First Car Appeared in County Around 1907

The first cars began to appear in Transylvania County around 1907 when it was noted that Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt visited the Pink Beds by automobile.  In February 1909, the Sylvan Valley News teased that Brevard would be getting its first auto owner and the editor had been extended an invitation for a ride.

An April 9, 1909 article boasted, “Brevard is to be congratulated on having within her borders an up-to-date, high-toned, first-class, 25-horse-power automobile as a permanent fixture.”  The vehicle belonged to H.P. Clarke.  The editor was given his promised ride and declared, “An auto ride is exhilarating, and as we didn’t have any hair to ‘hold on’ it was enjoyed to the full limit.”

Two months later two additional Brevard men purchased vehicles in Columbia, SC and had them delivered.  A June 11, 1909 Sylvan Valley News article reported, “Two auto-buggies, the property of Dr. E.S. English and J.L. Aiken, have arrived in town.  They were driven overland from Anderson, S.C., coming first by Saluda Gap.  At Green River they were met by high water, and had to go around by Jones Gap.  Again they were detained over night at H.P. Clarke’s by high water, reaching Brevard Thursday morning.”  English and Aiken took driving lessons so they could serve as their own chauffeurs.

A year later Mr. Clarke purchased two new automobiles, a hup-mobile and a Stearns 7-passenger car.  The Sylvan Valley News proclaimed the hup-mobile as “the classiest little car we have seen this year.”

Articles announcing injuries and deaths caused by automobiles were a weekly feature in the newspaper.  Although these occurred all across the country, most often in cities, safety was of great concern by local officials, as well.  State law set the speed limit at a maximum of 10 mph in business districts, 15 mph in residential areas and 25 mph on public highways.  State laws also required all vehicles and drivers be licensed. 

The Town of Brevard passed speed limit ordinances with hefty fines for those who did not comply.  In 1913, the speed limit was lowered from 10 mph to 8 mph on straight streets and 4 mph at crossings and corners.  Drivers were also required to sound their horn when approaching intersections.  In addition, vehicles had to have two white lights on the front and a red light on the back after sunset and before daylight.  Automobiles were also required to have mufflers.

Brevard businessman Jim Bromfield, pictured here driving
 one of several vehicles he owned, was another early 
automobile enthusiast.

North Carolina’s “Good Roads Campaign” had been around since 1899 but grew with the popularity of the automobile.  It promoted road building through quality methods of construction leading to the state nickname of “Good Roads State.”

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. For more information, comments, or suggestions contact NCRoom staff at ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.

Rockbrook: P.T. Barnum's Connection To The Camp

H.P. (Henry Peck) Clarke was from a prominent Bridgeport, Connecticut family.  In his late twenties, Clarke bought a large property outside of Columbia, South Carolina, known as Goodwill Plantation, in hopes of improving his health.

Clarke’s first wife, Julia Caroline Hurd, was the granddaughter of P.T. Barnum, founder of Barnum and Bailey Circus.  After her death, he married Mary Jane Macfie, daughter of Captain James Macfie.  Macfie commanded Company H “Congaree Troop” 2^nd Regiment South Carolina Cavalry, part of Wade Hampton’s Legion. 

The Clarke family began spending summers in Transylvania County in 1898.  Numerous newspaper tidbits tell of H.P. Clarke leading recreational activities, including camping, sightseeing, hiking, fishing and hunting with family and friends. 

The Clarke home at Rockbrook faced west and sat on a 
rise with a wide lawn.

Clarke purchased the old Chisholm place on the French Broad River and named it Rockbrook.  He build a large, stately home designed by Asheville architect, Richard Sharp Smith.  The front entrance of the Neoclassical Revival style house has a semicircular portico on Tuscan columns.  The house is two-and-one–half stories with a decorative widow’s walk topping the low hip roof.  Five dormers and two brick chimneys protrude from the roof as well.  The interior was comprised of large rooms flanking a central hall.  The third floor was originally servant’s quarters.  Some of the architectural drawings can be viewed at ncroom.buncombecounty.org/.  

The Clarkes regularly entertained at Rockbrook.  Mrs. Clarke hosted social gatherings, such as the Ladies Book Club.  Daughter, Nancy would invite friends to dance in the parlor or to a Christmas Day play performed in the main hall.  The grounds included a tennis court and a baseball diamond with games between local teams. 

