Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 66

COURTESY OF JOHN NICHOLS III
COURTESY OF JOHN NICHOLS III
CLOCKWISE: The dining room was as
well-appointed as the rest of the inn.
Inn caretakers in the early 1900s lived in
this building.
The boathouse on Lake Toxaway was an
important water feature at the old inn.
created a residential development.
Today, Lake Toxaway is a thriving
COURTESY OF JOHN NICHOLS III
waited with bated breath. But the dam
held strong.
Then, in August, a third hurricane
came. More than 20 inches of precipitation
fell in less than 24 hours. Once
again, everyone in Lake Toxaway anticipated
the dam to blow. Still, it held
strong.
The following morning, all signs of
bad weather vanished. " The sky was
crystal clear, " says Nichols. " It was just
gorgeous. "
And so, guests headed to the water.
They splashed and played. They laughed
and gossiped. It was a wonderful day in
Lake Toxaway. But then, at around noon
according to The Daily Free-Press, " an
alarming volume of water was noticed
to be sweeping through the masonry " of
the dam.
Again, what happened next isn't quite
clear. Some reports say all five billion
gallons of water crashed down Toxaway
Falls and on toward South Carolina all at
once, uprooting trees and moving housesized
boulders in its wake. Other reports
are more anticlimactic.
66 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
Either way, the emptying of the lake
caused significant damage. Though
there were no casualties save for a blind
mule, houses were destroyed and crops
were washed away. Community mills
were ruined, too.
Luckily, the Toxaway Inn survived
the disaster. However, no well-to-do family
wanted to vacation on the shores of
what the Asheville Citizen described as a
pit filled with " black, oozy, sticky mud. "
This, combined with innumerable lawsuits
filed by property owners seeking
compensation, put an end to the golden
age of Lake Toxaway.
PRESERVING THE PAST
In the ensuing years, several investors
made unsuccessful attempts at reviving
the Toxaway Inn, but it was eventually
razed in 1946.
More than a decade later, in 1960,
Nichols' grandfather partnered with D.W.
Boyd to form Lake Toxaway Estates, Inc.
The company constructed a dam with a
solid granite spillway and filled the lake.
They then built 40 miles of roads and
community. According to Nichols, many
of the area's property owners share their
time between Lake Toxaway and places
like Texas and Florida, coming to the
mountains for spring break, summer
vacations and other special occasions.
But there is an increasing number of
full-time residents thanks to high-speed
internet and the urban exodus fueled by
COVID-19.
When most newcomers roll into
town, they don't know much about the
history of Lake Toxaway. They definitely
don't assume that this place was once a
ghost town. But Nichols is working to
preserve the past through his efforts
with the Historic Toxaway Foundation.
His restaurant, the Grand Olde Station,
plays a role, too.
Nestled in what was once a railroad
station, the eatery serves mouthwatering
burgers alongside a hearty dose of history.
" It's really a museum in a sense, "
Nichols says, rattling off a long list of
artifacts he has collected over the years.
There's everything from old photographs
of the Toxaway Inn to an original 1940s
American LaFrance fire truck that once
served the area.
Besides being cool to ogle, these relics
serve as reminders of the birth, death
and rebirth of Lake Toxaway.
" The entire community wants to
see the history of this place preserved, "
Nichols says. " We all want to tell a story
about our past. "
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Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024

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