Economics...
Western North Carolina saw great economic changes after both World Wars. The mountainous area, long dominated by agricultural pursuits and logging, experienced an increase in industry as well as technology. Some industrial changes that occurred were war-driven while others came about due to economic expansion.Since the 1800s, the mining industry of western North Carolina had always been an important commodity in the economic realm. During World War I and World War II, mining reached an all-time high with the need for products such as mica and kaolin. However the rising use of synthetic materials after World War II greatly slowed the demand for mining in the mountains.
The textile and logging industries in western North Carolina benefited greatly from post-war demand. Yet outside ownership of many businesses meant that profits went out of the region rather than being reinvested into businesses and communities.
The crucial need for aluminum to supply wartime needs during World War II was a major impetus for electrification of rural areas in western North Carolina.
Finally, after World War II, western North Carolina prospered greatly because of the tourism industry. The newly constructed Blue Ridge Parkway brought families from all over the country to see the magnificent Great Smoky Mountains.
When the lights went on...
Following World War I, electrification spread rapidly throughout the United States. Although domestic demand for electricity was great, rural areas such as western North Carolina lagged behind urban centers in receiving power. In 1930, only ten percent of rural regions had electricity, while eighty-five percent of urban areas enjoyed the benefits of electricity.
Nantahala Power and Light Company, a subsidiary of Alcoa, the Aluminum Company of America, was organized as a public utility on July 23, 1929 and charged to develop power sites on the Little Tennessee, Nantahala, and Tuckasegee Rivers in southwestern North Carolina. By the 1940s, Nantahala Power and Light Company’s purpose was changed due to wartime needs. Aluminum production during World War II drove rural electrification throughout western North Carolina. Nantahala Power and Light constructed additional dams and powerhouses, including work at the Nantahala and Glenville dams to meet increased electrical needs of war production. The company’s creation of these dams caused displacement of some families from their homes as land was acquired to build these new dams.Even though electrification disrupted the lives of rural people, most welcomed electricity as it brought the convenience of artificial light and power to western North Carolina homes and laborsaving devices such as washing machines that eased everyday work loads. In this way, wartime changes altered the way people in the region lived their daily lives.
Mining...
Since the 1800s the mining industry was a dominant part of the economic commodities industry in western North Carolina. During both World Wars, the harvesting of two natural materials, mica and kaolin, increased due to wartime demand for these natural resources. However, the increasing use of synthetic materials outpaced the market need for these products, effectively slowing the industry to a halt by the latter half of the twentieth century.+ Mica is the common name given to a group of naturally occurring minerals that are mined from around the world. Because of its excellent insulating and heat resisting properties, the shiny, transparent, plate-like chemical crystals are processed into fine powders and used in lanterns and stove doors.
During and after World War I and World War II, over seventy-five percent of the mica produced in the United States came from western North Carolina. Ninety-five percent of the mica harvested in western North Carolina came from the Spruce Pine, Franklin, Sylva, and Shelby districts. During wartime, mica was used in the eyeholes of gas masks, road goggles, and armored car peepholes. By the end of World War II, the development of synthetic products slowed mica mining in western North Carolina where it trickled to a halt by the 1960s.
+ Kaolin is one of several types of fine, white clay formed when the mineral feldspar decays. It is commonly referred to as China clay or Paper clay because of its prevalence in China and its use in making porcelain. Rubber products consume about sixteen percent of the kaolin, with a major portion of the remainder going into products such as linoleum, paints, inks, leather, refractories, and pottery.
During and after World War I and World War II, about eighty percent of the kaolin that was mined in the United States came from western North Carolina and northern Georgia. The Harris Clay Company operated the Rhoda Mine located near East Laporte in the Tuckaseegee area of Jackson County, North Carolina. After depleting most of the resources in the southern mountain area, the Harris Clay Company moved from East Laporte to northern Mitchell County recruiting and relocating many of the experienced men from Jackson County. Production in Mitchell County continued on a heightened scale until Harris Clay sold the company in the 1960s.
