Saw Mill, Lumber Yard and General Store Were Three Early Pisgah Forest Businesses

In the early 1900s Pisgah Forest had businesses located on both sides of the Davidson River.  On the west side Louis Carr built a saw mill and lumber yard for his logging company. 

Carr had come to the U.S. from Italy as a youth.  He worked a variety of jobs and saved his money until he got into the railroad and timber business in West Virginia.  

Carr Lumber Yard, 1941.  Pisgah Forest Depot on left.

In 1912 he purchased nearly 70,000 acres from Mount Pisgah to Pisgah Forest from George Vanderbilt.  Carr also owned and operated over 100 miles of standard gauge railroad to transport the timber to his saw mill.  He had a double band saw, a planeing mill, a flooring plant, and a dry kiln.  Customers included Biltmore Hardwood Flooring and numerous furniture plants in North Carolina. 

With over 500 employees Carr Lumber was the largest employer in Transylvania County until 1949.  In addition Carr operated a large timber company in New Mexico from the late 1920s until 1945.  Carr Lumber in Pisgah Forest closed in 1957, four years after Louie Carr’s death.

Carr Lumber employees at Company Store.

More information about Carr Lumber can be found in Heritage of Transylvania County, Volume 2 and Volume 3, Logging Railroads of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains by Tom Fetters and A Man Named Luigi by Frank Carr, Jr.

 A swinging bridge over the Davidson River provided easy access for Carr Lumber employees to Hedrick’s Store on the east side of the river.  The old Davidson River Presbyterian Church and the old Pisgah Forest School were also located on the east side of the Davidson River.

Howard Hedrick had operated a general store in a sawmill town in West Virginia in the early 1900s.  When the mill closed he decided to move to another sawmill town.  During a trip to western North Carolina he visited Carr Lumber and Pisgah Forest.  Hedrick liked what he saw, purchased property across the river from Carr Lumber and soon moved his business and family here.

Hedrick’s early 3-story store in Pisgah Forest.  

Pictured from left:  Sunday, Howard, Lorena,  Tina and Ada Hedrick.

The original store was 3-stories and had 30-rooms, including apartments.   That building was completely destroyed by fire on Thanksgiving Day, 1930.  Hedrick rebuilt a smaller store nearby.  Local mill workers, farmers and school children kept the store busy.  The Hedrick family also had living quarters at the store.

In a 1972 article by Cal Carpenter, Lorena Hedrick stated that penny candy was a hot item with school children.  “The children brought their pennies to buy candy.  They used to bring hen eggs, too, and we bought them for whatever they were worth at the time so the children could buy candy with the money.”

Lorena Hedrick continued to run the business after Howard’s death in 1952. Hedrick’s closed around 1973.

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 828-884-3151 X242.