Bowling: A Favorite Pastime in Brevard

Industrial League bowling between teams
representing Ecusta and other businesses.

Bowling was always a popular recreational activity among Ecusta employees.  In the early days they fielded at least six men’s teams and six women’s team.  However, long before the Ecusta Paper Corporation arrived in Transylvania County bowling was a favorite past time among summer visitors and local young folks.

Brevard’s first bowling alley was located in the Aethelwold building during the summer of 1906.  The original intention appeared to be to provide exercise opportunities for summer visitors.  The bowling alley was particularly popular on rainy days and there were occasional comments in the newspaper that it was popular among idlers. 

In 1908 the Town of Brevard passed an ordinance making it unlawful for any person under 16 years of age to enter the bowling alley or pool rooms unless escorted by parents or adult in charge. The fine for those disregarding this could run as high as $40.

In 1909 the bowling alley relocated to the People’s Bank building on the west side of Broad St. beside Long’s Drug Store.  Four years later the Town of Brevard updated their ordinances to include a $25 per lane annual fee for bowling alleys.

In 1929 the Board of Aldermen passed an ordinance prohibiting pool rooms and bowling alleys in the town of Brevard.  Later that same year another ordinance allowed for the operation of bowling alleys and R.S. Terry was issued a license for the City Bowling Alley.  

W.H. Harris and B.W. Trantham opened H&T Recreation Center on West Main in May 1930.  The center included four lanes with the latest equipment.  By 1933 Trantham was operating a bowling alley in West Asheville and the former H&T Recreation Center was serving as a dance hall.

Memory Mull had a bowling alley on West Main Street in the mid-to-late 1930s.  Initially it was located on the east side of Plummer’s Department Store until Mull constructed the building on the west side of the alley and moved the bowling alley into it.

During the 1940s F.D. Kilpatrick owned the Centennial Bowling Center on N. Caldwell Street in Brevard.  After it closed in April 1949 anyone interested in participating in a league had to travel 30 miles to Asheville.

Although extensive damage was caused by a major fire on April 7, 1963,
just a year after Brevard Lanes opened, they re-opened by mid-August.

In 1953 T.T. Loftis opened the Brevard Bowling Center in the former Centennial Bowling location.  In 1962 Paul Launer purchased the business.  He also bought and renovated a former car dealership on N. Broad Street and then relocated and renamed the bowling alley.  The new Brevard Bowling Lanes had twelve alleys, automatic pinsetters, food service, a day time nursery, and ample parking.  It closed following a fire in the mid-1970s.

Since 1977 Brevard’s bowling alley has been located on the Rosman Highway on the west side of town.  Initially known as Pisgah Lanes it has had various names through the years and operates as Rockin’ Bowl today.

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.

Dora Patton Made History With Her Jury Duty

In 1946 North Carolina passed an amendment to the state constitution allowing women to serve on juries.  In Transylvania County the vote was 2237 against, 2207 in favor. 

Mrs. C.Y. (Dora) Patton was the first woman to serve on a Transylvania County jury on December 4, 1946.  Interestingly, the December jury list posted in the November 14, 1946 Transylvania Times did not include Mrs. Patton’s name, although her husband, C.Y. Patton was listed.  She participated for two uncontested divorce cases, both of which were granted.

It is not surprising that Mrs. Patton would be the first local woman to sit on a jury as she was a prominent and well respected woman in the community.  She was a nurse and Transylvania County’s first social worker. 

Mrs. Patton had been hired as the Superintendent of Public Welfare for the county in June 1937. Her job was to assist the needy in applying for social security benefits and distribute the funds. 

The position of Superintendent of Public Welfare arose from the passage of the Social Security Act of 1935 which provided aid for the elderly, unemployed, blind and dependent children.  The county and state each contributed a quarter of the funds and the federal government provided the remainder.  It was emphasized that, “the old age benefit is not a pension to which people are entitled merely by the fact that they have attained 65 years of age.  Old age assistance is merely a form of relief for persons over 65 who are not able to take care of themselves, who have no other means of support.”  Strict standards needed to be met to qualify. 

In September 1937 it was announced that twelve people had been approved to receive old age pensions ($5-9 per month), two for aid to the blind and ten families for aid to dependent children ($3-5 per child, per month).  Other applications were being prepared and sent to the state office for approval.  By March 1938 there were more than 75 elderly participants, six blind dependents and 81 children.  Transylvania County had exceeded its quota of $31,400 for the old age assistance.

