Historic Information on Pisgah Forest Post Office

This week’s Picturing the Past photographs feature the Pisgah Forest Post Office in the 1940s and the current facility.  Pisgah Forest first established a post office in December 1906.  Although it was a newly named post office, it basically replaced the Davidson River Post Office at that time.  Two years later Davidson River would once again established its own post office.

The Pisgah Forest Post Office was likely located in the Deaver & Patton Company store near the intersection of Brevard Road (today Old Hendersonville Highway) and Rye Lane (today Ecusta Road).  Miss Mallie English served as the post master for 10 years before Harry Patton was named post master in 1917. 

Edward P. McCoy became post master in 1920.  McCoy’s father had become a part-owner in the store when Deaver sold his shares.

Today Terminix is located in the former Pisgah Forest Post Office
building constructed around 1948.

The 1931 and 1945 Sanborn maps show the post office at different locations along the Hendersonville Highway near Wilson Rd. and Pisgah Forest (Ecusta) Rd.  For a short time in 1933-34 Sid Barnett was the acting postmaster before Dewey Edwards took the position in July 1934. 

On July 1, 1945 Joe P. McLeod became the Pisgah Forest post master.  McLeod was in charge in 1961 when the current post office was constructed.  Post offices constructed during that time period were either Colonial Revival style or International Style.

The International Style “Thousand Series Post Offices” all featured flat roofs, brick, stone or precast concrete exteriors, aluminum or steel-framed window walls, aluminum or stainless-steel entrance doors, and overhanging canopies.   The interiors included a metal-frame glass partition between the box lobby where the mail boxes were located and the retail lobby and had vinyl or terrazzo interior floors.  There was little or no emphasis on landscaping around these facilities. 

The current Pisgah Forest Post Office was built in 1961.

An examination of the Pisgah Forest Post Office reveals that the 3,272 square foot building met those technical requirements.  The facility, opened on November 23, 1961, is the only “Thousand Series Post Office” in Transylvania County.  McLeod continued as post master until he retired in July 1970 with 25 years of service.

Although the post office boxes in the lobby have been replaced the building retains most of its original features.  It is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places because it is associated with a significant event—the consolidation of small, rural post offices into modern facilities during the mid-20^th century.  It also represents a distinctive style of post office construction during that time period.

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.

Dairy Queen Became the First Fast Food Franchise in County

Today Brevard has numerous fast food franchises along the Asheville Highway but in the 1950s there were few businesses of any type beyond Brevard College.  There were a number of restaurants in downtown Brevard that served meals to travelers or those who wished to dine out.  For something quick to eat, like a burger and fries or for treats, like milkshakes or sundaes there were drug store soda shops or the Chatterbox across from the high school on Broad St.

The first chain or franchise restaurant in Transylvania County appears to have been the Dairy Queen located on the N. Broad St. (Asheville Highway) just beyond Brevard College.

This week's photograph shows the original Dairy Queen logo with simple text
and a soft serve cone at one end.

The very first Dairy Queen had opened in Joliet, Illinois on June 22, 1940.  They sold soft-serve ice cream that had been developed by J.F. and Alex McCullough two years earlier.  The McCullough’s had persuaded a friend, Sherb Noble, to sell their product at his ice cream store.  It was an overwhelming success, selling 1,600 servings in just two hours!  Noble and the McCulloughs soon went into business together and Dairy Queen was born.  They went from 10 stores in 1941 to 100 in 1947 and by 1955 there were 2,600 Dairy Queens across the U.S.  The first Dairy Queen in North Carolina opened on Wilkerson Blvd. in Charlotte in 1947.  Today they are an international business with thousands of locations in over two dozen countries.

A search of newspapers, phone books and other resources revealed very little information about the Brevard Dairy Queen though.  An advertisement in the May 26, 1955 Transylvania Times listed the hours as 10:00 am until 11:00 pm, Monday through Saturday, on Sundays they opened at 11:30 am.  Mr. and Mrs. George Adams were the owners. They sold sandwiches, hamburger plates, French fries, cold drinks and of course, ice cream desserts.  Sundaes cost 25 cents.

