The Franklin Hotel – Gateway to the Sapphire Country
The entrepreneurs of the Toxaway Company (and developers of the Franklin Hotel) were nothing if not strategic. They knew that they couldn’t just build wonderful Sapphire Country resorts and expect guests to appear; they would also need transportation infrastructure – railroads and turnpikes through often-difficult mountain terrain, and local buggies and wagons – that would allow those guests to arrive, depart and move around the area.
Brevard train station and depot. Notice horse and carriages awaiting guests.
The neighboring town of Brevard was the logical starting point for these guest excursions. Not only did the town already have a railroad station and depot; but a grand road, the Transylvania Turnpike, had been established between Brevard and the Sapphire Country in 1899, paid for in part by Brevardians and other investors.
The following year, when the Toxaway Company offered to build a new hotel in Brevard in exchange for the financing of ten more miles of railway track to Toxaway, the town accepted.
In reality, the deal probably dealt a better hand to the Toxaway Company, as it resulted in two wins for them: The extra rail to carry their resort guests, plus the creation of a pleasant stopping-point for both Brevard visitors and those Toxaway-bound guests – one that just so happened to add more dollars into their own coffers.
Publicity as the “gateway to the Sapphire Country” became an advantage for Brevard, but at least one reporter couldn’t keep a bit of sour grapes from his reporting of the arrangement:
“The action of Brevard people in this matter is commendable. We could not afford to allow the Toxaway Company to open connection with Walhalla and transfer their railway connection to that point. With the influence that the company have in New York and other money centres, this town would be standing in its own right [sic] if it did not lend a helping hand to make Brevard their outlet. Our beautiful valley, with its rich farming and gardening lands, will become better known to moneyed men as the terminus of the railroad to Sapphire than any publicity in reach of its own citizens, and no matter how much we may regret that the company did not locate adjacent to Brevard, we cannot afford to antagonize what cannot now be mended. Let’s give them a helping hand, and if we cannot sit down at the table and get the entire bill of fare, we can at least get the ‘crumbs which fall from the rich man’s table.’ As ‘half a loaf is better than none,’ it is wise for Brevard to extend a hand for even the crumbs.[1]
Even so, there was excitement in town as the extra railway was laid and the hotel began to take shape: “The new hotel, which is to be the Hotel Franklin, is now showing its dimensions and symmetry. Weather boarding is going on and the roof is nearly complete.”[2]
In fact, the build was accomplished quickly – in just four months’ time, from March until July 1900 – and as usual, the Toxaway Company spared no expense.
The Asheville Daily Gazette of November 1, 1900 described it in detail:
“The Franklin faces toward the south and at its front entrance is supported by four large Corinthian pillars which give it a very striking appearance… A fine verandah supported by smaller pillars half encircles the building.
The parlor of the Franklin Hotel.
You step into the public room and office, and to the right is the parlor — tastefully furnished with comfortable wicker-work chairs, a pretty centre table, and a piano.
The parlor floor is covered by a fibre carpet with handsome rugs here and there (and by the way this fibre carpet, which is made out of tissue paper, is laid in every room in the house).
Adjoining the parlor is the ladies’ reading room, also well and comfortably furnished. Farther down the hall on the same side of the house is the gentleman’s reading room.
The dining room is very commodious and has sixteen large windows looking out towards the mountains to the east and west. The tableware is of the very best, and the two large oak sideboards, one at each end of the room, are exceedingly handsome.
There is another dining room on the second floor, especially fitted for the accommodation of the children, whose chatter at the table under these circumstances, cannot possibly disturb any of the older folks while they are enjoying the excellent fare of this sure-to-be-famous house.
There are seventy-five bedrooms, furnished throughout in oak and with some iron bedsteads… Many of the rooms are communicating, opening on one side into a hall which contains as nice a bathroom as one would wish for, with a porcelain tub, hot and cold water, and washstand… Each bedroom also has a deep closet which would safely hold the multifarious garments lugged around by our lady of society.”
Also noted were the two wings extending back from the main entry, which allowed every guest a window view. “The wings come together at the main section but drift apart as they extend back. All this was done for a purpose, as the Franklin was built for fastidious guests. It was not intended that a single room should be without the light of the sun and the moon and plenty of fresh air. There is not an ‘inside room’ in the building. Every guest of the hotel has a mountain view and an abundance of fresh air and light. The triangle between the wings is adorned with pretty trees and grass.“[3]
Like the other Toxaway Company resorts, activities at the Franklin Hotel were regularly reported, as in the August 1905 Charlotte Observer article shown at left.
A gentleman tennis player at the Franklin Hotel.
As for general recreation, “The people who visit the Franklin pass the time in various ways. Some read, some loaf, some stroll, some drive to the various points of interest, while others play games such as golf, tennis, ping pong, croquet, pool, billiards and cards. It is a free and easy-going place with plenty to do and something of interest to see. The hotel has provided for all sorts of entertainment in the way of games.”[4]
Last but not least, the Franklin’s dance floor was proclaimed “perhaps the best… in North Carolina”[5], with orchestras providing frequent guest concerts.
The Franklin was clearly an idea whose time had come. No less a personage than Carl A. Schenk, chief forester at Biltmore, celebrated its existence. He states in his book, Birth of Forestry in America, that “rooms with real baths were obtainable, and my frequent overnight stays in Brevard ceased to be disturbed by fleas, bedbugs, and rats.”
View of the Franklin Hotel lake and park ground.
Some 80 acres associated with the property were also developed as a park with a lake.
Although certainly a successful enterprise, ownership of the Franklin Hotel began to resemble a game of hot potato. In 1906, after five years’ ownership, the Toxaway Company elected to sell the Franklin Hotel to Brevard Banking Company for $25,000. Notably, E.C. Wilson was a bank director and also the brother-in-law and right-hand man of the Toxaway Company’s mover and shaker, J.F. Hays. Though it was not yet widely known, the Toxaway Company was beginning to experience a financial crunch.
In 1909, the property changed hands twice: first sold to CH Robinson, EJ Robinson, and GA Smith; and then to Franklin Park Improvement Company for a price of $35,000. In August 1911, the Franklin Hotel was again sold, this time to a real estate entity, Cleveland and Williams, for $37,500.
According to a post in the Transylvania Times, “In 1919 J.C. and H.W. Wooten purchased the hotel with plans to update and improve it. In 1925 additional improvements were made, including a two-story addition to the east wing and a screened porch on the back. In 1936 it was announced that steam heat would be added to allow for winter guests as well.
By the late 1940s the old hotel was showing its age, [but] it was open for summer visitors at least through the 1949 season.
On September 17, 1950, the congregation of the Brevard-Davidson River Presbyterian Church voted to purchase the hotel and 7 acres. The hotel dining room became the sanctuary, bedrooms were converted into Sunday school classrooms, and a new manse was built behind the old hotel. In March 1956 the old hotel was torn down to make way for construction of the current church.”
Today, Franklin Park, near the church property, covers 4.4 acres at the location of the former park and lake.
SOURCES:
[1] Asheville Daily Gazette, January 29, 1898
[2] Asheville Citizen-Times, April 30, 1900
[3] Charlotte Observer, August 2, 1903
[4] Charlotte Observer, August 2, 1903
[5] Asheville Gazette-News, July 11, 1910
