The Lost Years Of Lake Toxaway
In the years after the 1916 dam burst that emptied the lake, there were several false starts, but no real new beginnings for Lake Toxaway, the Toxaway Inn, and the surrounding property.
At first many expressed hoped that a new, more secure concrete dam would be built, returning the lake to its former glory; but that wasn’t an easy proposition for then-owner E.H. Jennings to consider. Already dealing with sometimes hard-to-manage operational finances, he now faced a significant number of lawsuits from South Carolina farmers whose crops had been affected when the dam burst (this group, not surprisingly, also opposed a new dam).
At one point, Jennings actually ordered new survey work to be done on the former shoreline, but no actual work proceeded from it.[1] Tourism continued at the other resorts, while the Toxaway Inn remained closed for the indefinite future.
In 1917, Jennings sold a tract of the estate land, some 4,500 acres, to Jerome Moltz who expanded it into a major logging operation.
Tolvin and Cynthia Miller in an undated photo.
Then the first World War began, landing another blow to the area’s economy. Meanwhile, the Inn stood empty, even as the lakebed around it re-forested. A decade later, the Great Depression set in, and any thoughts of promoting the area’s tourism trade were shelved.
It wasn’t until 1926, as a new highway (28) was being constructed from Rosman to the Jackson County line, that a group of investors again expressed interest in reviving the lake and inn. But no deal came of it.[2]
At the time, it was reported that “the inn, the boat house, and the lodge on top of Toxaway mountain have all been under supervision these ten years, and that even the silverware and table linens still remain untarnished and unsoiled and the furniture and furnishings still in good condition, with the former polish of the floors still in evidence.”[3]
This was due to diligent caretaking by Tolvin T. Miller, a local man responsible for security at the Inn and across the remaining acreage of the Toxaway estate for many years. Miller had been involved in the original building of the Toxaway Inn, and after the dam burst, he was hired by the Jennings family to keep a strict watch over the dormant property. He lived with his family in a house nearby, eventually moving to what is still known today as the Caretakers Cottage on Toxaway Point (now completely renovated into a lovely home owned by Mish and John Nichols).
The evolution of the “caretakers cottage” from the early 1900s to near present-day.
Thanks to John’s efforts in 2011 and 2012 to record oral histories from that era, we can listen in on recollections from Barbara McCoy Gillespie, one of Miller’s granddaughters, with other family members:
The country went through another World War and still the enormous Inn sat among rotting stumps. Finally, in the summer of 1947, a company out of Knoxville was contracted to tear down the Inn and sell any usable wood and furnishings.[4]
According to the Transylvania Times, “Locals, antique dealers, and scrap dealers purchased items from hand-painted china to hardwood flooring. Items up for sale included electrical wiring, plumbing fixtures, bathtubs, windows, furniture, mirrors and more.”[5]
The Gastonia Gazette, August 14, 1947.
