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Rupert “Henry” Scadin, self-portrait

Rupert “Henry” Scadin was a western regional
photographer well-known at the turn of the 20th century.
Although he called himself a landscape photographer, what he captured with his
images of a changing landscape would be well-titled as documentary photography.
Scadin had a home in Sapphire, NC, which as a skilled carpenter, he contributed
to building in 1897. He and his wife Kate and son Dewey lived there off and on
until 1915. In addition to photography, he kept a working orchard on the land
until it was destroyed in the 1916 floods, urging him to move to Vermont. 

Lake Toxaway – photo by Henry Scadin, colorization by Kate Scadin


Scadin frequently photographed the lakes and inns
of Fairfield, Sapphire, and Toxaway. His wife Kate was a painter and
hand-colored his works in order to turn them into postcards. Many of the
Toxaway Inn postcards of that era were created from Scadin’s photographs. In
conjunction with his photographs, he kept extensive diaries which are available
online today that give a view into life at that time, down to the weather each
day. These are searchable and available through the UNCA Special
Collections. The Transylvania County Library owns several original Scadin
photographs, including the self-portrait and colorized Lake Toxaway postcard
seen here.

Looking Glass Falls photo by Henry Scadin


Photographs and information for this column are
provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library.
This article was written by Local History Librarian Laura Gardner. For more
information, comments, or suggestions, contact NC Room staff at 
[email protected] or
828-884-1820. 

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