Remember Cliffside

“I have been so excited to look at the addition to the Duke Power page since that is where I grew up and went to Cliffside Elementary School. The housing list does not list the name of my parents and my sister.

“I would be grateful if you could forward this to Jim Cauble or whomever might continue to work on it. My father worked for Duke Power until his death in 1970. My parents were George and Ozelle Harmon and my sister and I were the only two children--Greta and Kathy. Our house number was #39 first, and then we moved to #3. My parents house (#3) was the third house moved from the village, and I have a newspaper clipping from the Spartanburg Herald Journal showing the housing being moved along old US 221.

“Looking at those names and the map brought back a flood of childhood memories. My first piano teacher was there, not to mention early childhood friends for the first 11 years of my life and the birth of my sister. I'm so grateful that someone jogged my memory before it is too late.”

—Greta Harmon Loeber

“I enjoy the website very much. I am a Forest City native, who married Judy Jackson, daughter of the late Clyde and Ruby Jackson. We currently live on Beason Road in Cliffside and attend Cliffside Baptist Church, where I serve as a deacon.

“I published a novel in 2006 based on the Civil War service of my great-grandfather, Francis Marion Yelton. I would be most appreciative if you could list it on your reading list page.

“Here is the URL for the Amazon page, which has most of the basic details.

“Thank you for the great work you do. I thought we had a wonderful little town in Forest City when I grew up in the fifties, but Cliffside has the most loyal and familial group of friends and neighbors I have ever seen.

—Barry Yelton
Author of Scarecrow in Gray, A Civil War Novel

This is an amazing book. If you liked "Cold Mountain," you'll love this one.

“I am writing to see if you can answer a question about a structure in Cliffside that has puzzled me for some time. If you are traveling towards Henretta from Cliffside it sits off of the road down by the stream on the right. When you pass the road that Haynes Grove Baptist Church is on, it is on the right just as the huge culvert in the stream comes into view. It seems to be a stone wall with windows in it built into the bank across from the culvert. Any ideas?”

—Joshua Bridges

If anyone wants to answer this one, contact us and we'll post your information and pass it along to Mr. Bridges.

“Thanks for including the information about my father [Hollis Owens, Sr.] in your recent Remember Cliffside update. He was indeed a wonderful man. As you noted, he loved music and some of the people told me they would hear him singing the old gospel hymns on the way to and from work in Cliffside to our home in Avondale.

“He was choir director of our Avondale United Methodist Church for forty years and never charged the church a dime. Our church services started at 10:00 am and about 9:30 am he would pull his car in front of the house and begin blowing the horn for everyone to hurry out so we could make it to church on time.I can't remember ever being late. God bless you and yours for the work you are doing with Remember Cliffside. I really enjoy it and recently became a Lifetime Member.”

—In His Love,
Andy Owens

“I have purchased some land in Gilkey, NC with a trestle from what I think was the old Thermal Belt Line. It is 70 feet high and over 800 feet long.The center sections spanning the creek have been replaced with steel. I am in the process of trying to restore the first several spans to regain access to the bridge. Unfortunately the previous owner had knocked them down. I was wondering about the history of this bridge and was wondering if you may have some information or can direct me to someone who may know some history about this trestle. I am also interested in finding some hardware (bolting) and extra heavy ties for the first spans.”

—Ken Imrich

Here are a few photos Mr. Imrich included.

“I think it might helpful to list 'Cliffside, North Carolina' somewhere on your Homepage.

“It took me a lot of navigating to finally figure out that Cliffside is in North Carolina.

“You have a very interesting website. I found it while trying to find information about “The Goat Man”. I am from Saluda, SOUTH Carolina and now live in Columbia, SC.

“Keep up the good work!”

—Drake Riley
Colonial Life Ins. Co.

“I am an editor at an architecture and design magazine called Modernism, and I've been devouring your site ever since I ran across it while doing some research on a future article about suburbia. Some sites are good, a few are excellent, but "Remember Cliffside" is jumpin'-Jehoshaphat magnificent.

“My research took me to "Remember Cliffside" because I consider mill towns to be a very important forerunner of today's suburbs. Unlike the "getaway" suburbs built for the well-to-do around the turn of last century, mill towns were specifically designed to serve industry, a feature they have in common with today's "bedroom communities."

“If possible, I would like to talk with you at some point about Cliffside's houses; despite all the excellent information you have on the site, there are still some points I would like to know more about. I would also be interested to know if you know of any mill towns in North Carolina that are more or less intact, with their mill structure and housing still in existence, even if not used for their original purpose. There are things one can sense and learn only from walking around a place, and sadly, most mill towns are gone. I've researched Cliffside, Caroleen, Forest City, Spindale, Avondale, and more and I keep finding that everything has been torn down or altered beyond recognition. If you know of a place that still has the bones of the past around to look at, I'd be grateful to know of it.

“I would also (again, if possible) like to work with you to procure permission for quotations from your site, and for photographic permission. It is my understanding that most of "Remember Cliffside's" photos are contributed by residents or former residents, so I'm guessing I would also have to work with the person or persons whose photos I would like to reproduce. Any quotations or photos would be attributed within the article, of course.

“Is any of this doable? I know there is an event coming up in Cliffside, and I have an idea you're heavily involved in it, so if this comes at an inopportune time, please don't worry about responding until things calm down. The article that is envisioned is still in the planning stages, and is probably a year from actual publication, so there's plenty of time.

“Again, you have a terrific site. Anyone who visits it gets the rare privilege of seeing a way of life, a people and a pride in oneself and one's community that have vanished.”

—(Mr.) Sandy McLendon
Senior Editor, Modernism Magazine

“I've been doing some research into textile baseball in the 1920's and in the process, have come across your work through the Remembering Cliffside site (which is fascinating) and the BTMemories site.

“One question that I'm trying to answer is whether or not any textile mill ballgames would have been broadcast in the late 20s but haven't found much thus far. Do you have any idea whether or not this would have taken place, even if just for a championship game?

