The tourist industry in Henderson County was booming between 1900 and 1920.
The Chicasaw Inn opened in Edneyville in 1900 by the Lyda family.
It was in 1903 that William Alexander Smith from Georgia (lawyer, later real estate developer), Columbus Mills Pace and James M. Waldrop begin development of Laurel Park. Most of the advertising was in Florida.
They opened Laurel Park Villa in 1903 and it was the first place in town to show the new “silent” movies.
About the same time the gasoline-powered streetcar system was converted to electric power and in 1905, William A. Smith opened the Laurel Park Railroad Company. For seven years, the “Dummy line” carried passengers from Main Street down Fifth Avenue to the dance pavilion and lake at Laurel Park Villa.
In 1882 Maj. Theodore G. Barker moved to Henderson County and bought the Brooklands estate. He drained the swamps in the area (Barker swamps) in the early 1900s and built one of the first “subdivisions” in the county, known as Brooklyn Manor and Barker Heights. This area became known as the Barker Heights community. Persons working in Hendersonville began building homes in the community.
The Bee Hive Inn was built in 1907 in Edneyville by Andrew Monroe Lyda. Some of the original cottages are still standing.
About 1908 a group of developers began building Osceola Lake in Valley Hill. The dam was nearly completed by September 1908. By 1909, investors in the Osceola Lake Co. gave John L. Orr the site for a 60-room hotel overlooking the lake. In 1909, the lake filled with water. Investors Orr and Jordan made arrangements with the town to build a “road from Dogan’s Hall to the Brevard tracks, which, when completed, will make the road from Main Street to the lake the best in the county, with easy grades, well graveled and drained, easily traveled by all vehicles,” the newspaper reported. “Over a thousand people, on foot, in carriages and automobiles, visited the lake on Sunday.”
The boats arrived in May 1909: three 18-foot motor boats, seating 12 passengers each, one sailboat and many row boats, the newspaper reported. In 1914, the lake covered about 12 acres and had a maximum depth of 20 feet, according to the N.C. Gazetteer.
During the Flood of 1916, the dam collapsed and was washed away. In the early 1920s, the dam and lake were restored. In 1926, the Osceola Lake Co. was offering lots for sale along the lake.
In 1909 the Salola Inn was built on top of Sugarloaf Mountain in the Dana-Edneyville region by Jonathan Williams. He later sold this inn to a group of investors.
Also in 1909 Lenox Park, first known as Columbia Park, opened on South Allen Street. The park had amusement rides, a merry-go-round, along with other amusements. The electric trolley went to the park.
In 1910 the Wayside Inn opened on Butt Mountain in East Flat Rock. This inn burnt in later years.
The Flack Hotel, a 4-story, 50-room hotel, was built in 1915 on St. Paul Road in Edneyville. Many community events were held at the hotel. It was also known as the “home of square dancing.” Several well-known country musicians stayed at the hotel. It closed in 1958. The hotel burned in 1971.
The first of the county’s summer camps opened in Laurel Park in 1910. It was a summer camp for boys. Later it moved to Osceola Lake in Valley Hill, then to South Mills River and became known as Camp Blue Ridge.
Camp Minnehaha in Middle Fork between Bat Cave and Gerton was established prior to the Flood of 1916. In articles describing the flood the camp is mentioned as suffering great damage. The camp owned Minnehaha Falls, listed in all publications as one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Western North Carolina.
By 1920, more summer camps had opened.
From the “Pictorial Atlas of North Carolina” published in 1920 concerning Henderson County:
“Educational and recreational facilities are offered by a number of camps during the summer season. A few of the better established camps include one at Highland Lake, two at Laurel Park, Camp Minnehaha, and a Camp Fire Girls camp at Bat Cave.”
It was in 1913 that the Summer Homes Committee in St. Petersburg, Fla., bought land for a “summer colony” on an estate in part of the old Hillgirt community. They called the colony Mountain Home. This was the beginning of what is known today as the Mountain Home community. In 1915 the Mountain Home Inn opened.
It also was in 1915 that the county’s most famous fire destroyed the St. Johns Hotel on Main Street and Second Avenue East.
Charles French Toms opened Toms Park in Hendersonville in 1918. Now the city had two parks, Lenox Park (Columbia Park) and Toms Park. Lenox Park had the amusement rides and Toms Park had the swimming pool.
More hotels and inns were opening in Hendersonville during this time period. One of these was the Cedars on Seventh Avenue West.