road market it finds sale through the
dealers in this eity.
Our next stop is Newton, the county
sear of Catawba County, a thriving,
growing, busy town with several fine
merchant mills, a large cotton factory
which is near the depot and is run
by steam; also, a hat manufactory.
There is a flourishing high school
here, owned, controlled and patron¬
ized by the German Reformed
Church.
At Conover, the next station, a few
mil. . west of Newton, there i- another
high school, which belongs to the
Lutheran Church and is well patron¬
ized by this large and influential
denomination.
This was Asheville, more than 50 years ago. Doesn’t look much like the
thriving city of today, does it?
Western ]\. C.
Back In 1884
An old railroad advertising
booklet, published more than
fifty years ago, gives some in¬
teresting sidelights on that see-
tion of the state at that particu¬
lar time.
MWOR Graham Andrews, of
Raleigh, brought the book into
our office last week. The title
— "Western North Carolina"; the
date of its publication — summer of
1884.
It was put out by the Western
North Carolina Railroad and its pur¬
pose was to induce a greater number
of tourists and vacationists to visit
the western part of the state. Wo
started looking at some of the pictures
and then became interested in the
text. Chances are that you shall be
too, so let's seo what Grnndpa and
Grandmother would have oliserved on
a trip from Salisbury westward. Ro-
iber that the time is 1884. Here
we go:
Salisbury is one of the oldest towns
in tho state ami is rich in historic
interests.
Пего
was one of the Con¬
federate prisons for Union soldiers
during the "late unpleasantness” and
the federal government lias erected a
granite monument to tho memory of
the men who died for tho cause they
embraced.
From Salisbury we start west and
travel twenty-six miles to Statesville,
a flourishing town of 3,000 in¬
habitants, and the county sent of
I redell County. The Charlotte.
Columbia and Augusta Railroad from
Augusta. Ga., intersects the Western
North Carolina Railroad at this place
and daily contributes its quota of
travelers from Charleston. Augusta
and other southern cities, who come
by through connection and in com¬
fortable conches and sleepers to this
point. The Statesville Female Col¬
lege, formerly built by the Presby¬
terian Church but now owned by a
joint stork company, is located in this
pretty little eity. Statesville is rapid¬
ly becoming a good tobacco market.
Within the last few years the growth
of this product has greatly increase.!
in the counties lying north and west
of if and this being tho nearest ruil-
On to Hickory
From Conover a few minutes’ ride
brings us to Hickory, a town of
1,500 inhabitants, which has grown
up since the War and owes its pros¬
perity chiefly to the tobacco business.
Large quantities of “the weed’’ are
manufactured in eigars, cigarettes,
plugs and snuff and a great deal of
tho leaf is sent to other markets.
The town is also a considerable sum¬
mer resort.
Tho base of the Blue Ridge is
reached at Morgnnton and the glorious
panorama of mountain scenery begins
to unfold itself to the delighted vision.
The hotels in this village are well
kept. If the traveler has time, he
can visit from here with profit to his
health and delight the Linville Falls
and the Piedmont and Glen Alpine
Springs.
Moving westward from Morganton.
we pass up ami alone the fertile
valley of the Catawba, with the moun¬
tains rising on either side, until we
reach Marion in McDowell County.
This is the point to stop if one de¬
sires to visit the Falls of Catawba
and Roan Mountain, which lies about
thirty miles north. It can easily be
reached in a day's travel. Hire a
carriage in Marion, pass through the
picturesque farm* in Turkey Cove
and over Gillespie's Gap to the little
Swiss -looking village of Bakersvillo
which lies on both sides of the limpid
waters of Canoy Creek. After an
hour's rest and a hearty meal, we ride
nine miles up to the top of Roan.
The "Cloudland Hotel” is built on its
summit and affords a comfortable
resting place for visitors.
Moving out of Marion, the engine
goes pulling along the valleys and over
the smaller ridges twelve miles until
it reaches the foot of the mountain
at Old Fort. At Round Knob is a
picture worthy of the painter’s brush
and tho artist’s pencil. Major James
W. Wilson, chief engineer of tho
t
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