“Thank you for your help, and for your tremendous work on these sites.

—Laura Stevenson

“I am so happy to review the Cliffside memories. My teachers also included Miss Dickerson; Mr Huff [Huss], math teacher; Mr. Beatty, principal. I listened to the presidents speech on the radio in class the day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. I would love to subscribe to, or see more pictures of those kids & teachers. Unfortunately mine are very limited. One of my best friends was Oneida Green, daughter of Nolley Green, the local dairyman. I did not graduate. I think it would have been the class of 45-46? That was the first year that we had 12 grades instead of eleven to graduate. If you have the time, would love to get on your mailing list or whatever. Thank you so much, for your consideration.”

— Ruby Ward Cervino

“I'm Kim Clark, formerly of WNCW radio in Spindale, and I'm currently putting together an oral history project for McDowell County. We hope to set up a website with our materials by the end of the year.

“I can't tell you how impressed I am with the 'Remember Cliffside' site. What a wealth of information and images! The overall format is very friendly and easy to use as well.

“If you don't mind sharing the information, did you use a publically-available template of some kind to build your site from? If so, it would be a great place for us to start designing something unique for McDowell County.

“Regardless, kudos for an outstanding community history site- the best I've ever seen. It is a true gift to the residents of Cliffside and Rutherford County, and to anyone who is interested in the history of 'regular folks.'”

—Kim Clark

“Thank you for the article about Aunt Leavy Scruggs. Of course she wasn't a relative of mine but when we were growing up on River Street, we were neighbors from the time before I was around until we moved over to South Main, and she was always Aunt Leavy to me. I didn't get to see her the last time I was home but I really was glad to see that Don [Bailey] had an interview with her. I can still see her and Ma Johnson (her mother) boiling clothes in a big old kettle to get them clean. Those were the days before the laundromat and when washing clothes was done in tin tubs and boiled in big black kettles and then hung out to dry. We were either at her house everyday or Dean and Joan were at ours. She was and is a great lady and I miss seeing and talking with her. This machine I have will not allow me to download the interview tape you made with her and I was just wondering if you have a CD or recording that I could purchase from you. Be glad to pay for the recording and the shipping costs. I would love to hear her voice again. Thanks again.”

—Gene Ingram

“I am, next week, sending my fee to join the Remember Cliffside website—a wonderfully constructed reservoir of valuable history.

“Although I grew up on the road between Ellenboro and Caroleen, my father ran a furniture store (Johnson & Edwards) on Coopertown Road just north of Avondale/Henrietta for many, many years. He did a huge amount of business with residents of Cliffside. I remember going with him to make furniture deliveries in that area. I recently saw on the website a great piece on Dr. T.C. Lovelace whom I remember as my childhood physician and my dad’s physician.

“I noticed your email address of Carolina Railroad. Last month, I returned to the county with a friend to rewalk a section of what used to be the Seaboard Rail Line (I believe) which ran in front of my house. I was amazed to find the remains of a “trestle” of which I was terrified as a young child to be nothing more than a short link across a creek bed. My, how perceptions change. I watched from my living room window as the trains twice daily ran this section of railway. It now runs across land owned mostly by Carla Ruff and Steve Austin, both of whom inherited their part from my relatives. However, on the Rutherford Country GIS site, I noticed one “sliver” of the old rail path is still owned by Carolina Central Railroad. Can you tell me the history of this and the story behind that sliver of rail trail which was not converted to private ownership?

“I would appreciate any history of this rail section you can give me. I am attaching the property card for this piece of rail.

“Thank you so much for your help and for being a part of this great website.

—Murrell Johnson
High Point, NC

[Responding to Mr. Johnson, above]

“I know a little about some of Miss Johnson's inquiry. Her father's furniture store was located in Coopertown approximately near the Southern Bell Telephone "Switching Office" building. Her father was in partnership with Max Edwards of Rutherfordton, and sometime after 1948 (or in the early 1950s) the two operated a small furniture store from the building which I believe is still standing. Max married Yvonne Neal from the Race Path area, and he would operate a furniture store in Rutherfordton, North Carolina until his retirement. (He is originally from Gilkey and a distant relative of Clyde Edwards.) Yvonne died several years ago, but Max is still living, but his health is failing rapidly. Miss Johnson's home must have been on the road that ran from the Avondale Junction to Ellenboro via Dobbinsville.

“It is interesting that the land is listed under the ownership of Carolina Central Railroad, which secured rights of way in Rutherford County as early as 1856. Carolina Central,in Rutherford County was the predecessor to the Seaboard Airline and the Southern Railway. I can only guess that this particular right of way was never conveyed to the sucesssors. The railroad is an interested subject. Griffin devotes part of a chapter to the early railroads in his History of Old Tryon and Rutherford Counties (1938), although it is helpful, I have always found this chapter to be confusing and one in which he spent very little time. His only references are by letter to Seaboard in 1922, and Southern in 1924.

“ I would be glad to see if I can find some more info, I don't know what records are in the court house.”

—Jim Ruppe

[Responding to Jim Ruppe, above]

“Thank you for responding to my inquiry to Mr. Bailey. A couple of clarifications…I am Murrell L. Johnson’s SON, not daughter. He was in partnership with Troy Edwards of Ellenboro (not Max Edwards), who was my uncle). When my uncle passed away in the early 50s, Dad purchased the remaining half of the partnership from Troy’s wife. Prior to the purchase, the business was known as Edwards and Johnson. After Troy’s death, my dad renamed it Johnson and Edwards (keeping the Edwards name in respect to my deceased uncle). You are correct in the building location. I sold it many years ago and I noticed last month it is still standing, although seemingly abandoned. My dad’s furniture business thrived until the demise of the textile industry in southeastern Rutherford County. My dad had a compassionate heart and was reluctant to pressure anyone to pay their bills. He would sell to anyone with only a promise from them to pay him for the furniture. As his customers lost the ability to pay on their accounts, he sadly had to close his business he had operated for many years.