 In 1912 public schools in Transylvania County began offering domestic science classes.  Nancy Clarke stepped up to provide equipment and materials as well as pay an instructor for girls from the Round Top and Island Ford schools.  The classes were held in one of the Rockbrook outbuildings.

On April 30, 1913 Nancy Barnum Clarke married Henry Nash Carrier at the Rockbrook home.  The wedding description read, “The bride was attired in a wedding robe of white charmeuse, en train, with trimmings of duchess and princess lace and bridal veil of tulle and orange blossoms.  She wore a magnificent pearl crescent, the gift of the groom.  The bridal procession formed at the head of the main stairway leading to the profusely decorated hall and thence entered the drawing room where the ceremony, in the presence of a large company of local and out of town guests, was performed.” 

In 1921, Mrs. Carrier established Rockbrook Camp for Girls on the property.  The camp will celebrate its centennial next year.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. For more information, comments, or suggestions contact NCRoom staff at ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.

Tobacco Farming in Transylvania County

According to “North Carolina Atlas” by Jule B. Warren and L. Pole Denmark published in 1952 “North Carolina ranked fourth in the nation in the value of farm crops, not including livestock.”  The leading product by far was tobacco, which had been cultivated in the state since colonial times. 

Different varieties of tobacco grow best in different climates and soils.  They are also cured in different ways.  North Carolina was the leading producer of flue-cured bright leaf tobacco, most of which was grown in the eastern and northcentral part of the state.  Burley tobacco, which is air-cured was grown in the mountain counties of Western North Carolina. 

While the burley variety accounted for a very small proportion of the total tobacco crop grown, it did bring a higher price.  Burley was valued as a flavoring ingredient in tobacco products, especially cigarettes.

North Carolina’s burley tobacco production amounted to only about three percent of the national total in the early 1970s.

Locally, County Agent R.E. Lawrence began promoting tobacco as a money crop around 1920.  S.E. Verner planted an acre of tobacco as a demonstration in 1925.  By the early 1930s there were several farmers in the Little River area raising burley tobacco.  Although it could be grown in heavy red clay soils, the bottom lands in the river valley provided good fields for the crop.

A group of Little River farmers listen to a discussion
on tobacco, 1957.

Little River community scrapbooks from the 1950s through the 1970s provide information and photographs related to tobacco farming. The community regularly held demonstrations and planted test plots to learn about tobacco varieties; control of weeds, insects and diseases; and to provide other educational opportunities for farmers. 

Tobacco hanging in Martin Shipman's drying barn, 1960.

In 1952 Martin Shipman, Lynch Moore, E.W. Medford and H.M. Merrill attended a field day in Waynesville where they saw a gas burner used for curing burley.  Shipman purchased nine burner units to install in his 1,200 square foot barn with controlled ventilation.  It was the first of the improved type of tobacco barn in Western North Carolina. 

Transylvania County farmers never produced large quantities of tobacco.  Under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 a quota was established setting the number of acres of tobacco that could be planted in each county.  Transylvania County’s quota was around 33 acres throughout the mid-to-late 20^th century.  When the quota system was eliminated in 2004 through the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act it was no longer profitable for small farms to raise tobacco and ended tobacco production throughout the mountain region.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. For more information, comments, or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.

Bringing The History of the Pisgah Inn to Life

George Weston was raised in Buncombe County and served as Biltmore Estate’s superintendent of farms in the late 1800s and early 1900s before moving to New York for several years.  After returning to Western North Carolina, Weston obtained a concession permit from the U.S. Forest Service to build an inn near Mt. Pisgah in the newly established Pisgah National Forest.

The entrance to the original Pisgah Inn featured exposed log
trusses and bracing.  To the left of the entrance was the 
exterior of the field stone fireplace, which was the focal 
point of the lobby.

Weston and his wife, Mary Cynthia, spent the summer of 1919 camping nearby while their rustic inn was being constructed.  The large, two-story structure sat on a stone foundation with log piers supporting the porch.  Rough-sawn timber was used as board-and-batten exterior siding. 

In the interior the wainscoting, bookshelves, post-and-lintel ceiling supports and other woodwork was made of chestnut.  The inn included a lobby with a large stone fireplace, a dining room and kitchen, and eleven guest rooms.  Porches and terraces offered specular panoramic views.  Mrs. Weston’s native plant gardens were always open for a pleasant stroll or for botany students to study.  There were four cottages for visitors, as well.

