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Most
people who have lived in Transylvania County for over twenty years are familiar
with B&B Feed & Seed, formerly located on Gaston Street.  However did you know that for approximately
40 years the owners also operated Brittain Tractor Company?

The original
business opened on East Main St. on January 1, 1928.  Cousins, Willis and Trigg Brittain sold
Quaker Dairy Feeds and Full-O-Pep Poultry Feed along with a full line of garden
and field seed.  Trigg Brittain sold his
interest in the business to Grady and Allen Brittain, brothers of Willis, in
July 1931. 

B&B
Feed & Seed not only survived the Stock Market Crash and Great Depression
but continued to grow.  For a time the
“Brittain boys” leased the Breese Mill at Maiden Hair Falls to grind corn meal,
graham flour and special orders.  They
aided local farmers by buying chickens and eggs for resale to markets and cream
for the Biltmore Dairies, boosting Transylvania County’s economy as well.

Brittain Tractor Company on S. Gaston St., 1953.

Sometime
between June 1940 and April 1941 the Brittains moved their business around the
corner to 12 S. Gaston Street.  In August
1947 they expanded by incorporating the Brittain Tractor Company, an authorized
dealership for Ford tractors and Dearborn farm equipment.  The new business also sold parts for tractors
and farm equipment and had a small engine repair shop.

For
many years Willis and Allen ran the businesses, while Grady farmed the family
land in the Mills River area of Henderson County.  Later, Willis also retired to farming.  The Brittains had numerous employees through
the years.  Fred Hogsed worked there for
40 years, serving as manager of the Brittain Tractor Company and the small
engine repair shop for many of them.  In
1987 the Brittains sold the business to Harold Paxton, who operated it until closing
in 1998. 

Interior of Brittain Tractor Company.

Photographs
and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina
Room, Transylvania County Library. Visit the NC Room during regular library
hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional
photographs. For more information, comments, or suggestions contact Marcy at [email protected]
or 828-884-1820.

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(828) 884-3151

212 S Gaston St, Brevard, NC 28712