“I don’t know your age, but I’m wondering if you knew my dad personally.”

—Murrell M. Johnson

“I purchased your book for a friend in December. I peeked before I gave it to her. I really enjoyed it.

“Over the years, my grandfather, Milford Dale, who is 95 years old, has talked about Cliffside and many people from Cliffside.

“While talking to him yesterday, he was telling me about his grandparents, parents, etc.

“He spoke of Raleigh Haynes taking in a young girl, he believes she was called Sis. I am not sure how old the child was or the exact circumstances. He mentioned that she came from a Piercy family where the father passed away shortly after Mr. Haynes took in the girl. The child was never legally adopted.

“Sis married Tobe Lowery from Mt. Mitchell and moved on or around Big Island Road on land given to them by Mr. Haynes. They had a daughter named Maggie. I forgot her full name. Maggie married Walt Dale from Morganton. They met at the Mill. They moved to the Shiloh/Holly Springs area. Walt and Maggie Dale being my grandfather’s parents.

“In your research, did you ever hear about this lady called Sis?”

—Pat Tuttle

“My name is Michael Jones & I live in Ellenboro,NC. I am very much a history buff. I just was wondering about a couple of things. I pass thru Cliffside every day on my way to work in Gaffney, SC.

“On 221-a, after passing the Cone Mills plant & jaquard plant, thru the curves before reaching the school, on the creek there is a stone structure, actually stuff on both sides. I was just wondering what those were. Also there appears to be some sort of stone foundation across the road where Island Ford Road intersects just above the old mill. Any info would be greatly appreciated. I am just an old history buff with an inquring mind.”

—Michael Jones

“Tubby Hawkins had shoe store in is basement and Daddy (Joe I. Greene) had a clothing store in the barn. People came form far and wide to buy shoes and clothes.Tubby was my Hero!! One time he (Tubby) forgot my birthday and every time he came to the house I would run and hide. Tubby said, 'Eloise what's wrong with little Debbie,' and Mama told him he forgot my birthday.

“I used to my Tubby a Charles Chip can full of peanut butter cookies every week.

“Duck McDaniel called me 'Lynn Dollar.' He said every time I walked to the Old Drug Store, he would be about to buy me a coke but I had more money in my pocket than he did.

“Mrs. Moss gave me a white Persian cat. It was beautiful!

“I miss Cliffside! I Would walk up to Cliffside Park from Mama Bailey's every Sunday after Church. I was at the Park when the plane fell.

“Little Ray Henson worked really hard to keep the Park clean. He was a good little fellow.

“I was walking back from town to Mama Bailey's one day and was walking on the curb. Anyway a car blew it's horn and I fell off the curb and all my teeth went thru my bottom lip.

“Mama had a wreck and hit the cement wall across from Dr. Radford's Office, but at that time it was a home. Whoever lived there had been robbed and didn't want to open the door. They finally opened the door to Mama standing there with her nose cut off. This was real early in morning. She had taken Daddy to Carolina Freight to work.

“When Francis Fasolino ran the garage in Cliffside, Uncle Bobo was ran over by Joe Fasolinao. He pinned him to the wall. Daddy heard about it and he beat the ambulance to Rutherford Hospital. He was hurt pretty bad; bleeding thru his kidneys and other complications. Uncle Bobo healed in time! Thank the Good Lord!”

—Debbie Greene

“My Dad told me a 'stumpsucker' story that his grandfather had told him. He, J.A. Ramsey, used to trade horses, mules, etc. back in the early 1900s. I went online and tried to look up what the definition of a stumpsucker was and the first article I saw was from Cliffside, NC. That is where my gggrandfather was from. Was this a local word to the area only?”

—Larry Ramsey

“The website continues to be a source of information and a wealth of memories for me as I grew up in Duke Power Village and lived there until our house was moved to SC where it currently stands. I'm interested to know how to obtain a copy of the aerial view of the the houses on the site. My family home is currently listed for sale. I would like to include that photo with some other memorabilia.

“What date is the fall meeting for Remember Clliffside gathering? I'd like to know so I could make some plans to attend.

“Thank you for doing a wonderful job and breathing life into childhood memories of many people.”

—Greta Harmon Loeber
Norcross, GA

“I just wanted you to know how wonderful I think this website is. I and my mother live in Henrietta and I am learning so much about our neighbor Cliffside. Keep up the great work!”

—Tammy Scruggs

“Can't tell you how much I enjoyed your latest 'What's New' page. 'Players 2' was great. Of course, I recognized many of the 'players.' They were older when I knew them, but the eyes never change. It was also great to see the town and buildings I once knew and loved. Seeing them made me happy and sad at the same time. That goes for the 'players,' too. Many of them have passed away, but they will always live in my memory and heart. It is difficult to describe my feelings for Cliffside as it must be for all who remember our town and neighbors. I know it is a cliche, but life seemed so much simpler and happier then. I would give anything to see Cliffside as it once was, not the shell it is today. Although, I still look forward to seeing Cliffside every time I travel to North Carolina. It is wonderful to see my relatives and my high school buddies who still live in the area. We have a mini high school reunion each time I come home. Cliffside will always be my 'home.' Thanks for the memories and keep them coming!! May God bless and keep you and your family.

—James Price

“Thanks for publishing the photo of the service station half-way up Harrill Town Hill. This was the building that when most of us can remember became the Lutz-Yelton Oil Company building - and the Crown Service Station was built next door (Larry Quinn ran that station until a few years ago - it is 'abandoned'.) I knew Christo Deal really well - he sang in the Caroleen Baptist Church choir with me for a number of years. Also I knew C. B. and Roy Smith. Also Jake Price - and all his daughters.

“It is interesting that the gasoline pumps in front of the service station are 'mixed'. That is, two of these are the old 'manual' type gasoline pumps and one is the 'modern' electric pump type. The old 'manual' pumps had a long handle which you used to pump the gasoline up into the clear glass bowl on top of the pump - you 'sort of' guess how many gallons you had in the bowl by the markings on the side of the bowl and then you let the gasoline drain down into your car's gas tank by gravity (sort of interesting since we now insist on gasoline measured digitally to the .00 gallons - shows what $3 a gallon leads to).

