McGaha Chapel Still Reuniting The Community

The McGaha Chapel, completed in 1872 and situated on a wooded hillside along the old Johnstone Turnpike, is a reminder of a by-gone time when people walked, rode horseback or came in wagons to their house of worship and listened outside its open windows, if all the pews were filled.

Simple decorations add to the festive atmosphere inside the
147-year-old McGaha Chapel during the annual holiday sing.

The Chapel is a symbol of reconciliation, serving as a means to reunite a community and families divided during the Civil War.  The men of the area built a small, sturdy one-room structure of poplar from the surrounding forest.  Hand-pressed glass filled the eight windows and allowed for plenty of light.  The hand-made pews of single boards illustrate the size of some of the nearby trees.  The simple pulpit and mourner’s bench, and probably the pews, were crafted by A. J. Loftis who deeded the property to the church.

The church had an active congregation until about 1930 when improved roads and transportation enabled worshippers to travel farther for service.

Today the little chapel in the woods is owned and maintained by the Transylvania County Historical Society.  It is open twice a year, in June and December, for community sings.  The rustic chapel, decorated with fresh greenery, is the perfect setting to step back in time and share in the singing of traditional carols followed by homemade treats on Sunday, December 1 at 2:30 pm.

Fresh carnation add holiday color to the fresh-cut tree.

Be sure to check out the December 2019 issue of Our State magazine for a wonderful article, “Tiny but Mighty” by Susan Stafford Kelly about the historic McGaha Chapel and this annual event.

The Historical Society along with the Sherwood Forest and the Greater Cedar Mountain communities sponsor this annual event.  Parking is available at the Sherwood Forest Robin Hood Center with a shuttle to the Chapel—arrive early to allow time to catch a ride or to walk to the Chapel.  The Robin Hood Center is located on US 276 South (Greenville Hwy) with roadside signs identifying parking.

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.

ATOM Display Returns To Heritage Museum

The holiday season is a good time for a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Transylvania County offers a variety of opportunities to enjoy the sights and sounds of the season.

The Aluminum Tree & Ornament Museum (ATOM) at the Transylvania Heritage Museum takes visitors back to the time of the space race, when modern American families had a sparkling futuristic Christmas tree.  The trees consisted of foil needles on thin aluminum stems of varying lengths which were inserted into angled slots on a central trunk creating a conical shaped tree.  Often an electric roto-wheel light, placed underneath the tree, was used to add color to the shiny tree. 

The 1962 Sears Wishbook advertised a variety of aluminum trees from a basic two-and-half foot apartment-size at $2.29 to a seven-foot tree at $19.95.  The description read, “Gleaming high luster aluminum needles glued and mechanically locked on.  Easy to assemble, stand included.”

They also carried a high-end green aluminum tree that was sure to be “the most talked-about tree in your neighborhood!”  The seven-foot tree had 22 candle-type lights and sold for only $39.95. 

Aluminum trees were popular from the late-1950s into the mid-1960s.  The release of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in 1965 cast artificial trees as a symbol of commercialism that had risen around the holiday and led to a decrease in their status.  Within a few years they were consigned to yard sales and thrift shops.

During the past couple of decades the glitzy trees of the past have seen a resurgence in popularity.  The Transylvania Heritage Museum at 189 West Street features aluminum trees in a variety of sizes and colors decorated by local individuals and organizations.  The ATOM exhibit is open Wednesday through Friday, 10:00 am until 5:00 pm and Saturday, 11:00 am until 3:00 pm.  It runs through Saturday, December 21.

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.

The First Armistice Day

November 11, the date World War I formally ended at the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month of 1918, was selected for Armistice Day to honor veterans of World War I.  President Woodrow Wilson issued the following message to all Americans on November 11, 1919. 

A year ago today our enemies laid down their arms in accordance with an armistice which rendered them impotent to renew hostilities, and gave to the world an assured opportunity to reconstruct its shattered order and to work out in peace a new and juster set of international relations. The soldiers and people of the European Allies had fought and endured for more than four years to uphold the barrier of civilization against the aggressions of armed force. We ourselves had been in the conflict something more than a year and a half.

With splendid forgetfulness of mere personal concerns, we remodeled our industries, concentrated our financial resources, increased our agricultural output, and assembled a great army, so that at the last our power was a decisive factor in the victory. We were able to bring the vast resources, material and moral, of a great and free people to the assistance of our associates in Europe who had suffered and sacrificed without limit in the cause for which we fought.

Out of this victory there arose new possibilities of political freedom and economic concert. The war showed us the strength of great nations acting together for high purposes, and the victory of arms foretells the enduring conquests which can be made in peace when nations act justly and in furtherance of the common interests of men.

To us in America the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service, and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of nations.

WWI Transylvania County soldiers.  Front row: Avery Orr, 2nd from left;
Virgil Merrill, 5th from left.  Middle row:  Jesse Scruggs, 5th from left.
Back row:  Coy Surrette, 2nd from left; Travie Hart, 7th from left.
Others pictured include Harold Harden, Lauder Lyday, Ernest Miller and
Victor Orr.  They served in France in the Medical Department,
at Field Hospitals and with Ambulance Company 324
from Aug. 1918 through Oct. 1919.

The first Armistice Day in Transylvania County was to be celebrated with a parade by the students of the Brevard Graded School and Brevard Institute, followed by the singing of patriotic songs, prayers and speaking.  The parade was cancelled due to inclement weather but the other events went forward with a large audience at the Baptist church.

Following World War II and the Korean War veterans’ organizations advocated for changing of "Armistice" to "Veterans" to honor those who had fought in all wars and those who served in the U.S. military forces during times of peace.  Congress officially renamed November 11 as Veterans Day in 1954.

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.

City Market Played Vital Role in Brevard

Sam Allison, far right, with several employees inside his
City Market butcher shop.

In the first decade of the 1900s there were several butcher shops or meat markets located in Brevard. W.H. “Bill” Duckworth was involved in the business as early as 1907.  Duckworth had a couple of different partners and different locations initially.  By late 1910 Duckworth’s shop, known as City Market, was located on West Main St. and it was reported that he had purchased an electric mill to aid in processing meats into sausage.

Between 1915 and 1919 City Market changed hands several times being owned by S.F. “Sam” Allison and Younge, Allison and Johnson, and then Allison solely for a while.  In August 1918, Allison sold the business to J. Frank McCall who added a refrigerated counter and showcase.  McCall sold it to W.J. Smith but by May 1919 City Market has back in the hands of Duckworth and Allison. 

An employee and Sam Allison stand with knives
at the ready outside the City Market on the south
side of West Main St., circa 1920.  Also pictured is
Allison's wife, Cora.

In early 1920 Allison bought out Duckworth and would continue to operate City Market for many years.  In addition to beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey and fish, the market carried produce and eggs. 

In February 1922 Allison moved the business across the street to a storefront between Clement Jewelry and Plummer and Trantham’s Department Store on the north side of West Main Street.  Allison also announced that the shop would carry a large supply of grocery items, foreign and domestic fresh and cured meats, along with local meats, eggs and produce.

Allison announced his retirement in May 1945.  Through the years he had made many friends and become known for his barbeques and fish fries.  He was often in charge of benefit dinners for local events and held large wild game feeds and fish fries at his home on the (Old) Hendersonville Hwy. for large gatherings of friends. 

Allison died as the result of a car accident in October 1950.  Sam and Cora Allison are buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Brevard.

Sam Allison with large fish outside his City Market shop.

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.