Railroad in Western North Carolina

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA ASHEVILLE

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	! TO FURTHER REFINE YOUR SEARCH FOR THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY, USE THE CUSTOM SEARCH ABOVE. "Since then, like a cosmic spider, the Southern Railroad has woven its meshes below the Carolina mountains on either side, and thrown its steel threads across them in several places, while now yet another line is being surveyed across the Blue Ridge to the north of Tryon Mountain, up the Broad River Valley, past Chimney Rock, and on as far as Bat Cave where it follows a devious route of escape by way of the Pigeon River Gorge. The Blue Ridge that looks so ethereal in the distance presents almost insuperable obstacles to the civil engineer as do also the guarding ramparts of the valleys of the plateau but the great transcontinental line, that is to reach from the Atlantic coast of North Carolina to Seattle on the Pacific, will doubtless find a way." (1913, Morley,M. In the Carolina Mountains, p.380)
The completion of the railroad to western North Carolina came in 1880. With the arrival of the railroad, the population of the region accelerated. No longer were the coves and valleys of this mountainous region the Shangrila or the hidden paradise waiting to be discovered. Western North Carolina was now under exploration by writers, and exploitation by loggers and by prospectors. Resort operators and others saw in the generous vistas, moderate climate, and exotic native life, an opportunity for tourist trade. The tourists came and the resources departed via the same industrial marvel, the locomotive.
Special Collections holds many materials related to the railroads that were built for the western part of the state. Though few remnants of the early railways remain, there are a few rail lines that are fully functioning today.
	Western North Carolina Railroads
	Railroads Home
	Tench Coxe Collection - Railroad Passes
	WRITERS & MOUNTAINS - Section 4
	Austin-Brooks Photographs
	Sondley - Chapter XIII
	THE ROAD by JOHN EHLE
	Community Life in Western North Carolina (early 1900's) A beautiful 40 page booklet published by the Southern Railway Company detailing tourist attractions in western North Carolina. Contains photographs by noted regional photographer Herbert W. Pelton and descriptions of many well-known landmarks in the area at the turn of the century. Special Collections F217.A65 S68 1914
	Richmond Pearson Biography
	Richmond Pearson Collection
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