Tar Heel History
Bv Billv Arthur
«U ni and .Allen secretary ol the upstart
company.
Capitalized at $4,000. its pin poses
were
Го
i "building and running a
The Unthinkable
Mountain Lily
Though not very broad or deep,
i lu* French Broad River once played
ui unlikeh host to a steamboat in die early 1880s
A steamboat on the French Broad
River?
I ‘nihiiikahlc. Ini rcdihlc
Tine.
Xdveriised as the "highest steam line
in the world" to earn' 100 passengers
and cat go between Brevatd and
.Asheville, the Mountain lily was sup¬
posed m be the answer to
ti .importation problems lot
residents 2.200 Jeet above sea
level along the Klein li Broad
River.
Foi about 100 veais. until
the 1880s. lesidents along the
liver li.ul hoped and
dreamed it would be the
inaiii high wav to the vallev’s
progress, because overland
navel Iioiii the west to mar-
kets in South Carolina and
beyond was long, arduous,
sometimes dangerous and
e\|K*nsive
frequent road tolls and
overnight siavs at inns to deal
with.
So. in 1876 Congressman
Robert IV \. in< e obtained an
appropriation to make the liver naviga¬
ble. control Hooding and regain
swampland: and $>M.000 was spent
building jetties, blasting away locks,
removing shoals and deepening the
water. However, the unpredictable
Frenc h Bioad Rivet just would not stav
put.
Nevertheless, lot foill veais until the
middle ol 188a, residents and visitors
were proud and lluilled to travel, parts
and send
«
argo on the Mountain
/.//>.
For that, credit Colonel S.V. Pickens
ol I leiideisouville, a Biiik omlie ( antntv
native, lavvvei and businessman who
was a leader in wester n North ( -arolina
development alter the ( ivil War. I le was
li. insportalioii-mi tided, having built
and opetated mule-di.iuii trolley lines
in I leiideisouville and Brevard, lu addi¬
tion to scheduled operations in
licndfisonvillf. a straw-filled Hat cai
was often attai lied lor pleasure n ips lot
«
hildren and the elderlv to the l‘i« kens
Tower atop Park Hill, where lliev
viewed the surrounding sri'iicrv
through a ielesco|H\
In |SX(l Pickens obtained Iioiii the
slate legislature a charier lor the
French Broad Steamboat Company.
Olliet incorporatois were Henderson
Coinitv residents Albert Cannon,
joiiaihan Williams and R.W. Allen; B.C.
I ankford and T.l_ < •ash ol Transylvania
County and C.M. McCloml and James
P. Savwei ol Bum oiiiIm- ( anility. Pic kens
Ik i ame president, lankloid vice presi-
steambo.it on the French Broad Rivet
Iioiii some point near Brevard" to "any
point said companv may think practi¬
cal. not lowei than Asheville."
To launch the new company, a mam¬
moth barbecue and rallv were held
March
1Г»,
1881. at Cannon's home on
the river at the western Henderson
County romniunitv ol Horse Shoe,
located between Hendersonville and
Brevard. People
«
ame from throughout
the area, espec iallv the three surround¬
ing counties, in response to widelv cir-
«
ulated posters. The posters read:
“Come one. (kune all! All day picnic
and barbecue at Horse Shoe.
Henderson Couutv! Fvervbodv invited.
Men. Women and Children."
Writes James T. Fain |r.. in Hrndetson
('.aunt's: “Thev hired a brass band and
stoc ked up on ’villles' and chink — soil
and hard. From early
morning to mid-after-
noon they made sure
everyone was welcome
and had an oppoitunitv
to eat and drink their fill.
Then they got down to
business. They not only
spoke but brought in the
best-known orators to
elaborate on their plans,
lliev planned to build a
steamboat which would
run up and down the
French Broad River from
Asheville to Brevard.
Othci boats would In¬
built as soon as possible.
Prosperity such as had
never been dreamed of
would come to the fertile
French Broad Rivet valley. Brevard and
Hendersonville would grow into large
c ities. I lot s«- Shoe would iM-coine a
thriving c entei ol conuncrce as indus¬
try built on the banks ol the French
Broad. The- steamboat would provide
c heap tiansporiation foi both passen¬
gers and goods. Hie cheap height tales
bv watei would open up new markets
foi items manufactured and grown on
the fauns ol the fertile French Bioad
valley. A new dav was dawning, and all
the people had to do was sign up lot-
stock at onlv 25 cents a share.”
.
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