Inside the Brevard Cotton Mill in its early days.
Empty spindles at Pisgah Mills in 1952. 

The mill continued to operate until 1960.

The largest
manufacturer near downtown Brevard in the early 1900s was Brevard Cotton
Mill.  The mill, located on Whitmire St.
just west of the depot, was constructed in 1909.  An article in the Sylvan Valley News stated
that the mill would begin operations as soon as the electrical power from
Cascade Power Company from connected.  In
early October it was reported that the first shipment of industrial yarn made
at the mill had been shipped.  The mill
had 4000 spindles operating in 1911, by 1924 there were 6500 spindles.  During the early years the mill went through a
number of ownership and name changes.  

It
was known as Sapphire Cotton Mill for a short time before becoming Pisgah Mills
in the early 1930s.  

The extensive
logging industry in Transylvania County meant there was ample timber to supply
two lumber yards and several small manufacturers.  J.A. Miller had a lumber company, numerous
warehouses, and a planning mill on the west side of Railroad Ave. from around
1900 into the 1930s.  Frank Jenkins’
Brevard Lumber Company on King St. opened in 1910.  It had a woodworking shop in addition to
lumber and building supplies.

Fontaine Block
Factory, which was in operation prior to 1911, made shuttle blocks from
dogwood.  The Railroad Avenue building
was destroyed by fire in December 1916.  Although
plans to rebuild were announced no further information on the business was
located.

DeVane Manufacturing
provided “great quantities of pick handles for the use of the government in the
operations going on in the Panama Canal zone” according to a tourism brochure issued
by The Brevard Club around 1910.  By 1917
the company was owned by Henry Carrier and Victor Fontaine and moved to the
Charleston, SC area.  Royal Morrow later
bought out Fontaine.

J.M. Kilpatrick
managed Kilpatrick and King Machine Shop which manufactured turned columns,
door and window frames, and mantels.  Kilpatrick was a leading building contractor
throughout the county for many years and employed large crews of workmen.

On the west side of town Joseph Silversteen’s
Transylvania Tanning opened in 1917.  
The
tannery offered employment to a large number of workers including
African-Americans. 

During the
first three decades of the 20th century there were other small scale
industries located in Brevard making jobs plentiful and boasting the local
economy.  Next week Picturing the Past
will look at the impact of the population boom on Brevard schools around the
turn of the 20th century.

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