Dora and Charles Patton lived on Morgan St., just a block and half west of
Patton's Service Station on the corner of Morgan and Broad.  Mrs. Patton's
Welfare Office was located in the courthouse originally and later on W. Jordan. St.

Mrs. Patton served as the Superintendent of Public Welfare for nearly 23 years until her retirement in February 1960 at the age of 65.  Upon her retirement an editorial in the Transylvania Times praised her as a “Good and Faithful Servant.”

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.

Library's Exhibit Reveals Gash's Weave-It Loom

Annie Jean Gash as a young woman in 1899.

During the past year staff and volunteers in the Local History Room at the Transylvania County Library have been processing, indexing, and preserving documents, photographs, and other print materials donated by the Gash family.  Among the items was information concerning a weaving device and bias weaving method invented by Annie Jean Gash.

Miss Gash originally filed an application for a patent on August 24, 1937.  She had entered into an agreement with Donar Products Corporation in Medford, Massachusetts on August 20, 1937 to manufacture the product.  Gash was to receive 1.5% of the net selling price on the first thirty thousand sales and 3% on sales thereafter.  A patent was granted on May 23, 1939. 

A Donar Weave-It loom is currently on
display with the new exhibit, "Generations of
Creations: Spinning, Weaving & Quilting"
at the Transylvania Heritage Museum.

A February 23, 1939 Transylvania Times article stated that the Weave-It loom invented by Miss Gash is now being placed on the market by Donar Products.  “Along with the little square loom in an attractive box container, is included also an illustrated booklet giving directions for weaving and sewing the completed squares together.  Pictures of several articles woven on the loom by Miss Gash are shown in the booklet.  Bags, scarfs, dresses, coats and many other articles of wearing apparel may be fashioned from the bias squares made on the loom.”

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 Played Huge Role in the Expansion of the County

By the 1890’s North Carolina’s railroad network covered most of the state. It provided faster and more comfortable travel to and from the region and helped expand tourism. It also offered an easier and more affordable means of transporting goods to and from the area. The Spartanburg & Asheville Railroad reached Hendersonville by June 1879. Reorganized as the Asheville & Spartanburg Railroad in 1881 the line to Asheville opened July 13, 1886.  In 1895 it became part of Southern Railway’s Carolina Division.

Short line railroads served small towns off the main carrier lines. Hendersonville & Brevard Railway, Telegraph & Telephone was chartered in 1891. Construction of the standard gauge rail line did not begin until the Spring of 1895 but moved quickly with the official opening on October 25, 1895.  It included over 21 miles on the main line with two steel bridges, one 100-feet in length and the other 60-feet in length.  The company had 23 employees and owned a locomotive, two passenger cars, three box cars and a flat car. 

Built in 1886 for the Knoxville & Ohio Railroad this locomotive operated
as Southern Railways' #167 after Southern absorbed the K&O in 1894.
It was used for nearly 40 additional years.

The arrival of rail service led to a boom in growth and tourism in Brevard. The first eight months of operation saw 8,204 passengers.  Passenger revenue was $2,627 and freight revenue $2,268. 

Unfortunately, debt caused problems from the beginning though and within a short time H&B was in receivership and then sold to court appointed Trustees.  In 1899 the Toxaway Company purchased it for $54,450 and reorganized as the Transylvania Railroad Company.  They extended the rail line 9.5 miles to Rosman in 1901 and an additional 10.7 miles to Lake Toxaway by June 1903.  In 1906 the rail line was leased to Southern Railway’s Carolina Division, who later purchased it.  In 1982 Southern merged with Norfolk & Western to become Norfolk Southern Corporation.

Two books recently donated to the Transylvania County Library provided the information for this article. “150 Years of Common Carrier Railroads in North Carolina” provides brief details of railroads throughout the state.  “Hendersonville & Brevard Railroad 1891-1899; Transylvania Railroad 1899-1905; Southern Railway-Carolina Division 1906-1990” is a twelve-page pamphlet compiling information from various publication concerning the short line from Hendersonville to Lake Toxaway.  Both books, compiled by Garreth M. McDonald, are available in the North Carolina reference collection on the second floor.

Two additional books compiled by McDonald contain listings of North Carolina’s industrial and narrow gauge railroads.

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.