Edgar M. Lyda Collection
(1873-1956)

M79.9.1-2 ; P79.9.2

"Drawing for Asheville City Hall, architect Douglas Ellington" (P79.9.2.8.), 
Edgar M. Lyda Collection, D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, UNC Asheville 28804

Title

Edgar M. Lyda Collection (1873-1956)

Identifier

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/mss/lyda/default_lyda_edgar.htm

Creator

Edgar M. Lyda (1873-1956)

Alt. Creator

Buncombe County

Subject Keyword

Edgar M. Lyda (1873-1956) ; Buncombe County Courthouse ; Asheville, NC ; WWNC Radio Station ; Ku Klux Klan ; Asheville City Building ; Optimist Club ; Knights of Pythias ; Centenary Methodist Church ; Douglas Ellington ; Freemasons ;  Masonic Order ; John H. Cathy ; C. H. Bartlett ; F. L. Conder ; Emory McLean ; W. E. Johnson ; engineering ;Board of Education ; Tax collection ; auditor ; County Commissioners, Buncombe County, NC ; Chamber of Commerce ; Rod and Gun Club ;

Subject LCSH

Lyda, Edgar M., 1873-1956
Cathy, John H.
Condor, F. L.
Bartlett, C. H.
McLean, Emory
Johnson, W. E.
Ellington, Douglas
Buncombe County Courthouse (Asheville, NC)
WWNC Radio Station (Asheville, NC)
Optimist Club (Asheville, NC)
Knights of Pythias (Asheville, NC)
Centenary Methodist Church (Asheville, NC)
Ku Klux Klan (Asheville, NC)
Asheville City Building (Asheville, NC)
Asheville (NC) -- Buildings, structures, etc.
Architecture -- North Carolina -- Asheville
Courthouses -- North Carolina -- Buncombe County
Historic buildings -- North Carolina -- Asheville

Description

This collection contains personal papers and business items belonging to Edgar M. Lyda (1873-1956), who was city mayor of Asheville. The collection houses items relating to the building of the Buncombe County Courthouse, including construction bids, designs, blueprints, and photographs. Also included are building plans, architectural drawings and photographs of Asheville city buildings, including the Asheville City Hall, designed by Douglas Ellington.  The papers and pamphlets relate to local clubs, including the Ku Klux Klan, Optimist Club, Knights of Pythias and Centenary Methodist Church.

Publisher

D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804

Contributor

Lyda Family ; Southern Highlands Research Center

Date Original

Date Digital

2001-05-10, 2005-12-19

Type

Collection ; Text 

Format

Two document boxes

Source

M79.9.1-2 ; P79.9.2  

Language

English

Relation

E. M. Ball Photographic Collection, D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville ; Biltmore Industries Archive, D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville ; WWNC Radio Station. , D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville ; Seth Perkinson Collection, D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville ; Dedication of the City Building, booklet in D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville ; Buncombe County Court House., booklet in D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville ; Twenty-Five Years of Engineering in Western North Carolina, booklet in D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville.

Coverage

1921-1928 ; Asheville, NC 

Rights

Any display, publication, or public use must credit the D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville.
Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law.  

Donor

Donor number 61

Acquisition 

1979-05-22

Citation

Edgar M. Lyda Collection (1873-1956), D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804

Processed by

Special Collections Staff, 1979 and 2001 ; 2004-03-10

Last Update

Special Collections Staff, 2008-03-26

Biography

Edgar M. Lyda was born 5 March 1874 at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma.  His parents were William Brownlow Lyda and Sarah Jane Burgin Lyda. After moving to western North Carolina, Edgar attended Weaver College, today known as Brevard College, in Brevard, NC. Until 1898, he was engaged in farming, then clerked in a local general store from 1898 to 1904. In June of 1904 he became a police officer and retained this position until 1912. In 1912 he took on the responsibilities of auditor for Buncombe County and in December of 1923 he resigned this post to become Chairman of the Buncombe County Commissioners and Finance Commissioner for the county. He retained this appointed position until 1 December 1928.

He was member of the Masonic Order, Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America, Knights of Pythias, the Civic-Optimist Club and a member of the Board of Directors of the Asheville Chamber of Commerce.  His favorite hobbies were hunting and fishing, as seen in his photograph with the Black Mountain Rod and Gun Club. He was a Democrat, a member of the Chestnut Street Methodist Church and one of the Board of Stewards for the church. 

His wife, Fannie Loduskie Briggs Lyda, bore eight children: Wm. C. Lyda ; Althea Reid ; Olivia C. Lyda ; Bonnie May ; Lonnie Lee ; Minnie L. Jessie M. and Dortha V. Lyda. The family lived at 56 Hillside Street, Asheville, NC. 

[Biographical information derived from Edgar M. Lyda's submission to The Mayflower Publishing Co., Inc. Lenox Building., Washington, DC D-NC No.135, for Who's Who in the South, 1927]

Series:

Personal Papers (1917-1927) [Folder 1]

Personal papers, 8/16/1917 to 6/30/1927: personal letters and personal business letters
[42 items].

Personal Papers (1927-1928) [Folder 2]

Personal papers, 7/1/1927 to 11/9/1928: personal letters, personal business letters [44 items].

Personal Papers - Organizations (1926-1928) [Folder 3]

Personal papers, items concerning various fraternal and other organizations: letters relating to Centenary Methodist Church, the Knights of Pythias, Ku Klux Klan, North Carolina Carpenters State Council and the Optimist Club [32 items].

Business Papers (1927-1928) [Folder 4]

Business items, 1927-1928: budget; City of Asheville; schools; minutes of the Board; Buncombe County tourism, roads, mental hospitals, and tax report [36 items].

Business Papers - Buncombe County Courthouse (1926-1928) [Folder 5]

Buncombe County Courthouse, 1926-1927: items relating to the construction of the courthouse, including proposals, letters from and to architects Douglas Ellington and others, contracts, papers relating to the courthouse chimes and opening of bidding for work [39 items].

Business Papers - Buncombe County Courthouse (1926-1928) [Folder 6]

Buncombe County Courthouse, 1927-1928: items on completion of courthouse including minutes of the Board, bids from contractors, proposals for design changes [54 items].

Old Court House and New City Building Designs [Folder 7]

Courthouse and city building designs: sketches and drawings of proposed new courthouse and city building [5 items].

Drawings, Plans, Models, Blueprints [Folder 8 ]

Blueprints of courthouse: blueprints of various sections, including kitchen, restrooms, and exterior.  Includes architects' sketches and photographs of building models [38 items].

Printed Material [ Folder 9]

Buncombe County Road Laws 1923 ; The Presidency of the United States of America, 1927 ; Newspaper article, "Asheville, NC Enjoys Greatest Building Activity," 23 May 1927 ; Programs from the Dedication of the City Building and Buncombe County Courthouse ; "Formal Opening of the New High School Building," 22 November 1927 ; First Anniversary, Radio Station WWNC ; Newspaper article with picture of new City Building, Baltimore Sun, 13 February 1927 ; Asheville Handbook 1927, Vol. 2 ; Buncombe County Budget Resolution, 1925 ; Twenty-Five Years of Engineering in Western North Carolina, Charles E. Waddell & Company, Engineers ; Directory of the Public Schools of Buncombe County, 1928-29 ; Illustrated advertisement for S & W Cafeterias ; Suggestions for Burning Fuel [15 items].

Photographs [Folder 10]

Photographs of roadways, 1927 ; courthouse construction, 1 September 1927 ; cornerstone laying for Buncombe County Courthouse, 7 November 1927 ; Rod and Gun Club [18 items].