1932 travel article about little switzerland

Little Switzerland celebrates 100 years, part 2 of 2

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Please welcome guest blogger David Biddix. Biddix and co-author Chris Hollifield are set to release “Images of America: Little Switzerland” (Arcadia Publishing) on June 14th.

In the summer of 1910, The Switzerland Company began development, dividing their purchase into lots and drawing up common community rules such as outlawing alcohol sales, establishing a one house per lot restriction, and determining lots where commerce could be conducted. The company then began soliciting buyers for lots. Sales were slow to begin with, as the property had little more than paths connecting it to the surrounding communities.

The company began remedying the access situation by persuading the Carolina, Clinchfield, and Ohio Railroad to locate a station approximately 4 miles from the community, then proceeding to construct a toll road known as the Etchoe (pronounced Et-chō) Pass Road.

Visitors paid hacks to take them from the railroad station to Little Switzerland, paying tolls ranging from 5 to 50 cents for passage over the road. Tolls ceased to be collected on the roads after only a few years, but the tollgates marking the boundaries of the community still stand at the sides of NC highway 226-A, the current road through Little Switzerland.

Switzerland Inn, Little Switzerland, NC
The Switzerland Inn, photographed sometime soon after it opened in 1911. It was operated by Ida Clarkson Jones (sister of Heriot Clarkson). The building was demolished in 1961 and replaced with today’s current Switzerland Inn.

Relations between the summer residents (as they became to be called), and the families who had lived in the region for generations were strained at first. Many of the natives were unhappy with their new neighbors, whom they felt were encroaching on their homes.

Clarkson, however, was loved by many of the mountain people because of the respect he showed them. Eventually, economic opportunities brought the two sides together in a symbiotic relationship. Local craftsmen helped the residents construct their summer cottages, and local farmers sold produce and meat. Friendships sprang up between families, some of which have continued through the decades.

Construction of The Switzerland Inn, which was owned and operated by Clarkson’s sister Ida Clarkson Jones, was completed for the 1911 summer season. The Inn proved to be a hit with flatlanders seeking relief from the summer heat; it was booked solid each season. For $7.50 per week, visitors enjoyed fine accommodations along with fresh, home-cooked meals that often used fruits, vegetables, and livestock raised in the community. In particular, the fried chicken dinner was a popular meal at the Inn.

Shortly after the Inn was constructed, Miss Marie Dwight of Charleston, South Carolina purchased 150 acres of property nearby and opened Camp As-You-Like-It in 1914, purportedly the first girls camp in Western North Carolina. Each summer through 1968, approximately 125 girls called the camp home for an eight-week session.

The Blue Ridge Parkway began approaching Little Switzerland in the late 1930s. Initially, Clarkson and The Switzerland Company applauded the new road, seeing it as an opportunity to open the community to visitors. But when they saw the plans for the roadway, which included an 800 foot-wide right-of-way through the middle of the property, they opposed its location, saying the plan took too much land and paid too little for it.

The company filed suit in Mitchell County Superior Court, seeking $22,000 for their property. At the conclusion of the trial, the Company was awarded $25,000 for their property, a much-reduced right-of-way, which approaches 200 feet in width in some locations (the smallest right-of-way width in North Carolina), and an entrance to the highway at the rear of The Switzerland Inn, the only connection to a commercial property on the Parkway.

Kilmichael Tower in Little Switzerland NC
Fourth of July celebration, 1935, at Kilmichael Tower atop Grassy Mountain. The Wohlford Road that led to it from the Blue Ridge Parkway was bulldozed shut by the National Park Service over a spat concerning advertising signs placed along the Parkway by its entrance.

Relations between the Company and the National Park Service continued to be strained, as the two clashed over advertising signs placed on the Parkway for Kilmichael (pronounced Kill-michael) Tower, an attraction The Switzerland Company built atop Grassy Mountain to give visitors access to the vistas Clarkson first viewed in 1909.

The Park Service bulldozed shut a road connecting the Tower to the Parkway over the spat, resulting in another lawsuit by The Switzerland Company. The suit was unsuccessful in re-opening the road, though, and The Tower was closed and fell into disrepair. Its base is all that remains today.

Little Switzerland remained much the same until the 1960s, when William Cessna purchased The Switzerland Inn and razed it, constructing a modern motor court and restaurant in its place. Tourism began increasing in importance and new developments have brought additional summer residents.

However, “downtown” is much the same as it was a century ago, with a bookstore, restaurant, general store, and post office comprising main street. While many changes have recently taken place, the community has managed to maintain much of its charm even with development. Clarkson’s vision for a mountaintop paradise as a respite from the worries of life has continued.

This June, Little Switzerland is inviting all to events celebrating its 100th year as a community; to come and see why Clarkson and others have uttered the phrase: This is the place.

For information visit the Little Switzerland Centennial website at http://www.littleswitzerlandcentennial.com.

2 comments

  1. Great article! Did you know that you can know stay here? It was turned into a cozy retreat in the 1980’s.

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