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Saluda, "The Gateway to the Blue Ridge", is at the
top of a sudden rise of 1,000 feet from the plains below. The original name of
this particular spot was "Pace's Gap" or Pace's Ridge", presumably from the
Ransom Pace family. If kept this name would have been exclusive in the States
today.
The English word, Saluda, came from the Cherokee
word "Tsaludiyi", meaning "Green C orn Place". From legend, Tsaludiyi was a chief
of the Cherokee nation. The English changed the spelling of his name. Land owned
by the Cherokee Nation ranged from Saluda River in SC through present Tryon, on
the French Broad River Basin.
No records have been found of the Chief's travels
through "Saluda Gap" or "Saluda Trail"; nor just where the Cherokee held their
annual "Great Corn Dance". Many Indian trails lead from the NC mountains to the
SC flat country and many of these paths still retain their Indian names.
Many original Saluda families were Scotch-Irish
pioneers, leaving Pennsylvania just before or after the "Whiskey
Rebellion".
John Poinsett built the first road for the horse
drawn vehicles over Saluda Gap from the South. In 1878, two houses were
standing in the corporate limits of present day Saluda. A great change began
with the coming of the Southern railroad. According to history, the first
whistle blew in Saluda on July 4, 1878. The celebration that followed was
talked about for years afterward.
The Saluda Grade of the Southern has a feature
unmatched on any main line east of the Rockies - a grade that drops 600 ft. to
the mile. In 1887, the Southern considered Saluda the best paying station on
the road. Eight passenger trains passed through daily. During that year about
3,000 visitors came to Saluda.
Colonel A. Tanner, was elected the first mayor of
Saluda. The first hotel "Mountain House" was operated by Colonel Tanner.
"Mountain House" is currently operated as "The Orchard Inn" by the
Thompsons.
There were no public schools in Saluda at the
beginning of the 1900's. "The American Missionary Association" established a
young ladies seminary in 1889. Most of the buildings still stand as part of the
present public school complex. The hotel "Mountain Manor" was then the girls'
dormitory. Some of the boys boarded at the "Pace House".
Water was first piped in Saluda through wooden
logs, around 1912. The water came from two big springs on Heatherly
Mountain.
The "Infants and Children's Sanitarium" was founded
and conducted by Dr. D. Lesene Smith in 1914. The Spartanburg Baby Hospital was
under his supervision also. Both were located in Saluda. From the clinics afforded by these two hospitals grew the Southern Pediatric Seminar. In 1921,
only three students enrolled. This increased rapidly. Leading pediatricians of
the South volunteered services to teach post graduate courses in diagnosis,
prevention and treatment of diseases in children. After the death of Dr. Smith, both were discontinued.
The Juliet F. Goelet Memorial Library, open for
many years, evolved from a small cabin erected by summer visitors. Mrs.Goelet
started a larger building, but when she died in 1908, it was not compete. The
building still stands on Seminary St. and has been made into apartments. This is
the gray stucco building across from Arrington Properties.
As long as fiddles have played, Saluda folk have
enjoyed Folk Dancing. During the 1920's weekly dances were organized under the
direction of Walter Preston, sponsored by the Church of the Transfiguration and
held in the Library hall. Outgrowing this, the dances were moved to the school
gymnasium. It was in the 1960's the dances were discontinued.
Except for one village in Italy, more ozone is
released in the Saluda atmosphere than any other place in the world (U.S. Gov't.
Report). In the 1930's, Dr. Smith explained ozone as air from the Pacolet
Valley meeting currents from the Green River. Having met, they quickly drop
unstabilizing gas on Saluda. "Ozone must be taken on faith, that Saluda
qualifies in that it has clean, zestful air, uncontaminated by smoke stacks."
(quote from the Saluda Mountaineer).
The Blue Ridge Coon Club was organized in 1957.
The club works closely with the NC Wildlife Association. The Annual Coon Dog
Day takes place on the Saturday after the 4th of July. A parade kicks off the
day of celebration and draws large crowds.
The first Apple Festival of the Mountains was held
in Saluda. The last one occurred in 1939. It is now held in Hendersonville,
NC.
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