Industry
When the decade began in 1920, there were four textile or hosiery mills in the county: the Skyland Hosiery Co. in East Flat Rock was now known as the Chipman-Burroughs Co., Green River Manufacturing Co. in Tuxedo, and the Grey Hosiery Mill and the Freeze-Bacon Hosiery Co. in Hendersonville.
In 1926, the Freeze-Bacon Hosiery Co. closed and the building was bought by the Wing Paper Box Co. (In 1989, this becomes Federal Paper Board and moves to East Flat Rock).
In 1924, Ellison Adger Smyth buys property in the Balfour community and opens Balfour Mills. A new mill town begins in Balfour. After World War II, this mill was sold to the Kimberly-Clark Corp. See http://hendersonheritage.com/balfour/
It was in 1927 that Blue Ridge Power and Light Co. sells to Duke Power Co. Duke Power Co. built a dam on the Green River for electricity and opens operations at Pot Shoals in the Macedonia community. Lake Summit was formed when the dam was built on the Green River in the Zirconia community.
Moland-Drysdale Brick Co. was organized in 1917. Philadelphia businessman Bruce Drysdale, with the financial backing of George Moland who was also from Philadelphia, purchased 350 acres of clay lands in the Etowah community. They constructed wood-burning brick kilns. The first bricks were produced in 1920. Later the kilns were replaced with coal-burning round kilns called bee-hive kilns. In 1943, they purchased the Fletcher Brick Co. in the Brickton community near Fletcher. In 1943, the company moved to the Brickton area outside of Fletcher and in 1951 constructed a modern tunnel kiln. In 1955, the entire operation moved to Brickton. The company sold brick produced by Fletcher Brick. Bricks from the company were used in constructing the American Enka plant, hotels and other structures throughout the area, including the Skyland Hotel in Hendersonville. A golf club now sits on the former site of the brick company in Etowah.
Transportation
U.S. 25 was the first road in the county to be paved in 1920.
During the 1920s, a paved road was constructed from Hendersonville to Bat Cave. The road was completed in 1927. This is today’s U.S. 64 East.
New roads and/or changes to earlier roads were also constructed from Hendersonville to Mills River and through Horse Shoe to Etowah. Remnants of Old U.S. 64 through Etowah still exist.
A new road was being built from Hendersonville to Saluda during the 1920s. This is today’s U.S. 176. The road followed what is called today the Old Spartanburg Road. A new bridge was constructed over the Green River for this new road in the Zirconia community near Macedonia.
When constructing the railroad, a dirt road was built from Saluda to Tryon that parallels today’s U.S. 176. The new road (U.S. 176) continued from Saluda to Tryon.
The new road and bridge were completed by the early 1930s. The Howard Gap Road, the main road to Spartanburg, S.C., prior to the building of U.S. 176, was seldom used from this point and the bridge that crossed the Green River from the Howard Gap Road (old Peter Guice Bridge) was later torn down.
In the early 1940s the route from Hendersonville to East Flat Rock was changed when an overpass was built across the railroad tracks near Hendersonville. This is where U.S. 176 (Spartanburg Highway) is now located from Hendersonville to East Flat Rock.
Bus lines that began during World War I continued to operate and expand from Hendersonville to nearby towns and communities.
The railroad continued as a primary means of transportation for passengers and the shipping of raw materials, agricultural products and finished products.
Communication
The telegraph remained as an important means of communication.
Rural routes expanded and small post offices continued to close.
The Hendersonville Daily Times and the Hendersonville Daily News merged in 1927, creating the Hendersonville Times-News.
In 1923 Southern Bell Co. opened operations in Hendersonville. There were now 987 telephones in Hendersonville, East Flat Rock and nearby communities.