Originally known of the Pisgah National Forest Inn, references to the Pisgah Forest Inn, Old Pisgah Lodge, Pisgah Motor Lodge and Pisgah Inn are also found.  By whatever name, the inn was popular among leading businessmen, architects, foresters and wealthy tourists.  Many guests braved the difficult journey to return year after year.

After the Westons retired in 1937 ownership and management of the Inn, which had several years remaining on the original 30-lease, changed a couple of time.  In October 1951, Leslie and Leda Kirschner took over its operation. 

In the early 1960s, when the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville to Wagon Gap Rd. was finally scheduled to be completed, the property was transferred from the U.S. Forest Service to the National Park Service.  Anticipating an increase in visitors and concerned about the condition of the old inn the National Park Service demanded major improvements, including a new inn before extending the concession contract.

The old Pisgah Inn served as 
employee housing for many years,
1984.

The Kirschners joined with several investors to construct the current Pisgah Inn, which opened in 1966.  Although efforts were made to save the original structures, they were eventually taken down in 1990. 

A detailed architectural description, with historical context, can be found in a Historic American Buildings Survey by the National Park Service and in the 1982 National Register of Historic Places nomination form.  Both are available in the Local History Room at the Library. 

Historical photographs of the early inn and cabins, the present inn and the surrounding area are featured in Marci Spencer’s new book, “Pisgah Inn”, which is part of the Images of America series.  Although Spencer’s presentation on the history of the Pisgah Inn for the Library’s June 2020 Bag Lunch program was cancelled we hope to reschedule it at a later date.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. For more information contact the NC Room staff at 828-884-1820 or ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org.

Service And Leadership: Remembering T.C. Henderson

T.C. Henderson returned to Transylvania County to serve as Superintendent of Schools for a second time in 1923. 

In a 1924 report on the state of Transylvania County schools Henderson offers an early history and a statement of progress made over the past sixteen to eighteen year including the addition of standard high schools at Brevard and Rosman, as well as a reorganized high school at Davidson River.  

The new Brevard High School opened in September 1925.

He continues, “It is the plan of the State Department of Education and the hope of the county board of education and the county superintendent of public instruction very soon to have high school instruction within reach of every boy and girl who has completed the elementary course in our public schools.  This can be accomplished by means of transportation for high school pupils.  One of the greatest needs of our schools, especially the high schools, is the installation of shops, laboratories and scientific paraphernalia for the addition of courses in vocational agriculture and home economics.”

Henderson proposed establishing one county wide tax district so every child would have an equal opportunity.  This policy was being used in the more progressive counties in the eastern part of the state and included a recommendation for an eight month school term for all schools.

After the Uniform Tax passed on December 15, 1925, Henderson received high praise from across the state.  A.T. Allen, State Superintendent wrote, “The success that you have had will put heart into many of the fellows in other counties.  This is the best bit of information we have had in support of the State-wide eight month school term, and I can’t think of enough to say to you in commendation of the wonderful way in which you have handled this election.”

At the start of the 1925-26 school year Transylvania County’s first school truck (bus) began transporting high school students from Calvert, Cherryfield, Quebec and Lake Toxaway to attend Rosman High.  By Spring 1927 there were four school trucks operating in the county.

T.C. Henderson would serve as Superintendent of Transylvania County Schools from 1905 through 1917 and 1923 through 1929.  Following his “retirement” Henderson taught for several more years at Rosman and in the Gloucester and Hogback townships. 

 The North Carolina retirement law stated that teachers must retire at the end of the school year after reaching the age of 70.  T.C. Henderson’s final year as a teacher was the 1941-42 school year when he taught twelve students at the Montvale School, the same school where his brother Charlie had once taught 72 students. 

T.C. Elementary School in 1962.

Whether as Superintendent of Schools or teaching in the county’s smallest one-teacher school T.C. Henderson always worked for the good of the students.  He was a leader in education advancement in Transylvania and Robeson counties and across the state.  His brother, Charlie stated, “His entire life was spent in laying the foundation for others to build upon.” 

When the last of the rural schools were consolidated the new elementary school in Quebec, not far from where T.C. Henderson was raised, was named for him.  T.C. Henderson Elementary School opened on August 26, 1957, just fourteen months after Henderson died on June 17, 1956.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. For more information contact the NC Room staff at 828-884-1820 or ncroom@transylvaniacounty.org.

