Quarantine: In the Past, The Only Tool in the Fight Against Infectious Diseases

During the second decade of the 20^th century North Carolina enacted a Quarantine Law requiring physicians, parents and teachers report every case of whooping cough, measles, diphtheria, smallpox, scarlet fever and typhoid fever to the County Quarantine Officer.  The Quarantine Officer then sent a yellow placard with the name of the disease to the home to be posted on the front of the house.  He also send instructions for the treatment and control of the patient. 

Long-time County Health Officer, Dr. C.W. Hunt was Transylvania County’s first Quarantine Officer.  He worked diligently to inform the public of the dangers of contagious diseases and improve the health of all county citizens through weekly health education articles in the Brevard News.  He emphasized that reporting cases showed people were interested in reducing illness and saving the lives of children. 

Those who failed to report contagious diseases or to obey the law could be charged and fined.  Transylvania County had a legally-enforced quarantine which many counties did not.  Brevard Judge M.H. Justice was noted for promoting compliance with the law. 

In August 1917 one case of scarlet fever was reported in Penrose and in September two cases were reported in Davidson River and Brevard, along with a case of whooping cough in Brevard.

By the Fall of 1918 the Spanish Influenza had made its way to the United States and was the greatest concern to public health.  It reached its peak in North Carolina during October and November ultimately causing 13,644 deaths in the state. 

The Transylvania County Board of Health took action to limit the spread of the disease by closing churches, schools and places of entertainment, as well as placing restrictions on businesses in mid-October.  In early December it was announced that churches could reopen for one weekly service after it was certified that their community had been clear of the influenza for 10 days.  Schools reopened soon after.

When Dr. Hunt retired as County Health & Quarantine Officer in January 1919 he was praised for “his insistence on an early and strict enforcement of a county-wide quarantine against the influenza” which greatly helped reduce its impact on county residents.

Dr. W.J. Wallis, who had long served on the County Board of Health, was elected to fill the position.  He was Quarantine Officer for the next five years.  In February 1920 Dr. Wallis and the County Board of Health again enacted quarantine orders limiting public gatherings to stop the resurgence of the influenza. 

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.

First Airmail Flight From Transylvania Co. May 1938

The first official air mail service in the U.S. took place on May 15, 1918.  Twenty years later Postmaster General James. A. Farley came up with an idea to promote air mail service and aid struggling airline companies through a week-long celebration. 

National Air Mail Week was a country-wide campaign to show the efficiency of sending letters and packages via air service.  A new 6-cent red, white and blue stamp featuring an eagle was unveiled for the event. 

Nearly 10,000 postal locations participated in the special event by designing unique cover envelopes to be used during the week of May 15-21, 1938.  Rosman Postmaster L.V. Sigmon requested the slogan, “Come Visit Beautiful Sylvan Valley” for airmail envelopes leaving from Rosman. Throughout the week letters postmarked Rosman were delivered to Greenville and Spartanburg first, then sent by air to their destination.

Thursday, May 19 was designated as the day when special flights from participating cities and towns would deliver mail across the United States by air.  This was accomplished by enlisting volunteer pilots as postal service employees for one day.

Floyd Brown's J5 Travelair plane prepares to depart from Rosman.
"Dr. Osborne's Movie Reels of Rosman 1930's Through 1960's"
includes two short clips from the special day.

Pilot Floyd Brown was greeted by a large crowd when he arrived at Dr. Joe Osborne’s airfield in Rosman at 1:12 pm. Postmasters from Brevard, Pisgah Forest, Balsam Grove and Highlands joined in a short ceremony and send off of letters on the first air mail flight from Transylvania County.  He departed at 1:25 pm with 425 letters weighing fifteen pounds, ten ounces which were delivered to the Asheville-Hendersonville Airport.  From there the letters were combined with other air mail from Western North Carolina to continue on its route via Charlotte.

The week-long event proved to be very successful as over 16 million letters and 9,000 parcels were delivered throughout the country.  Collecting the special cover envelopes has become a popular hobby.  If anyone has one of the cover envelopes from Rosman please contact the Local History Room at the 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.

Lake Toxaway Is the Largest Man-Made Lake in the Appalachian Mountains

A May 8, 1903 Sylvan Valley News article titled, “A Visit to Lake Toxaway” provides a vivid picture of scenery, both natural and man-made, surrounding Transylvania’s Toxaway Inn in the early 20^th century.

