Then & Now
In keeping with our theme of “preserving the past and preparing for the future,” we thought it would be fun to create a photo gallery of area people, places, and things to document changes over the years. If you have photos or videos to share (they can be historic or contemporary, even without a matched partner; we have lots of resources and may be able to source a twin image), please upload and submit them through this brief form.
THE TOXAWAY INN
The grand inn that once graced the shore of Lake Toxaway…
Photo courtesy of Transylvania County Library Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room (R.H. Scadin).
… was razed in 1947 and lives on only in memory today.
Photography by Kevin Adams, from the book North Carolina Then & Now. Visit his website here.
LAKE TOXAWAY
The peninsula that was home to the Inn was a spectacular sight from across the lake…
Photo courtesy of Transylvania County Library Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room (R.H. Scadin).
… and it still is.
Photography by Kevin Adams, from the book North Carolina Then & Now. Visit his website here.
TOXAWAY FALLS
Much of the vegetation surrounding the falls back then…
Photo courtesy of UNC Asheville Ramsey Library, McEwen Collection.
Noted photographer William Henry Jackson visited Historic Toxaway in the early 1900s…
Photo by William Henry Jackson.
… was scoured away when the dam burst after a series of heavy rains in 1916.
Photography by Kevin Adams, from the book North Carolina Then & Now. Visit his website here.
…and photographer Mike Moore recorded the same image in more recent times.
Photo by Mike Moore.
LAKE TOXAWAY
A view towards the then-dry lake bed of Lake Toxaway, circa early 1960s…
Photo courtesy of John L. Nichols.
…and the same view in 2012.
Photo courtesy of John L. Nichols.
VIEWS FROM TOXAWAY POINT
A daytime view of Lake Toxaway from Toxaway Point, circa 1911…
Photo courtesy of John L. Nichols.
…and that view in 2016.
Photo courtesy of John L. Nichols.
Sunset view of Lake Toxaway from Toxaway Point, circa 1911…
Photo courtesy of John L. Nichols.
…and an eerily similar sky in 2016.
Photo courtesy of John L. Nichols.
THE VIEW FROM MT. TOXAWAY
…and hiker Dan Weemhoff caught the same view in 2012.
BOATING ON LAKE TOXAWAY
A turn-of-the-century photo of an electric naptha boat from the Toxaway Inn boathouse on Lake Toxaway…
Photo courtesy of W. B. McEwen and Caroline Nichols McEwen Collection.
…and today’s Miss Lucy, a handcrafted mahogany boat which escorts Greystone Inn guests on a nightly sunset cruise.
Photo courtesy of The Greystone Inn.
An old postcard of the original Lake Toxaway shows a steam-powered boat hosting early-19th century guests of the grand Toxaway Inn…
Courtesy of Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library.
…and what very well could be that same boat, found decades later on the dry lakebed when construction on the new lake began.
Photo courtesy of June Humphrey Collection.
UPPER WHITEWATER FALLS
A lustrous black and white image of Upper Whitewater Falls from the early 1900s…
Photo by William Henry Jackson.
…and an equally vibrant color image taken recently.
Photography by Kevin Adams. Visit his website here.
DEEP FORD FALLS (aka CREVICE FALLS)
A snapshot taken during the construction of the original Lake Toxaway…
Photo by R.H. Scadin.
…and the same property today.
Photo from the North American Land Trust (NALT).