“Interesting also that you mention 'Windy's Grill' across the highway from the Lutz-Yelton Oil Company building. In the 40's Windy's was not there. Windy started out his 'hot dog stand' in the 40s in a little building right across the street from Lowe's Furniture Store - down at the bottom of Harrill Town Hill. This little building could not have been much larger than 15' X 30' and its original use was storage for the furniture store. Windy sort of 'refurbished' this little building, put in a grill, had a counter and about 7 or 8 counter stools, and began selling hot dogs. His hot dogs were excellent, chilli was great, and he began building his business - a lot of it on my quick trips across the highway from the front door of Lowe's Furniture Store to 'get a hot dog and an RC'. It must have been about 1950 before Windy built the brick building half-way up Harrill Town Hill on the 'flat' area.

“Again, thanks for the memories.”

—Leon Neal
Raleigh, NC

“I am new to the area (Mooresboro) and I am living on Circle J Farm, Cliffside Rd.

“Here's my question: I'm trying to find out about the OLD Mount Pleasant Church & School Road. The remnants of the old stone wall & dirt road run across the farm. I have looked everywhere to no avail for info on this.

“If you can help me, Thank You! If not, well, I've already put 'Remember Cliffside' on my favorites list!”

—Kristi Lloyd

“I grew up in Gaston County near Mt. Holly, and your expressions brought back some great memories. I wanted to offer a few for your collection.

Hit a lick at a snake: meaning lazy, as in “He’s too tired to even hit a lick at a snake.”

used-ta-could: “I used-ta-could do that when I was younger.”

pert near: “The pound cake is pert near gone.”

ice box: “Put the milk in the ice box.”

hose pipe: “Wash the car with the hose pipe.”

ain’t worth shootin’/killin’: “I’m so lazy I ain’t worth shootin/killin.”

three sheets to the wind: “He’s so drunk, he’s three sheets to the wind.”

pot likker: “the stewed cabbage made some good pot likker (broth).”

air in a jug: “He’s so worthless, I wouldn’t give him air if he was in a jug.”

“I’d like to buy for what he’s worth and sell him for what he thinks he’s worth.”

“mean as a snake”

—Rev. Paul Craig
University City United Methodist Church
3835 West W.T. Harris Boulevard
Charlotte, North Carolina 28269

“I just wanted to drop you a note to thank you for this website. I found it when doing web searches using my family members names. I never dreamed that i would find so much information about my own family.

“So far, I've seen pictures of my aunt and uncle (Horton and Jerene Landreth), my grandfather (Marchel Bailey), and my great grandfather, Arthur Allen.

“Also, the historical pictures of Cliffside are amazing. I'm 30 now and i can still remember some of the buildings in the pictures from my childhood visits to Cliffside. Sadly, many of those places no longer exist. That's why i think that your website is so important.

“Thank you so much for all you do.

“Keep up the good work.”

—Anthony J. Radford
Salisbury, North Carolina

“I was doing an internet search for my cousin on one of our ancestors, Amos Owens, and found your article. He is indeed the man in the Wall's Cemetery. He was my great-great-great grandpa and was indeed a moonshiner and in the words of my grandpa 'the parties on Cherry Mountain were something to behold.' He was in the Civil War, too.

“Thanks.”

—Joanna Street

“I am so excited!!!!! I am researching my family history and I found a picture on your website that I think is my great grandfather, Ralph Blanton (page 28 of 28). Please let me know how I can get a copy of this photo! Any information you have on this family would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.”

—Tammy Blanton Childress

“Sally Tate is my great aunt, my grandmother's sister. She is buried in my grandmother's lot at Cliffside Cemetery. My grandmother is Jenny Bailey, married to John H. Bailey. Sally is buried with her sister Jenny, brother Robert Morris, brother-on-law John, and Vernon Bailey (infant son of John and Jenny).

“My parents are Joe L. and Eloise Bailey Greene.”

—Deborah Greene

“The website looks great.

“My name is Charles Nodine, Jr. I work for Duke Power Company. I once did some training at the Cliffside plant back in 1980.

“My parents are Charles and Lib Nodine. They live over on Ramsey Rd. off Mt. Pleasant Ch Rd. Dad was the maintenance supervisor at Cone starting about 1980. He could answer many questions you might have about the mill since then.

“My grandparents were Thomas and Edna Nodine of Mooresboro and Howard and Ethel McBee of Cliffside

“Dad was in the Navy when I was very young. Mom and I lived with Papa and MaMa over on Mt. Pleasant Church Rd. It was a dirt road then.

“One of my earliest childhood memories is Mom and my Aunt Betty taking me to the drugstore in Cliffside to get a Sundrop. I luuuuvved Sundrop. I was probably 4 or 5 years old (about 1964-65). Seems like the movie theater was still there too. They were just girls and were known to drive a little fast down Cliffside highway, once meeting a truck on a narrow bridge and shaving the door handles off of a Plymouth.

“My Uncle Junior McBee lived in one of the mill houses over on the river on Cliffside highway. I remember playing with my cousins UNDER the house because it was elevated off the ground on river stone foundation pillars. The house had electricity, but I don't remember wall outlets, just overhead lights that had string switches. One of the sockets had a screw-in outlet. They didn't have telephone. Junior worked at Cone all of his life. He lives in Henrietta now.

“We moved away and didn't return until 1979. The town was pretty much gone by then.”

—Chuck

“Your article in the latest CHS Newsletter concerning dogs in Cliffside brings back a memory of about 1934.

“Around age 8 we were living on Hazelhurst Farm west of Cliffside, near Ferry, where I had one or two dogs that I loved very much. On moving to Cliffside at age 9 or so, since I couldn't have a dog, daddy bought me a goat (with or without Uncle Charlie's permission ?).

