U.S. Forest Service : Southern Research Station (1897-1952)
 

Bent Creek Campus of the Appalachian Forest Experiment Station, Buncombe Co., N.C.

[Click image for larger view.  Map of Bent Cree Campus.
National Register of Historic Places Nomination map. ]

Summary

Although Bent Creek is primarily noted for its significance in a historical context, it continues to serve as a research facility for the U.S. Forest Service today. See http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/bentcreek/

Historical Background, Conservation and Social History Contexts

The Bent Creek Campus is listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its significance  in the area of Conservation. The campus has been recognized as of national historic importance for the role it played in the development of the U.S. Forest Service. It is the primary research facility of the Appalachian Forest Experiment Station, which in turn played an important role in the research program of the U.S. Forest Service and the development of scientific forestry during the first half of the twentieth century. It is also recognized for its significant role in Social History.  During the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations it was a major player in the federal unemployment program. Finally, it is recognized for its unique architecture, a sophisticated early product of Rustic styling in Forest Service architecture.

The Appalachian Forest Experiment Station was established on July 1, 1921, in Asheville N.C., as an agency of the Forest Service and charged with undertaking "forest investigations on National Forests and private lands, in cooperation with owners, logging operators, State Foresters and others." However the development of scientific forestry began in the 1890's in the U.S. in that there was a national realization that the nations forests needed to be sustained and protected in the face of increasing industrialization. Bent Creek was therefore one of the first research stations set up in the U.S. in order to develop new technologies and management programs in dealing with problems such as pests, diseases, fires, degeneration of the ecosystem, and damaging/inefficient harvesting of forest products. in the early twentieth century the growing agenda of scientific forestry was translated into government policy through the efforts of, particularly, the U.S.F.S and Gifford Pinchot.

Several research stations were established in the western states, such as Arizona and Utah in the first decades of the twentieth century. In 1921 Bent Creek and the Southern Forest Experiment Station in New Orleans were established as the first forestry research stations in the eastern part of the country. These two stations and the ones that came afterwards were intended to "be conducted on a regional basis for the benefit of all the forests in each region, both public and private."

Asheville was chosen as the location for the research station for a number of reasons. It was a bustling resort city which is centrally located in the southern Appalachians, which harbored the last remaining extensive hardwood forests, of paramount importance to the forest products industry. Asheville was also one of the early centers of the conservation movement where Fredrick Law Olmsted and Gifford Pinchot had started the nations first school of scientific forestry in 1889 on the Vanderbilt estate, named the Biltmore School.

Earl E. Frothingham was assigned as the director of the Appalachian Forest Experiment Station, and previous to this assignment he had been a well known pioneer in silviculture development and research. Working under him were, among others, Ferdinand Haasis and Clarence F. Korstian. Together they established the Bent Creek station, located ten miles from Asheville, and encompassing a total of 6,300 acres of land consisting of varied topography and diverse timber growth. The campus was eventually built up into a large station as its responsibilities and task became increasingly significant to the U.S.F.S. The campus was constantly under expansion and construction in the late 1920's and in the 1930's with Hoover's "public works projects", the construction of forest roads at Bent Creek and numerous building projects became part of the governments attempt at combating unemployment. These emergency relief funds towards Bent Creek which started during the Hoover administration increased during Eisenhower's presidency which lead to a further expansion of buildings, roads, trails, communication lines and plumbing to Bent Creek. With the onslaught of World War II production and government funding of Bent Creek stopped, but resumed after the war, not only towards Bent Creek but with the creation of twenty more stations by the mid-1950's. 

The buildings of Bent Creek are Rustic-style in inspiration, designed to be in harmony with the natural forest setting of the forest surrounding the Bent Creek site. They were constructed through the use of natural and locally traditional forms, materials, finishes and details. This style was commonly employed by the National Park Service in the early twentieth century and the U.S.F.S. adapted this style during the New Deal years. In the 1930's, Walter C. Bearden was the chief architect of buildings constructed at Bent Creek. The buildings built under his instruction and design were rustic in style, using local, natural materials from the surrounding forests. A photograph taken by Jesse H. Buell illustrates workmen splitting chestnut shakes for the siding and roofing of the buildings.  

The buildings of Bent Creek are Rustic-style in inspiration, designed to be in harmony with the natural forest setting of the forest surrounding the Bent Creek site. They were constructed through the use of natural and locally traditional forms, materials, finishes and details. This style was commonly employed by the National Park Service in the early twentieth century and the U.S.F.S. adapted this style during the New Deal years. In the 1930's, Walter C. Bearden was the chief architect of buildings constructed at Bent Creek. The buildings built under his instruction and design were rustic in style, using local, natural materials from the surrounding forests. A photograph taken by Jesse H. Buell illustrates workmen splitting chestnut shakes for the siding and roofing of the buildings.  

Bent Creek Research and Demonstration Forest: scientific forestry for informed choices. [Washington, DC ?] : Forest Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1995.

The North Carolina Arboretum. Asheville, NC : North Carolina Arboretum, 1992.

Ottman, Ruth A. Using GIS to Model Debris Flow Susceptibility for the Bent Creek Experimental Forest near Asheville, North Carolina. Thesis.

Ward, James D. ; Robert F. Bassett ; W.E. McDowell. Evaluation of Southern Pine Beetle Infestations on the Pisgah Ranger District and Bent Creek Experimental Forest, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina. Asheville, NC : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Area, State and Private Forestry, Division of Forest Pest Management, 1974.

Nesbitt, William A. History of Early Settlement and Land Use on the Bent Creek Experimental Forest, Buncombe County, N.C. Asheville, NC : Appalachian Forest Experiment Station, 1941.

Barber, John C. Tree Planting at the Bent Creek Experimental Forest. Washington, DC : USDA Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station, Old Station Paper SE-027, 1953.