Walter B. Gwyn Papers
(1891-1897)

M2002.7.1.1-2

Gwyn studied law and received his degree in the early 1870's. While he pursued a law degree, his primary practice was as a land agent for property in and around Asheville, particularly for George Willis Pack, whose name is well known from the major donation he left to Asheville, the land for Pack Square. Gwyn also ventured into railways and mining, two popular enterprises at the turn of the century. One of his well-known ventures in Asheville was the building of the Asheville & Craggy Mountain Railway that ran from Charlotte Street to a point known as "Overlook" on Sunset Mountain, near the "Old Quarry". His partner was R.P. Foster and their venture proved to be a very popular ride for residents and visitors to Asheville. The narrow-gauge railway terminus on Sunset Mountain had one of the best views in the area. The steam engine that ran the route was a narrow-gauge train, called a "dummy." According to Preston Arthur in his History of Western North Carolina, Gwyn applied for a license on November 28, 1890 to extend his railway along Charlotte Street into the city of Asheville. This expansion of service was also successful as was his partnership with Richard S. Howland, who chartered with Gwyn to extend the railway to the "Golf Club" at the end of Charlotte Street. Vandalism, over-extension of resources, the ubiquitous automobile, failure in the stock market and a dwindling patronage eventually led to the demise of the rail line.

Walter B. Gwyn's early business contacts were impressive, if the two ledgers in this collection are any measure. He was instrumental in the building of the city through his legal negotiations for his clients for property during the property boom that exploded at the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century . But like so many of the entrepreneurs at the end of the century, his prospects and those of his clients began to dim in 1896 when debt began to pile up and many found themselves over-extended.. He wrote to brother James M. in December of 1896 that he was without means to re-pay his debts and that the Great Panic of 1893 had left his fortunes ruined as stocks tumbled and railroad investments were hard hit. What happened to Gwyn, is not unlike the events before the Crash of 1929. Asheville had been in a feeding frenzy of land speculation from the mid to late years of the nineteenth century.. The ledgers are filled with speculative "deals." Land that can be had by buying "cheap" and selling "high" is found throughout Gwyn's correspondence. The prosperity of the land boom in Asheville in the early part of the 1880's and 1890's led to a false sense of well-being. Land monopolies in Asheville such as those held by George Willis Pack, Henry Phipps, the Vanderbilts, the Pattons, the Davidsons, the Merrimons, the Coxes, and others was not an exercise in planned economy, but one of opportunity that eventually ruined all but the very rich. While the very wealthy prospered, new entrepreneurs such as Gwyn, often found their over-zealous buying eventually brought them into crushing debt. In one letter to his family Gwyn laments that his assets in the early years of his life were recorded at over $100,000 and at the end of his life his debts were well over that amount. Such was the case with Gwyn in his later years and such was the history of Asheville, generally.

Walter B. Gwyn's early business contacts were impressive, if the two ledgers in this collection are any measure. He was integrally instrumental in the building of the city through his legal negotiations for various clients. Real estate negotiations at the end of the nineteenth century and continuing into the early twentieth century in Asheville were rapid-fire and included many of the major so-called "Robber-Barons" in the north east. Also, in 1886 Gwyn had a Gold Mining Company located in Henderson County. The Boylsten [Boilston] Creek area of Henderson County was thought to have a large deposit of gold bearing quartz. In the Ores of North Carolina, 1887, p.316, we read, “Explorations were so favorable that a company was formed to work it [the mine], and the proper machinery erected for treating the ores.”  The mining company Gwyn created  was called Boilston Mining Company, and was incorporated under Cert. #59, in 1886. Walter B. Gwyn was the President, and the secretary was P.S. Cummings. Initially, Gwyn successfully sold shares in the company, but it did not turn out to be the "large deposit" that was first thought and mining returns did not sustain the company. It quickly fell into hard times and Gwyn moved on to other ventures.