Cathey's Creek Was One of the Earliest Settlements in Transylvania County

 Cathey’s Creek is the only township within Transylvania County that is entirely surrounded by other county townships.  It covers about 32 square miles and is bordered by the Brevard, Dunn’s Rock, Eastatoe and Gloucester townships.  Highway 64 runs through the township from Illahee Rd. on the west side of Brevard to the Town of Rosman.

The French Broad River forms the township's southern boundary from Barclay Road to Rosman, although a portion of the township stretches beyond the river between Hannah Ford and Lions Mountain roads. 

The Galloway Brothers operated a saw mill near Selica around 1910.

The relatively flat river valley provided an easy route for large herds of animals that roamed the mountains.  Later Native Americans followed the same path through the area.  Early settlers widen these paths for their first roads.  The first permanent residents built homes nearby and farmed the fertile lands making Cathey’s Creek one of the earliest settlements in what is today Transylvania County.

Benjamin Wilson was the first post master at Cathey’s Creek from 1826 to 1837 during the time when the area was part of Buncombe County.  James Hamblen then served as post master until it closed around 1861 when Transylvania County was established.

A trestle provided support for a flume as it crossed Cathey's Creek
bringing logs from the mountains to the valley in the Selica area.

About 1900 the railroad was extended from Brevard to Rosman through Cathey’s Creek Township with three stops for passengers to get on and off and for mail delivery at Selica, Cherryfield and Calvert.

Today, almost all of the approximately 3,700 residents in the Cathey’s Creek Township live in the lower areas around Highway 64 and the French Broad River.  The northern section of the township is more mountainous terrain mostly laying within the Pisgah National Forest.

The City of Brevard owns approximately 29 acres on Cathey’s Creek where the water treatment facility is located.  Constructed in 1980 it has the capacity to treat up to 2.6 million gallons of water a day, with the present volume around one million per day.

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.