature some of Brevard’s historic homes over the next several weeks.  The houses in these articles will all be part of the upcoming Historic House Ramble.  They represent a variety of time periods and architectural styles. 

The oldest homes on the tour will be the Red House and the Lankford-Cleveland House.  Although the two houses are different in architectural style they do have some commonalities.  Both were originally constructed in the mid-1800s before the town of Brevard was incorporated and both were built by men who were leaders in the formation of Brevard. 

The west side of the Red House includes a large dormer on the roof
and a partially enclosed porch.

The Red House built by L.S. Gash was originally a trading post known as Poor’s Store.  After the Civil War it was leased to W.T. Moore who expanded it and operated it as a hotel.  Although Gash himself never lived in the house his family moved there shortly after his death in 1872.  It was around this time that it received its first coat of paint and became known as the Red House.

Time was hard on the old house though until Miss Boswell, Gash’s granddaughter, hired Moffitt Construction to remodel the home.  A brief mention in the Local Paragraphs of the September 15, 1911 Sylvan Valley News states, “The house will be practically rebuilt, a metal roof put on, the outside stuccoed, and the inside finished throughout in hardwood.  The improvements will cost about twenty-five hundred.”  The Gash family descendants would own the home for another 50 plus years.

Lankford built the two-story right side section of the home and
Cleveland extended the original front dormer into a large
one-and-one-half story gable addition.

Meanwhile on the east side of what would become the town of Brevard B.C. Lankford built a large home.  Lankford, known as Caldwell by friends and family, is the namesake for Caldwell St.  Unlike the Gash family, the Lankfords sold the home and property shortly after Caldwell Lankford’s death in 1895.  It went through several owners before John B. Cleveland of Spartanburg bought it in 1913.  The east side of the current structure was the original home which was referred to as “one of the most attractively situated dwelling sites in town” in a Sylvan Valley News article when Cleveland purchased it.  Cleveland had the home remodeled and the Cleveland family used it as a summer home through the 1960s.

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 Employed Hundreds of Women

In the first half of the 20^th century the percentage of women in the U.S. workforce and the types of jobs available to them varied greatly.  In 1900 just 19% of working age women were employed outside of the home.  Most employed women were young and single and worked in low-paying mill jobs or as domestic servants.

From 1900-1945 industrialization and technological advances brought about major changes in the job market, girls and young women were being allowed to pursue higher education, and two world wars took large numbers of men away from jobs.  All of this contributed to the types of jobs available to women, as well as highs and lows in employment numbers.  Women were still expected to leave the workforce and return to domestic life when the men returned was military service.

Slitters created as many as 20,000 bobbins
a day in the Finishing Department.

When Harry Straus brought big industry to Transylvania County in 1939 the local job market and economy changed quickly.  Straus’ Ecusta Paper Corporation, Champagne Paper Corporation, and Boucher Cork Company on the Davidson River offered good paying jobs to hundreds of men and women.

From the beginning Straus employed a large number of women at the plant.  They worked in positions traditionally filled by women such as office assistants, secretaries, cafeteria workers, and in the medical and first aid department.  Women also worked in research, analytics, and quality control but the largest number of women worked in the Endless Belt Department, the Finishing Department, and the Booklet Department.

Tests were required for every phase of the paper manufacturing process.  In the Physical Testing Laboratory women tested paper for thickness, weight, porosity, strength, and opacity.  Cigarette paper also had to be tested for wet strength and burn rate.

Finishing Department A Shift, 1949.

Endless Belts were primarily used in making cigarettes.  A standard belt made of the finest Irish linen thread was one inch wide and eighty-six inches long.  Approximately two million cigarettes were produced during a belt’s lifetime of about five days.  Every cigarette made in the U.S. was made on belts manufactured at Ecusta.  There were 300 different sizes of belts.  Other industries that used the belts included soda straw and spaghetti plants.

The Booklet Department.

In the Finishing Department master rolls of cigarette paper were slit into bobbins, the narrow reels of paper used to make cigarettes.  The width of the bobbin was the circumference of a cigarette plus the overlap for adhesive.  A single bobbin could make approximately 850,000 cigarettes.

The Booklet Department produced machine and hand booklets.  Smokers preferred machine made cigarettes but when the economy was weak roll-your-own cigarettes, which used booklets, were more popular.  Booklets were also used in the home perm industry.

At its peak the plant had more than 3000 employees.  During the course of more than 60 years Ecusta provided jobs for thousands, many of them women.

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.

Home Demonstration Clubs Preceded 4-H

Home Demonstration clubs in North Carolina have their roots in efforts to develop clubs for farm children.  In the early 1900s home demonstration agents were hired during growing and canning season to instructed young girls in “housewifely arts”.  It quickly became apparent that full-time agents were needed and that women were also interested in the educational opportunities being offered.

A small canning set-up by the
Little River Home Demonstration Club in 1920.

Transylvania County’s early home demonstration clubs date to 1919 when Miss Lula Cassidy became the first Home Demonstration agent in the county.  Within a few years clubs were organized for both young girls and women in Blantyre, Boilston, Brevard, Calvert, Cedar Mountain, Cherryfield, Connestee, Davidson River, Enon, Lake Toxaway, Little River, Penrose, Pisgah Forest, Quebec, Rosman, Round Top, and Selica. 

Programs included safe methods of canning and food preservations, sewing, and other household skills.  Participants were also taught marketing strategies to sell their commodities and add to their family income.  Products included fresh produce, eggs, milk, canned goods, and a wide-range of handmade items.

The Quebec community established the first community cannery in the county in 1919.  It had modern equipment for preserving garden products.  Their goal was to preserve food for their community and sell the surplus.  As many as a thousand cans of goods a day could be produced during the peak canning season. Other communities throughout the county soon began canneries as well.

In Cedar Mountain the Home Demonstration Club operated a Tea Room on Tuesday and Saturday afternoons during July and August.  They offered home cooked items prepared from their garden produce to summer guests and travelers.  Money raised was to be used to build and equip a cannery in Cedar Mountain.

Basket making and chair caning were among the projects ladies in the
Little River Home Demonstration Club participated in.

Home demonstration clubs for girls and farm clubs for boys later became 4-H clubs for all youth.  The home demonstration clubs for women continued to operate well into mid-to-late 20^th century.  They played an important role in small rural areas providing women with educational programs and opportunities to share their skills.

Hammered copper was one of the craft skills shared
by the Glady Branch Home Demonstration Club.

Although Home Demonstration Clubs are no longer active, North Carolina Cooperative Extension offices throughout the state provide assistance and programs in a wide range of areas including agriculture, gardening, family consumer sciences, 4-H, and much more.

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.