Tourism...
The Blue Ridge Parkway was a depression-born project created by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt under the New Deal as a means of coping with mass unemployment. In October of 1933, $16 million was designated to finance the 414 miles of road and employment of a work force of 4,000 men. Parkway construction began in 1935 and, by 1940, the first fifty miles opened to the public. However, in 1942 the War Production Board issued a halt on all parkway construction and most workers enlisted to join the war effort. Conscientious objectors continued some work on park beautification and helped with the war effort by cutting down chestnut trees that supplied tannic acid for treating leather boots. Shortly after World War II ended, the majority of the roadway was completed.
In 1946, the Western North Carolina Association Communities (WNCAC) was formed. The organization, comprised of business leaders, government officials, and education leaders from the eleven westernmost counties of North Carolina, became one of the most influential tourism groups formed to promote the “up building” of western North Carolina. In 1948, WNCAC joined with the Cherokee Historical Association to initiate development of the Cherokee Reservation with the production of the historical interpretation “Unto These Hills.” By 1951, the Association had lent their support to the opening of the Oconaluftee Village in Cherokee. WNCAC members wanted to attract Great Smoky Mountains National Park visitors, expand regional tourism by lobbying for the completion of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and increase regional employment opportunities. The Association worked to establish common tourism rates throughout the area and improve accommodations at hotels and motels. Most regional leaders in the WNCAC believed that if tourists simply came to western North Carolina, they would not want to leave. It was the goal of the tourism industry to give visitors plenty of sights to see, souvenirs to buy, and reasons to return very soon.Textiles...
Textile manufacturers came to western North Carolina after World War I to take advantage of the low labor and operating costs of the region. Many suffered through the Great Depression but then reaped benefits from the increased consumer demand after World War II.In 1928, the Royle & Pilkington Company moved its textile facility from New Jersey to Hazelwood in Haywood County, North Carolina. Like many textile manufacturers, Royle & Pilkington suffered from decreased demand for its products due to the Great Depression. However, on the eve of World War II, military and civilian demand for upholstery and fabric began to rise. Royle & Pilkington received a number of important military contracts and eventually converted entirely to military production during World War II.
After 1945, the civilian demand that had been stifled by wartime shortages was unleashed on the textile industry. Royle & Pilkington saw orders and profits increase in the years immediately following the World War II. However, like many other industries in western North Carolina, Royle & Pilkington’s owners lived outside of the region, and the owners did not reinvest profits back into the firm. The firm also suffered from inefficiency due to older equipment and, by the 1960s, Royle & Pilkington’s Hazelwood facility closed. Royle & Pilkington serves as an example of the positive economic impact of a war-related industry on a rural area coupled with the negative outcome of outside ownership in western North Carolina.
Logging...
After World War I, demand for lumber rose causing a rise in lumber prices. Many companies turned to the forests of western North Carolina to harvest the rich supply of virgin timber in the region.In the early 1920s, working from its home base in Jackson County, North Carolina, the Blackwood Lumber Company provided jobs and built railroads to transport timber. Building railroads provided many western North Carolina residents links to surrounding communities. Moreover the presence of a lumber company in the region brought other related business employers including tanneries and paper mills. However, by the end of World War II overcutting forced Blackwood Lumber Company to leave the region.
The Mead Paper Corporation took over much of the timberland left by the Blackwood Lumber Company. Taking advantage of a sharp rise in demand for lumber and new techniques in forestry that emphasized selective timber harvesting, the Mead Paper Corporation profited in western North Carolina.
Smaller local firms also moved into the mountain region and were successful after World War II. The W.C. Hennessee Lumber Company, formed in 1946, operated in Jackson County, and eventually became the largest single-mill lumber producer east of the Mississippi River. The W.C. Hennessee Lumber Company represents an exception to many other lumber producers in the region because it was locally owned.