T.C Henderson: Insight Into His Early Life As An Educator

Thomas Calhoun Henderson was born October 9, 1871 to George and Millie Henderson.  Like his younger brother Charlie, who was featured in last week’s Picturing the Past article, T.C. received limited schooling as a child. 

The Henderson boys were eager to pursue more education though.  They attended Professor A.T. Hord’s private academy in Glenville and then Cullowhee Academy, which later became Western Carolina University.  Throughout his career T.C. would take many additional courses to continue his own education.  His first teaching experience was in a one-room log schoolhouse in the East Fork community in 1897. 

The Henderson boys, a niece and a cousin lived in this cabin 
while attending school at Cullowhee in 1896.
Seated from left: Isaac Henderson, Latha Miller Thomas (niece),
Charlie Henderson.  Back from left: Kennedy Henderson, Mabel 
Peek Watson (cousin), Calhoun (T.C.) Henderson.

Henderson served as the principal of the Croatan Normal School in Robeson County (1900-1905) and was superintendent of The Cherokee Indian Normal School of Robeson County (1917-1923).  The school, which provided education for Native American students during a time of segregation, went through several name changes over the years and is The University of North Carolina at Pembroke today.  According to “Hail to UNCP! A 125-Year History of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke” Henderson is credited for “raising the standard of work” throughout his term as principal and “a surge of progress” during his second stint at the school.

In Transylvania County, T.C. Henderson was first named Superintendent of Schools in July 1905.  Henderson immediately began to push representatives from the 35 small schools scattered throughout the county to comply with state regulations regarding education.  He held mandatory teacher meetings in each district, inviting school committee members and parents to attend, as well.  He advocated for longer school sessions, the hiring of better qualified teachers and major improvements to school facilities.  

To achieve these goals, Henderson purposed a school tax in each school district of the county.  An April 27, 1906 Sylvan Valley News article stated, “So far in the history of this county no citizen has ever paid a cent of tax for public schools—and generally speaking there have been no public schools worth supporting by taxation.”  The special tax was approved in Brevard in April 1906 and other districts soon approved school taxes, as well.

Over the next twelve years, enrollment increased from 75 percent to 82 percent of school age children in the county.  Daily attendance also went up from 54 percent of those enrolled to 65 percent.  The school year was extended from 84 to 123 days overall, and 147 days in districts with a school tax.

The number of teachers increased from 40 to 60 county wide and they were much better trained.  Thirty-seven teachers had attended Normal School for Teachers, as opposed to just six previously. In addition, nine teachers had college diplomas, up from just one in 1905.

 School conditions were greatly improved with numerous new buildings and upgraded equipment and supplies.  There were now two state-aided high schools, ten schools with a piano or organ and 25 rural schools with a library.

T.C. Henderson

Nonetheless, Supt. Henderson wrote a March 16, 1917 Brevard News article titled, “Brevard’s Greatest Need Is High School Building.”  He proposed a 20-year, $25,000 bond to build a high school with at least four traditional classrooms, two rooms for domestic science, an auditorium and office space, plus a lab and manual (vocational) training room in the basement. 

Despite the vast improvements Henderson brought to the schools of Transylvania County when a new school board was elected in 1917 they voted to replace him with Professor A.F. Mitchell, who had served as the principal at Penrose High School for the past three years.

Next week Picturing the Past will look at T.C. Henderson’s second period as Superintendent of Transylvania County Schools and his legacy to the local school system.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. For more information contact Marcy at 828-884-1820 or marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org.

Charlie Henderson's Life Was Well Lived, His Advise For A Long Life - Don't Worry

Charles Washington Henderson, born November 7, 1873, was the eighth of George and Millie Henderson’s eleven children.  The Henderson family had moved from Macon County into the old Tom Cantrell cabin in the Tiptop (later renamed Quebec) area of Transylvania County in 1872.

George Henderson was instrumental in establishing Oak Grove Baptist Church.  He was actively involved in the church his entire life and ensured that his children were as well.  According to son, Charlie, “Father and Mother never sent their children to Church and Sunday School. They always took them. That gives us an example we never forget.”

The old Quebec School.

The children attended school in the old Quebec log schoolhouse when it held short sessions but had limited opportunities for education outside of the home.  As they got older, the boys went to a private academy in Jackson County, later attending high school and taking courses at the State Normal School for teachers in Cullowhee.  Four of the boys would teach school at some point in their lives and two went on to careers as preachers.