Visitors typically arrived by train at Toxaway station and took a carriage to the lake and Inn.  The author describes the short journey, “You make a turn in the road and Lake Toxaway bursts into view; you behold a panorama unequalled in America.  You see before you a lake, crystal clear, having a circumference of over 15 miles with low, rolling shores, sand covered beaches and primal forest extending to its very edge. To one who does not know the lake appears natural and as old as the surrounding hills—the dam is inconspicuous.” Those “hills” include Cold Mountain and Mount Toxaway.

Mountains surround Lake Toxaway.  Note the launch on the lake in front of the lake in front of the Inn
and the boathouse to the far right.

The article includes a detailed description of the earthen dam constructed between two hills on either side of the river shortly before it plunges over the falls.  The dam was designed by Mr. Kitchen, a leading civil engineer from the University of Illinois.  Capt. Thomas S. Boswell, also a civil engineer, was the personal superintendent for the crew of local day laborers. 

The initial step was to clear the dam site to the bedrock and blast a trench six feet wide and four feet deep the entire length.  Stone and top-grade cement was used to fill the trench as the central foundation.  It was topped with an eight foot wall of the same materials.  Above and on each side of this a puddled clay core made the dam water-tight and added strength.

Finally, huge boulders weighing between 500 and 4,000 pounds each were used to construct a retaining wall along the lower side of the dam.  The article states, “The upper side is also covered in like manner with huge boulders, and for ten feet (3 feet under and 7 feet above the water line) has a facing of heavy oak planks to prevent any wash from waves.  The dam rises 9 feet above high water mark and is 60 feet thick at the water line.  At the bottom it is 280 feet thick.”

Guests stroll along the causeway to the Lake Toxaway boathouse.

The resulting 640-acre lake was a mile wide and three miles long.  It held more than five billion gallons of fresh mountain water from the Toxaway River and its tributaries.  Several types of boats—from row boats, canvas canoes and sail boats to naphtha (steam) and electric launches—were available for pleasure seekers to enjoy a day on Lake Toxaway.

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.

Caesar's Head Hotel Helped to Encourage Early Tourism in Transylvania County

Although not located in Transylvania County, Caesar’s Head Hotel has played an important role in the history of tourism in the county.  The hotel property was just across the county and state line in South Carolina and included the rock face that shared a name with the hotel.

As early as the mid-1800s visitors from the Piedmont and Low Country escaped the heat and humidity by spending much of the summer at mountain resorts like Caesar’s Head Hotel.  In Christian Reed’s 1875 romantic adventure story, “The Land of the Sky”, she offers a vivid description of the endless view that stretches for miles and the spectacular sunsets seen from Caesar’s Head.  Her narrator boasts, “All around this horizon, as the sun drops behind the western mountains, there comes a radiant, luminous glow—opalescent as the sea appears at sunset or sunrise.  I have never seen any other place which abounds in such marvelous atmospheric effects as Caesar’s Head, and we are fortunate in witnessing some of the most lovely of these.”

This early 1900's postcard shows the size of the 75-room Caesar's Head Hotel.

Newspaper advertisements in the Sylvan Valley News in 1905 stated that the hotel was more than 50 years old.  The room rate was listed at $2 per day or $9 for the week.  Guests arrived in Brevard by train and made the journey to Caesar’s Head via the old turnpike road.  C.E. Orr’s Stables offered transportation for $5-9 with an added fee for baggage.  

The hotel and surrounding property received extensive renovations, including new flooring and interior decorating as well as new piazzas, exterior paint and additional cottages, prior to the 1910 season.

Caesar's Head road was, and still is,  a popular
attraction for sightseers.

In 1911 Solomon Jones became the caretaker for the hotel and property.  His daughter, Vera Jones Stinson, tells of growing up at the popular site in her memoir, “Stumbling Blocks Were Stepping Stones in Appalachia.” It was here that Vera began her lifetime of storytelling.  As she led visitors to the Head she shared tales of the rock and surrounding area.

Over the years the roads from both Greenville and Brevard were improved and by the 1920s people arrived in automobiles.  In 1925 improvements were again made to the historic hotel, this time bringing electricity to the property.  Tracts were also subdivided for summer homes and cottages.

The hotel continued to operate until September 9, 1954 when it, along with the servant’s quarters and a nearby cottage, was completely destroyed by fire.

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.