Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 64

COURTESY OF THE ROWELL BOSSE NORTH CAROLINA ROOM, TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY LIBRARY
PIONEERING A VISION
The story begins in 1890 when Pennsylvania
industrialist J. Francis Hayes sojourned
in western North Carolina. As
his associate later wrote in a 1921 obituary,
" Mr. Hayes was a very sick man, in
search of health. " The mountain air did
such wonders that he decided to stay.
He had other motivations, too. The
hills, he saw, were alive with virgin timber.
Affluent families from further south
were also traveling to the mountains in
droves, desperate for some cool reprieve,
and he recognized an opportunity to
grow the nascent tourism industry.
Eager to cash in, Hayes recruited a
group of stakeholders and established
the Toxaway Company in 1895. (The
word " Toxaway " is the anglicized version
of the Cherokee phrase " ta ha wey, "
meaning " land of the red bird. " )
In the ensuing years, the company
purchased thousands of acres of land
and began building a series of resorts
along railway lines across the region.
They also acquired the bankrupt Hendersonville
and Brevard Railway, Telegraph
and Telephone Company (later
renamed
the Transylvania
Railroad
Company) at auction in 1897.
As general manager of the rail line,
64 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
CLOCKWISE
FROM ABOVE:
Many Lake
Toxaway visitors
arrived in private
Pullman cars.
The Toxaway Inn
was five stories
tall.
The old
caretaker's
cottage.
The Toxaway Inn
Depot.
COURTESY OF THE ROWELL BOSSE NORTH CAROLINA ROOM, TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY LIBRARY
Hayes extended the tracks to accommodate
the company's biggest undertaking
yet: Lake Toxaway. As noted in a 1902
edition of the Asheville Citizen, the project
included " the building of a large hotel
and the making of an immense lake. "
The story goes on to say that " one million
and a half dollars are to be spent on
these improvements, and when complete
the place will be superb. "
EXUDING EXCLUSIVITY AND
ELEGANCE
And that it was. In July of 1903, the
500-foot-wide and 60-foot-tall earthen
dam was completed. The resulting lake
was one mile wide and three miles long.
Construction on the Toxaway Inn, a fivestory
hotel, was completed not long after.
According to Rebecca Suddeth, exof
the Transylvania
ecutive
director

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Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024

Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 3
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 4
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 5
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 6
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 7
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 8
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 9
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 10
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 11
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 12
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 13
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Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 19
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Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 21
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 22
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 23
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 24
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 25
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 26
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 27
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 28
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 29
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 30
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 31
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Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 33
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 34
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 35
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 36
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 37
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 38
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Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 40
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 41
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 42
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 43
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 44
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 45
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 46
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 47
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 48
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 49
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 50
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 51
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 52
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 53
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 54
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 55
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 56
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 57
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 58
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 59
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 60
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 61
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 62
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 63
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 64
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 65
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 66
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 67
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 68
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 69
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 70
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 71
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 72
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 73
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Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 75
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 76
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 77
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Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 81
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 82
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - Cover4
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