As a young man, Charlie Henderson worked in a grist mill and a saw mill, he drove an oxen team to market, worked on a railroad construction crew and taught school for four years.  He was paid $77.76 to teach a three-month session at Montvale’s one-room school in 1898.  There were 72 children registered from the A.B.C. class through 8^th grade.

Charlie Henderson, a carpenter, built this large
Craftsman-influenced house around 1930
after the family's home burned.

Charlie married Janie Cash on December 24, 1905. They had a 137-acre farm near Quebec where they kept chickens, milk cows and hogs, as well as a large garden and an apple orchard.  They also raised eight children, plus three grandchildren after the death of oldest daughter, Berdell.  Henderson spent most of his career working as a carpenter though.  He is reported to have cut the first board for the Toxaway Inn.

Charlie or Uncle Charlie, as he was fondly called in later years, was a natural storyteller and had a sharp memory.  In 1975 the Transylvania Times ran a series of his reminiscences in the newspaper.  These stories provided a history of the Henderson family and a vivid picture of growing up in the mountains in the late 1800s.  

He tells of the sheep the family raised, adventures with brother, T.C., to earn money and much more.  His mother sheared the sheep, then cleaned, carded and spun the wool into thread, which she used to weave cloth.  She sewed all the family’s clothes by hand.  His father made their shoes. 

As young men, Charlie and T.C. decided to walk over the mountains to Asheville for jobs.  They spend some time working as carpenters, shingling the roof on the Skyland Hotel.  After a quick walk home to check in with family, they walked back to Asheville, then caught a train to White Pine, Tennessee where they spent a season harvesting wheat.

Henderson’s advice for a long life was not to worry.  He said, “A body should never sit down and brood and worry about his mistakes.  He should forget them and look ahead and plan ahead.”  Charles Washington “Uncle Charlie” Henderson died October 12, 1976 just shy of his 103^rd birthday.  He is buried at Oak Grove Baptist Church Cemetery in Quebec.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. For more information contact Marcy at 828-884-1820 or marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org.

A Birthday Party At The Franklin To Remember

Some of the photographs in the North Carolina Room Collection at the Transylvania County Library have little information to identify the people, event or location.  Such was the case for today’s feature photo labeled “At the Franklin July 1, 1905” in the lower right corner.  At a much later date someone had written this information, plus “Photo by Scadin” beneath the image. 

While searching the Sylvan Valley News for unrelated information an article titled, “Mother Goose Birthday Party” was discovered.  It was obvious this explained the “At the Franklin” photo of a group of children dressed in costume.  The article also names the photographer, Hiram Glover of Brevard rather than his friend and fellow photographer, Henry Scadin from Sapphire.

Below is the complete article from the July 14, 1905 edition of the Sylvan Valley News.

The Mother Goose party given by Master Joe Morton at the Franklin hotel on Saturday afternoon to celebrate his sixth anniversary was in every way a most enjoyable affair, marred only by the threatening storm, which hurried the little ones home earlier than was intended.

Promptly at 4 pm as per the invitation, Little Boy Blue blew his horn as a welcome to his guests and Mother Goose received each member of her family whose numbers rapidly increased.  After a series of merry games the party repaired to the porch where the table was spread.  In the centre was a perfect meadow on which the sheep and lambs gamboled merrily, while in a corner was a pond and the pen with the cows in the corn, proved how fully each detail had been carried out. After partaking of the delicious refreshments the crowd was grouped and a picture taken by photographer Glover. 

Joe Morton,"Little Boy Blue" and his party guests. 
Photo by Hiram Glover.

The following is a list of the guests and the character they represented: Ruth Genkenger, Mother Goose; Lillian Genkenger and Andrew Orr, Wheelbarrow Pair; Goode Cheatham, Old King Cole; Banks Withers, Jack Sprat; Sarah Falls, Nancy Etticoat; Marian Falls, Betsy Brooks; Frances Campbel, Mother Hubbard; Rubin Cornal, Queen of Hearts; Margerie Breese, Bo Peep; William Breese, Bobbie Schafter; Liza and William Wallis, Jack and Jill; Josephine DeVane, Mary and her Lamb; Ruth Moore, Miss Moffett; Felix Brunot, Doctor Foster; Hilary Brunot, Crooked Man; Frank Morton, Tom Tom Piper; Joe Morton, Boy Blue; Irene McMinn, Curly Locks; Sarah Burrowes, Mary Quite Contrary; Edith Burrowes, Daffel Down Dilly.

