The Bearwallow Springs Jelly House

 

Elise Greer, owner, outside the Bearwallow Springs Jelly House in Sapphire, NC circa 1961

The Sapphire community once was home to the Bearwallow Springs Jelly House. The Jelly House was started by Herman and Elise Greer in 1945. The Florida natives moved to Sapphire in 1940 along with their two children, Marie and Everette. Herman was a certified public accountant, and Elise was an art teacher in public schools before the move. Once they purchased land and built a house , they ran a filling station which sold fuel and picnic supplies such as non-perishable items and ready-made sandwiches. In addition, Elise taught private art lessons in a studio she rented above Varner’s Drug Store. Herman continued to work as a CPA in addition to assisting with management of the store.

Eventually, Elise began stocking the shelves with her own canned goods. The unique flavors of homemade jellies and jams she made were so popular that they soon eclipsed the profitability of the fueling station. The Greers focused the business on preserves production, even fulfilling mail orders much the way a small business today might have online sales in addition to a shop front. They employed kitchen help and bought produce from local residents, some of which was cultivated and some of which was harvested from the wild.

Unique flavors set apart the preserves from store-bought goods and captured the whimsy of mountain culture for customers locally and from afar. Though familiar favorites like scuppernong grape jelly and wild strawberry jam were available, there were also unusual options such as wild crab apple jelly, spiced pumpkin sweet pickles, blue damson plum jam, and artichoke relish. The NC Room has copies of their product catalogs from 1965 and 1972 for the curious who wish to see the entire array of preserves created by Elise Greer and her staff. The Bearwallow Springs Jelly House operated for more than 30 years until Elise and Herman retired in 1977.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. This article was written by Local History Librarian Laura Gardner. For more information, comments, or suggestions, contact NC Room staff at ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.