“We kept it staked in the back yard, and I was told not to take it out of the yard. However, one day I took it without permission, rope around neck, down Main Street toward town. Somewhere before I got to the Memorial Building it jerked the rope out of my hand and ran in front of a car and was killed.

“Since it was too heavy for me to carry, I drug it back home on the sidewalk with the rope. I don't recall where daddy buried it, but I do recall that I couldn't sit down comfortably for a day or two after a good whipping. I had to be content with a rabbit or two after that.”

—Grover Haynes, Jr.

“Reading the question from Janet Kavadellas that was answered by Janice Swing brought questions to my mind about how many teachers were in each grade. I like Janice was in elementary school there. In 1953, I started 1st grade with Ms. Lovelace, 2nd with Ms. Mabry, 3rd with Ms. Wells, 4th with Ms. Padgett, and 5th with Ms. Christy. The interesting thing is I don't remember any other teachers in those grades. I'm curious to know how many teachers there were in each grade level.”

—Greta Harmon Loeber
Norcross, GA

“I noticed in the High Shoals Baptist article that it says the church may well be the oldest church in the county that still exists. There are more than 25 churches in Rutherford County older than High Shoals that still have active congregations, and St. John's Historic Church in Rutherfordton is documented as the oldest standing church structure in the county (1847)

“Just a thought!”

—Robin S. Lattimore
President,
Rutherford County Historical Society
Rutherfordton

“I just wanted to say how interesting your site is, and how much I enjoyed looking at all the pictures and reading about the history of Cliffside! My company is currently doing an upgrade to the Cliffside Steam Station. I am not on that project, but after visiting your site, I want to be!!

“Many thanks should go to the people of Cliffside who have worked to keep the history alive! I hope to be able to visit in the near future.”

—Stacey A. Coffey, P.E.
CSA Engineer
Shaw Stone & Webster
128 South Tryon, Suite 400
Charlotte, NC 28202

“In regard to your article " A Town Called Avondale, A Mill Named Haynes."

“Here is a listing of the Overseers at the Haynes plant while Mr. Beard was superintendent during WW2.

Card Room: Leonard Wallace
Spinning Room: Baxter Givens
Weave Room: Frank Cantrell, Abe Rhymer
Cloth Room: Bill Davidson (later became superintendent)
Outside: Bob Jenkins

“This is the way I remember it as I grew up in Avondale.”

—James Givens

“Good job…great website.”

—Gerald M. Bailey
Commissioner
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Post Office Box 1489
Tallahassee, FL 32302

“Greetings:

“I am Curtis Smith, great grandson of Eli Wilkins. I Thank you for posting the pictures. He worked on Engine 110 for many years. He loved his job and the people he worked with. He passed on Aug 31, 1989.

“Thanks again.”

—Curtis Smith

“The free board on the dam was replaced in 1994 by Cunningham, Waters. I was the supervisor of the machine shop at that time. Also the interior of the water turbines was reworked along with the electrical. The Cone machine shop did most of this work with some outside help. The main gate to the dam and the generator inlet gates were replaced by Cone machine shop personnel. Riprap stone was placed upon a liner fabric out along the bank of the machine shop yard, to stop erosion and leakage into the plant basement. ”

—Charles W. Nodine
1979 to 2000 Cone Mills
Cliffside, Haynes, Florence plants

“I have enjoyed the Historical Society reports very much. I was especially interested in the G. K. Moore article. After Mrs. Moore moved to keep the Teacherage, the Thompson family (Sidney Locke and Annie [Clemmer] Thompson) moved into the Moore house. I married Sam,their son, in 1937 and we lived in the house until after the war. Before we left Cliffside it had been divided into four apartments. Sam and I had the lower five rooms, and his brother Francis (Skip) lived in the back two rooms. Upstairs Francis and Etheleen [Roberson] Fowler lived in the front appartment, and Otto and Lutelle Hames [Matheny] lived in the back. Oh, one time Dorus and Mary Huss lived upstairs. What great memories of long ago. (Sam died in 1995 and is buried in Cliffside Cemetery.)”

— Shirley Crawford Thompson

“The article and map of Riddle Creek (although, I must admit, I never knew or thought about the name of it) brought back many memories. Many summer days would find us walking by the pig pens, past Dick Scruggs dog lot and heading to 'Big Rock' for a swim. As mentioned in the article, we often tried to make a dam across the creek, especially where the old railroad track trestle had been cut down, which lasted only for a short while. Of course, 'Ghost Cut' was located a short distance from there where Glenn Ledford and Glenn Jackson use to scare us small kids with ghost stories and dare us to campout overnight there. Many pleasant memories there!”

—Jim Ingram

“This is an unbelievably great website. Wonderful information and very well put together. I heard about on the documentary about textile mills. You have put together a treasure. It has wonderful history and information, compiled with wisdom, humor and love. Very enjoyable.”

—Linda Campbell

“What a great surprise I had when my cousin sent me this web site. I have been enjoying it for a couple of days and decided to write a note to you. My name is Virginia Blanton Wirtanen (better known in the olden days as "Ginny Mae Blanton.' I attended school at Cliffside from fifth grade through high school, graduating in 1942. I lived with my Grandmother who ran the teacherage (Cliffside Inn). She and my grandfather, George Kelly Moore, were one of the first families to live in Cliffside. My grandfather was the contractor who built most of the original buildings in Cliffside including the Memorial Building, the mill, the school house (which I assume is still in operation—although I am sad to see the Memorial Bldg. and the mill, along with almost all of the original town, torn down.)

“My grandfather and Raleigh Haynes were visionaries as the town of Cliffside can attest, surviving 100 years until progress caught up with it. My grandfather was building a home for Dr. Lovelace in Forest City when he was killed by a drunk driver on his way home from Forest City. There may not be anyone left who would remember this era, but then, that is the purpose of this web site, huh? My aunt was Virginia Moore (Miss Virginia) and was a fixture at the Dry Goods Store as it was called then. One of my uncles was Robert (Tubby) Hawkins, another was Hickey Wortman (I notice that his son,Danny, is listed), These are just a few of the faces and names that have resurfaced.