Following is the invitation extended:

Won’t you come to my Birthday Party

All the children will be there,

We’ll hunt pipes and blow soap bubbles

Mother says she doesn’t care.

Mother Goose will also come

To meet her large family, of which you are one,

So please dress as her children do

And a hearty welcome she will give to you.

Little Boy Blue will blow his horn

July 1^st on The Franklin lawn,

Four o’clock is the hour to come

And I am sure we’ll have lots of fun.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. For more information, comments, or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: Not Just Tools, But Vivid Links To The Past

Beginning in the mid-19^th century fire insurance companies in the United States used detailed maps to determine liability risks.  The Sanborn Map Company quickly became the leader in the field and by 1916 were the only company producing fire insurance maps.

Properties and businesses in thousands of communities across America were documented.  The maps included streets, sidewalks, water and gas lines, fire hydrants, railroads and waterways.  Property boundaries and building footprints were laid out on the maps.  A key helped identify materials used in the building construction, doorways, windows, fire walls and automatic sprinklers.  There was also a description of water facilities and the fire department.

The specific use of buildings, such as bank, church, grocery or domestic (private home) was often identified.  In some cases public buildings, like the Aethelwold Hotel in downtown Brevard and Spencer Hall at Brevard Institute were labeled.

Each large (21 by 25 inches) color lithographed sheet covered four to six blocks.  New editions of the maps were created and printed on irregular schedules depending on growth rates.  Updates were added as correction slips between editions by a paster, who literally pasted the correction slip on top of the most recent edition.

Changes in the insurance business led to a reduced need for fire insurance maps and by the mid-1960s they were no longer being produced.  Today, the historic maps are useful for researchers looking at community development and decline. 

They also aid in dating buildings. The 1911 Brevard maps show a small wood-frame structure labeled Fire Dept. just west of the courthouse, in the middle of what is today Broad Street.  A fire bell stand is beside it.  The building remains on the 1916 but the bell stand is gone and another wood-frame structure, marked Street Dept. Machinery Storage has been constructed.  Both buildings are metal clad by this time.  By 1924 there is a third building of brick.  It is labeled A, for auto house (garage). 

This portion of the 1924 Brevard Sanborn Map shows
Broad St. from Jordan to Probart.

The January 1931 map shows N. Broadway (Broad) as a thru street.  The City Hall and Fire Dept. are located on the north side of West Main, midway between Caldwell and England streets.  The final Sanborn Map for Brevard, which is an update rather than a new edition, shows that City Hall and the Fire Dept. have relocated again.  This September 1945 map places them on the south side of the same block of West Main.

Although the Sanborn Maps are labeled Brevard, Transylvania County they extend beyond the business district and a larger area is covered in each edition.  Most include the Railroad Avenue area, the Brevard Institute (Brevard College) campus, Transylvania Tanning south of Brevard, the area around Carr Lumber in Pisgah Forest and all of Rosman.

A fragile, original copy of the 1924 edition for Brevard is available in the Local History Room at the Transylvania County Library.  Black and white copies of all editions are can be accessed at www.nclive.org and color editions of the three earliest Brevard editions are available at www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps/.  Detailed guides to reading and using Sanborn Maps are also available online.

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.

Moonlight Schools Held At Rosman In Late 1914

The illiteracy rate among adults in North Carolina was significantly higher than the national average during the early 20^th century.  According to the Bureau of the Census the national percentage of adult illiteracy was 11.3 percent in 1900.  In North Carolina illiteracy was 30.1 percent.

It was fairly common for children to receive limited formal schooling prior to 1900.  Schools often operated for six or eight week sessions, scheduled around planting and harvesting or based on availability of teachers.  Many students in rural areas were too far from a school to attend regularly.  In addition, parents frequently needed older children at home to help support the family in various ways.

During the second decade of the 1900s programs were established throughout the state to provide education for adults who had received limited schooling.  They were instructed in reading, writing and basic arithmetic using materials of interest to them such as newspapers, letters and the Bible.  Participants were also taught skills like household management, including finance, nutrition and first aid.  The goal was to meet the needs of those attending.

These night schools, sometimes referred to as moonlight schools, were held sporadically in Transylvania County.   The first mention of night classes in the county was in late 1914, taught by faculty at the Rosman School.

