The Coming of the Railroad

With picks, shovels, black powder and nitroglycerin, convict labor with strong backs, ox and mule teams, imagination, vision, determination and sheer luck, builders of the Western North Carolina Railroad (WNCRR) pierced through the Blue Ridge in 1874, at a cost of $2 million and 125 lives

Bringing the railroad over and through the Blue Ridge was costly and difficult, and yet the coming of the railroad brought a new prosperity to the mountain people, along with a dramatic change in their culture.

Before the railroad, transportation into and out of the mountains was difficult at best, sometimes treacherous. Although outsiders did come by horseback and stagecoach, most mountaineers remained isolated from the larger society of North Carolina.

With the railroad came passengers from the lower elevations who discovered the delightful climate and beautiful scenery of the mountains. Many came only for the summer and were dubbed “the summer people.” But others bought land, started businesses, and created the religious retreats and conference centers that became Montreat, YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly and Ridgecrest, among others.

Mountain farmers were able to move their produce and livestock by rail to the markets in the Piedmont and further east. The tiny hamlet that had been known as “Gray Eagle,” (sometimes spelled Grey Eagle) grew and incorporated in 1893, changing its name to Black Mountain, after the name of the station built by the WNCRR.

Passenger rail service ceased in the 1960s, although the rails and tunnels built long ago still serve to move freight.