“Thanks for the memories, you have done a wonderful job.”

—Virginia Blanton Wirtanen

“Your 'Remember Cliffside' is a most delightful site! I have enjoyed it, having stumbled on it while surfing the web for information on the Golden Age of Radio (of all things!).

“While I am an import to the Rutherford County area, Cliffside was firmly planted in my memory as a child. I grew up in South Carolina, near Blacksburg, at the foot of old Whitaker Mountain. In the afternoons, we would go up to the top of "the big field" where we could see the western sky. As the sun was setting, we'd see a column of smoke (this was in the 1940s) rising above the horizon. That was the old Cliffside Steam Plant. We knew little else about this delightful place, but that was enough to spark curiosity.

“Later my uncle was the manager of the old Cliffside theater. (I failed to find a picture of the showplace, but hope you can locate one.) His name was Hal Justice; he lived most of his life in Rutherfordton. There are other associations with Cliffside, such as Earl Owensby (the movie maker) having grown up there. (I didn't find him, but have only found the site this morning; probably he is there, maybe involved with the Historical Society!)

“Again, thanks for a delightful excursion into the past; I'll be coming back for more!”

—Wylie W. Fulton

“The website is 'looking good' — although it is really getting big and I spend way too much time trying to read it all.

“I was wondering - since you have access to so many old photos - if you have ever run across a photo of an old woodsaw truck. You know - the truck that they brought to your house when your Dad bought a load of slabs to cut the slabs into short pieces that fit into the fire place or the woodstove. I have looked all over for such a photo and I have not found one. I know that some of the potters down around Seagrove still use slabs to fire their kilns - and maybe a lot more will be doing so now because of the high cost of propane. A fellow down there had a woodsaw truck up until about 10 years ago. He used a wood boiler located in an outbuilding to provide heat for his house. The fellow died and his son disassembled the woodsaw and sold the truck.

“Anyway - if you run across such a photo - I would love to have an electronic version of it.”

—Leon Neal

Painting of Henrietta “I was just re-reading the story of Henrietta. Every time I read this I remember a picture that my dad had for years until he loaned it to someone, which he did a lot and never got them back. The picture was of Thomas Edison and John Walker Haynes on the front porch of the Haynes Hotel, owned and operated by JWH. Edison had just spent the night with JWH and was leaving the next morning. I was always told that he came promoting his new light bulb and would take you to ride in his car for 5 cents, which he used to help pay the expense of his touring. The Haynes Hotel (see painting) was the building that later was to be the funeral home of Blackwell-Nickels, the first house on the NW corner across from the present Holland Furniture building.”

—Jim Haynes

“I live in California and did not get to attend Cliffside Day 2005 or 2006. I usually get back home during the summer after my son gets out of school for the summer. Perhaps Cliffside Day could be moved to the summer. I enjoyed the gallery of photos from 2005. Marilyn Moore Kerr and I were elected king and queen for the Halloween celebration at Cliffside school in 1953-third grade. That was the only year Marilyn attended Cliffside school. Marilyn and I exchange e-mails occasionally. She was my third grade sweetheart. You may remember that the Halloween celebration was held in the school gym and auditorium. There were many game booths in the gym. In the auditorium, there were events like the cakewalk and the crowning of the king and queen. I would love to see a photo of that.

“There was one other memorable event that third grade year. Marilyn still remembers it. Toward the end of the school day, she got her leg caught between the desk seat and the back of the seat. She could not get it out. I stayed with her while the janitor got a hacksaw and sawed through the metal frame to release her leg. Marilyn says she has told that story many times.”

—James Price

Editor's note: After receiving his enlightening details about a recent Photo of the Month, we asked Richard Mauney for some personal information:

“I was born in Asheville in June 1950, the son of a Baptist minister. When I was 1 1/2 years old, we moved to Rutherford county. We lived at Rabbit Town, next door to Jim Doggetts shoe store, across from Dr. Lovelace. My father pastored Haynes Memorial Baptist Church until Jan. 1963. I loved it there and didn't want to leave. I rode a bike all over the place, Henrietta, Cliffside, Avondale, etc. We moved to Mooresville N. C. and I am still here. Married for 31 years, two daughters, one grandson. I am an engineering lab tech for Ingersoll Rand, Davidson NC, [and my] wife works for Davidson College. I've had a good life but my fondest memories are when I was a carefree kid living in a much simpler time at Henrietta. Thanks for asking and thanks for a great website.”

“Often when I read the articles on 'Remember Cliffside,' I shed a tear or two. I never realized how fortunate I was to have grown up in such a unique town. I have more fond memories than I can count.

“Especially this time I did cry to learn of the death of Ruth Camp. She and I were such good friends, and I had no idea that she had passed. As children we played together. Her mother, Mamie was so faithful to my grandmother, even after her boarding house closed. And although Ruth worked, she also was very close to me. I loved her so, and every time I have returned (usually for a funeral of a family member) she has come to see me and we just have reminisced, and had a wonderful time together. I do cherish her memoirs and her picture.

“I wish I knew more about Granny’s [Mrs. Lander Pruette's] boarding house, but it was before my time. If you get any information on that please let me know. It was right there where we used to sit on the porch. I have heard that the food was delicious. Actually there was a gentleman here in Lancaster [S.C.] who had eaten there, and talked about how good it was.”

— Virginia Padgett Biggerstaff

“Do you have any photos of the Jackson family? My grandpa, Fletcher Andrew, wife Gussie Bridges Jackson, worked in the mill at Cliffside several times. He worked as a share cropper in the summer and went to the mill in the fall. His brothers were Bynum, Gus and Roy. Gus was a supervisor at the Florence Plant, and dropped dead as he was leaving the plant.