The Brevard Dairy Queen appears to have only been in business for few years in the mid-to-late 1950s and possibly in the early 1960s.  By 1962 Dairyland was operating out of the former Dairy Queen building.  Dairyland was is business for about 10 years.  If you have photographs or additional information about Dairy Queen or Dairyland please contact the staff in the Local History Room at the Transylvania County Library.

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.

Looking At A Brief History of the Canteen Cafe

The Canteen Café, a long time fixture in downtown Brevard, opened in the summer of 1928 by W.E. “Elzie” Shipman.  Shipman only operated it for a brief time before selling the business to E.O. Shields of Rosman in the fall. 

Shields then sold the business to J.C. “Dock” Galloway who ran it for several years.  Galloway advertised the establishment as being of service to the Home Folks—52 weeks a year, 7 days a week, 20 hours a day.  Later advertisements stated they opened at 5:00 am and closed 2:00 am.  During the period when Galloway owned the Canteen he moved the business to the Weilt Building located on W. Main St. at the corner of the Times Arcade. 

In 1935 Lucien English purchased the café from Galloway who was retiring due to health issues.  After just five months English sold the business to V. Karl Twigg.  By Christmas 1936 Twigg had sold it to Hamilton and Patterson. 

The Canteen was once located were Mayberry's
Soup & Sandwiches is today.

In January 1938, Clyde Hamilton bought out Patterson.  A few months later he remodeled the former bowling alley located between Plummer’s Department Store and Farmer’s Supply on the north side of W. Main St. and moved the Canteen back across the street.  Hamilton and his wife, Hyburnia, would move the business one more time in May 1945 to the Bagwell Building on S. Caldwell St. behind Transylvania Trust.

In addition to serving year-round residents, the Canteen was popular with college students.  The business advertised every year from 1935-1949 in the Brevard College yearbook and often in the school newspaper.

The information for this article came from The Brevard News (1917-1932), The Transylvania Times (1932-1940), and Brevard College Pertelote (yearbook) and Clarion (student paper) all of which are available and searchable on digitalnc.org. 

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.

Royal Cafe Has Become Lily T Clothing Company

The young men pictured are identified as Walter Whitmire, Luther Cooper
and Tommy Whitmire.  However Tommy Whitmire was only 9-years-old
when his brother, Walter died in 1919.   It is more likely the man on the
 right is Roland or Rush Whitmire.  They would have been 17 and 15 years
 of age respectively in 1915.

This week’s featured photograph dates to the second decade of the 20^th century and was likely taken around 1915. Although the image does not include enough of the building to definitively identify where it was located the architectural details around the door and windows are very similar to the section of the McMinn building where the Lily T Clothing Company is today.

A search of the Sylvan Valley News revealed the first mention the Royal Café in a paragraph on May 24, 1912.  However, the business actually got its start 17 months earlier when Spurgeon Osborne opened the Royal Lunch Room in the McMinn building on W. Main St.  The menu included oysters, fish, steak with eggs and ham with eggs.  The café, which catered to those attending court or conducting business downtown, also carried groceries, fruits, confections, tobacco and cigars.

In 1912 H.C. Aiken and J.H. Pickelsimer opened the Royal Café in the old Pickelsimer Drug storeroom and bought out Osborne.  Oysters and fish continued to be the specialty of the café but they also prepared lunches for picnics and driving parties.  In addition they sold ice cream, fountain drinks, green groceries and fruit.  Aiken managed the business.

After just a year-and-a-half Paul Smathers purchased the café.  He continued to operate it for a couple of years but by the summer of 1915 F.N. Nicholson was running the café.  No further mention of the café was found after an April 21, 1916 announcement that Nicholson would manage it under the name of Nicholson & Brother.

The Sylvan Valley News from 1903 through 1916 is available and searchable on digitalnc.org.  It is a great resource to learn all about Brevard and Transylvania County during this time period.

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.