Opening Day at the Toxaway Inn
Finally — the grand Toxaway Inn opens in the beautiful Sapphire Country, and it's all that the guests of the Toxaway Company could hope for.
The Building of Lake Toxaway and the Toxaway Inn
To great accolades, and despite obstacles, the enormous Toxaway Inn project was complete enough to open toward the late part of the 1903 summer season.
The Franklin Hotel: Gateway to the Sapphire Country
The Franklin Hotel was built in Brevard by the Toxaway Company as a gateway stop for their guests to the Sapphire Country, and in repayment to Brevardians for investment help to build a railway between the two.
The Lodge at Mount Toxaway: Then & Now
The Lodge at Mount Toxaway is no more - replaced by an unmanned fire lookout tower - but you can read about its resort heyday here.
The Sapphire Inn & Cottages: Then & Now
Sapphire Inn and Cottages were built in 1897 on Lake Sapphire by the Toxaway Company and enjoyed a decade of lively operation. Unfortunately a fire in the summer of 1906 destroyed the inn.
Settling of Bounty Lands in Western North Carolina
How do you pay someone for a service rendered when you have no money? The leaders of the Continental Congress offered land grants or bounty lands to Revolutionary War soldiers as payment for their service.
The Fairfield Inn: Then and Now
The Fairfield Inn was the first great resort built by the Toxaway Company. Its storied history began in 1896 and ended after a fire in 1986 forced its closure and eventual demolition.
The Toxaway Company and the Great Resort Era
Just how did Western North Carolina become “the” resort venue in the late nineteenth century? It was largely due to the efforts of the Toxaway Company, a collection of industrialist entrepreneurs who built five great inns of the time.
Life & Work of Early Area Photographers
We explore the life and work of three photographers who preserved turn-of-the-century Transylvania County life with their images: R.H. Scadin, E. H. Glover, and Joseph Stokely Wilde.
The Logging Industry (1900-1920)
By the early twentieth century, western North Carolina’s economy was dominated by two industries: tourism and timber. Here we take a look at the turn of the century logging trade in western Northern Carolina.