“His sisters were Myrtle, who married a Poole. One married—lived in Sunshine, can't remember her name. His [Fletcher's] mother and dad were Bob Jackson and Julie Lookadoo Jackson. Grandpa, as I said, farmed in the summertime, and worked in the mill in the winter. He married Bill Bridges' Daughter (Gussie Salome Bridges) from Sunshine. His name was William Druery Beauregard Bridges and they called him Bill. ('Horse Trading' Bill—not 'Cussin' Bill' but 'Horse Trading' Bill.) Cussin' Bill was Cricket Rollins' grandpa, I think. If [anyone] can tell me anything else about grandpa's Family or have any pictures I would like to find that out.”

— Betty Dalton Padgett

“I was just looking at your site and saw the goat man article... I saw him on a Saturday at the top of Central High Hill just about exactly where the stop light is now to go to Hardees and the land fill. It was also the first day I saw the '47 Studebaker in the show room in Spindale. Don't ask me how I remember that but I clearly do.. I guess I was 11 years old...

“That was the first year that the car had a sloped trunk very similar to the shape of the hood and everyone said you couldn't tell if they were going or coming.

“Incidentally you did a terrific job on the web site.”

— Jim Hoyle

“Thank you so much for the Remember Cliffside website. I really enjoy the old photos and articles. Sometimes I enjoy them so much and get so wrapped up in looking at them that I lose track of time and neglect my 'chores.'

“I worked as an electrician at the old mill for about 13 years from 1990 until 2003 when I was laid off. I've never experienced anything else like it. That old building had to be one of the most unique places on earth. As an electrician I had the privilege of working on electrical equipment that ranged from early 1900's up to the cutting edge equipment the mill used at the time it shut down. But one of the fondest memories I have of the mill was the old Power House or Generator Room as us shop guys referred to it. Many times on the night shift I had to adjust the old generators to keep the lights on in the mill—especially after a lightening storm had knocked the power off. That generator room could be a scary place when the water started sloshing through as the pond got low. But I still think it was a marvel and a pleasure to have been able to have learned how to control those big units.

“If I get real inspired I'll try to put something together about my time at Cliffside. I'm not much of a writer though. If you could get some of those old shop boys like Lefty Brooks, Joe Thrift or Eddie Hill who were in the shop for 20 or 30 years to talk to you, they can tell some real stories.

“I've heard a few.”

— Harold Arrowood

"Just wanted to send you a note about your web site. I have really enjoyed looking at the old pictures and reading the articles. I have always lived in Harris and have been told many times about all the houses and stores that were in Cliffside. All of that stuff was going when I was born in '73.

“It was also very interesting about the insert you put in about a small history of Henrietta and Caroleen. In the past few years I have read a lot of stuff on the history of Rutherford County. But Remember Cliffside is one of the best web sites I have seen. Someone should do one like it on Forest City.

“I have read just about everything and looked at every picture on your web site. I even went to Hicks Grove Church to see Eva Haynes grave site after reading the story on here. It was like history coming alive.

“I could only find one place where Harris Station was mentioned and that was when they brought R.R. Haynes from Florida after his death by way of the railroad. I would love to see some pictures of Harris, the train depot, the stores, cotton gin, etc.. Someone has to have them somewhere. I have seen a few pictures of the old Harris school and, being as big a school that it was, some one should have some old pictures or articles of Harris. I even heard of stories where the Spicer brothers switched the train to the kick off spur and derailed the train..

“But anyway, I have taken enough of your time. Keep up the good work.”

— Brian C. Oursler

Good suggestion. On November 30, we're inaugurating a new "room" on Remember Cliffside called “The County” in which we'll post all the history we can find (or you can provide) about Rutherford County and every city, town and hamlet within it.

“Congratulations on your excellent historical society website. I just happened to find you on the publication date of your new book, Cliffside: Portrait of a Carolina Mill Town. I will refer this site to our own local historical society here in Vista, California (a suburb of San Diego). Yes, we really do have history buffs in Southern California, though some of us can only go back to the winter of 1948.

“I love the story about you and Earl Owensby operating a defacto theatre enterprise. Back in '82 my father Chris Condon and Earl formed a business arrangement to release several 3D movies that had been filmed at the EO Studios in Shelby. I was looking for information about the Earl Owensby theatre when the Cliffside website poped up. Two projectors is the way that 3D movies got shown back in the 1940's what a coincidence! I wonder if 3D has been seen at the EO theatre lately, (it only takes one projector these days.)”

Best wishes,
Victoria Condon-Silliphant
Vice President & Producer
StereoVision 3D Int'l.
Stereo Vision Systems mfg.

“I am Buzz Biggerstaff’s sister-in-law. His wife, Beth, is my sister. I have gone to the Remember Cliffside website several times to see pictures that Buzz told me about. The one I loved the most was the aerial view of Duke Village in 1952. I had it blown up and it hangs in my office. I just recently started really reading a lot of the things on the website. I just want to congratulate you for all the work you have put into this endeavor. I have had so much fun the last couple of days, learning about the history of my home town. I especially enjoyed the memories by Mrs. Cargill and Mike Fisher.

“There is one thing that I haven’t run across so far, and that’s much mention about Duke Village. Although we didn’t live in the town of Cliffside, it was our town, and I think you would get a lot of response from those of us who lived there if you had a section specifically for Duke Village memories. Is that a possibility?”

— Harriet Tarleton Miller

Good point. We'll try harder to acquire more information and photos of the Duke Power plant and village and include them on the site.

“My Dad worked at the mill for at least 27 years and died while still employed there back in 1979. He and my Mom also lived in one of the mill houses. I personally remember the early morning that my Mom would drop me off at the gate house for me to wait for my Dad to get off third Shift. And I remember the day they took the wrecking ball and tore down the auditorium. My Dad would take me to the park over there sometimes to play and to watch the little league baseball team (the Dodgers) practice. Winkie Pearson was the coach, if I remember correctly.