Traditional students at the old Shoal Creek School.  Teachers
were Janie Gillespie, Janie Matthews and Jessie Matthews. 
Photo courtesy: BalsamGrove Community Center
and Bernice Powell.

In January and February 1915 Miss Fay Moses operated a moonlight school at Shoal Creek three nights a week.  She reported that many of her students worked 10-hour days in a logging camp and then walked three miles over the mountain to attend classes from 7:30-9:30 pm.  The closing program for the session included a short program from the children of the day school and a play by the night school students.

Prof. W.L. Carmicheal reportedly taught moonlight school classes at the Rosman School in 1919.

In the 1920s several women’s clubs worked together to expand educational opportunities by supporting a community night school for adult education classes at Brevard High.  During the Fall 1926 session, Miss Mary L. Butler, Blantyre School Principal, was the head teacher at the Brevard moonlight school.  Mrs. Kathron White and Mrs. Nancy Neel were assistant teachers.  Classes were held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for six weeks.

Rosenwald School Principal J.M. Harris organized a night school for members of the African American community in 1931.  Harris and Mrs. Ethel K. Mills taught reading, writing and the fundamentals of arithmetic, history and geography.  The school operated two nights a week and was very successful.  State Inspector of High Schools, J. Henry Highsmith commended the Rosenwald Night School for its work.

Although illiteracy rates across North Carolina had dropped to 11.5 percent of those over 15 years of age by 1930 it was still well above the national rate of 4.8 percent.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. For more information, comments, or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Was Planned To Help Put Americans Back To Work

The Blue Ridge Parkway, originally called the Appalachian Scenic Highway, was planned as part of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program to help put Americans back to work during the Great Depression.  Construction began in the fall of 1935 near the Cumberland Gap in Alleghany County, NC. 

Initially the work was carried out by private contractors, as well as several public works agencies, including the WPA (Works Progress Administration), ERA (Emergency Relief Administration) and CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), under the guidance of the federal public work administration.

In May 1937 the exact route of the southern section of the Parkway from Asheville to the Great Smoky Mountains Park was still being discussed.  Alternate routes were being considered to reduce construction costs and to work with the Cherokee Indian Tribal Council regarding the route through their lands.

One proposal took the Parkway south from Mount Pisgah through the French Broad Valley to Brevard before heading west to Sylva and Bryson City.  Some in Transylvania County thought this would be beneficial by bringing more people and tourism dollars through the heart of the county.

However, because that route was much longer and therefore less likely to be selected, local officials advocated for the original route along the crest of the mountains.  The Wilderness Society opposed this mountain top route as it would cross through an area that should be protected.

In August 1937 officials announced they would stick with the original route, providing the best scenic views.  There was a brief discussion about re-routing the Parkway closer to Mount Toxaway but again it was decided to stay with the original route.

The section from Wagon Road Gap to Balsam Gap was selected as the first part of the Parkway south of Asheville to be constructed because it would link two existing roads in Transylvania and Haywood counties.  This ensured there would be no dead end links on the Parkway before all of its sections were completed.

At the same time Highway 284, (today Hwy. 276) through the Pisgah National Forest was being constructed.  It was open to the public in late 1938 and paved the following spring.  Funding for the expansion and upgrading of the Rosman-Sunburst Rd. (today Hwy. 215) was approved in July 1938, with work beginning soon after.

Although members of the Civilian Public Service program continued work on the Blue Ridge Parkway during World War II the project was much delayed.  At the start of the war the Transylvania-Haywood section consisted of about five miles of paved road and a few stone walls.  

An article in the March 1954 Ecusta Echo states that, “The stretch of the Parkway from Wagon Road Gap to Beech Gap, connecting with Sunburst Road, will be finished this year.”

Work began in 1940 on the 660-foot long Devil's Courthouse
tunnel,seen here from the north side.

From the Little Pisgah Tunnel at mile marker 406.9 to Beech Gap at mile marker 423.3 the Parkway runs basically along the Haywood and Transylvania county line, crossing back and forth occasionally.  There are three additional tunnels along that stretch of the road—Buck Springs Tunnel, Frying Pan Tunnel and Devil’s Courthouse Tunnel.

The Parkway stretches 469 miles from Rockfish Gap, Virginia to the intersection with Highway 441 just north of Cherokee, North Carolina.  With the exception of 7.7 miles near Grandfather Mountain the scenic road with completed in 1966.  The final stretch, which includes the Linn Cove Viaduct, was finished in 1987.

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.