“I was able to make it to Cliffside Day and saw my Godmother (Frances Houser). I haven't seen her in years. I was saddened to see that Cliffside has been so neglected since my childhood. I did make a trip over to the park and to my surprise I found that three of my most favorite playground pieces were still there and being used to this day. To be honest....I teared up just from that alone. I'm also trying to find out more about my Dad and maybe some photos that someone may have to share with me. His name was Max Beatty. I was 11 when he died and never got the chance to really know him the way a grown daughter should know her father.”

— Melissa Beatty Chitwood

“I appreciate all the work you have done on this website and I share it with others all over the country. I hope you can continue to add more and more to the Cliffside memories for future generations to share and know about what life was like in the good old days in Cliffside, NC.”

— Richard Champion

“My cousin, George Norville of Shelby, brought your site to my attention. I will be forever grateful to him. Since George told me of the site, my community service, chores around the house and what’s left of my love life have fallen into a state of limbo while I surfed the Remember Cliffside site. I can’t express how much I have enjoyed the opportunity to do a cyber visit with old friends, or at least their pictures and my memories.

“When George told me to seek your site, I immediately had visions of descriptions of the old 'mill town,' a few pictures and not much else. Was I wrong, or what? When I looked at your site map, I couldn’t believe the amount of history, visual records and nostalgia presented. You’ve done an outstanding job in putting this site on-line. I take off my hat to you, sir!”

— Jerry Norville

“Thank you. Without your web site the attached photo, and a very enjoyable
day, would not have been possible.

“On Thursday, a group of us got together in New Hope, Pennsylvania, to resurrect the Cliffside Railroad for a day. No. 40 looked just as she did in the 1940s and 1950s, and put on a fine show. The photo galleries on your web site
were a big help in getting the lettering and striping right.

“You can see more photos of the day here:

http://forums.railfan.net/forums.cgi?board=NHI;action=display;num=1098444170

“As I get my film processed and scanned I'll send a few more photos for
you, and more information about the event. Hopefully it will interest your
'bunch.'

“Thanks again for remembercliffside.com.”

— John Craft

What's going on here? Back in 1962 Cliffside stopped using steam engines and sold engine #40 to the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad in New Hope, Penn. Here's a photo of it shortly after the sale, bearing the new owner's name and colors. A railroad enthusiasts group recently redecorated the engine and tender as it looked in Cliffside. We'll add more information and photos as they become available.

“This is regarding the Big Parade, Photo of the Month, September 2003.

“I am Blanton McBrayer's daughter-in-law. I am not sure if you are aware that Blanton passed away August 12, 2004, at the McBrayer Furniture Store. Our family has lost its center and the town of Forest City and its citizens have lost a great friend, storyteller and historian.

“I was not aware of your web site, but for some reason I was compelled to Google the name 'Blanton McBrayer' this morning.

“When I saw the words 'Big Parade' and 'Blanton wrote to me,' I knew it was him and the picture that was found at my daughter Keely's house on Arlington Street in Forest City.

“Blanton was thrilled when the picture was brought to him and he thought right away it was Cliffside, where his father R. B. was born.

“He could not wait to get it to the McBrayer Furniture Store, where he could show the picture off and find out more about it.

“Blanton was a meticulous person, therefore on his behalf, I hope you will make the following corrections. I think this was 'lost in translation' from the letter, as I am positive that Blanton did not put it this way.

“His granddaughter is Keely, not Kelly. His son is called Macky, not Mac. His grandfather's name was spelled Reuben, not Rubin and Blanton and Eddie's kids are not running the furniture store. At the time of his death, he and Eddie were the co-owners of the store and Eddie opened the store back up on Monday morning , I am sure with heavy heart, but to an endless parade of people stopping by the store to reminisce about their friend, Blanton McBrayer.

“An interesting note about the picture and where it was found. The house where the picture was found, was built in 1930, by James Willis Griffin and wife Alice Grace, who purchased the Romina Theater from Walter Haynes of Cliffside. (I learned about the Romina on your website) They later gave the house to James W. Griffin Jr., as a wedding gift, I am told, when the elder Griffin moved to Main Street, Forest City.”

— Jane McBrayer

Editor's note: We wish we could have met Mr. McBrayer, and we've made the corrections to the Big Parade story on the Photo of the Month page.

“The Goat Man's name was Charlie McCartney from Jeffersonville, Georgia. He had a compound, a lot of little buildings in about a one-acre area, near my grandparents home, Frances Sims (Mrs. Sam) Dedmond's parents. Mother and daddy knew him and daddy has taken him and his son home so his son could go to school. His son went on some of the trips with him and when it got close to school time, he asked Sam to take him home. I remember the Goat Man setting up [in Cliffside] in the field across from Bob Dedmonds house one summer. Mother also remembers him taking his goats on trips while she was in school.

“In his later years he was in a nursing home in Macon, Georgia, and married a lady there. He has since died and I am not sure of the date. His son is still alive and I saw his walking the road in Jeffersonville about 3 or 4 years ago when we went back to mothers home. The buildings of his compound are still there.

“Does anyone have any pictures of the Ice and Coal plant in Cliffside?”

— Judy Mason

"I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy the site, and that I think you have done a fantastic job of putting it together. In fact, I think it would make a great guide for other small towns and communities to fashion their own websites. You should be teaching website development!

"I was born in Cliffside in 1938 and left before I started school. My parents were Ferrell and Esther Allison Atkinson and my sister is Joyce Atkinson Hunter. We lived with my Grandmother Gennie Allison when my father left the mill to work as a government inspector for fabrics being produced for the military during WWII. After we moved to Spartanburg, we visited my
Aunt Nell and Uncle Roy Hill, and Aunt Beulah and Uncle Lafar Ruppe often while growing up.

"Keep up the good work!"

— Mack Atkinson

“I remember going down to the old boiler room and fishing out the window. On Sundays we would have 'tournaments.' About every fixer, maintenance man, a/c...well, we don't want to incriminate anyone...ha ha..but there would be several of us up and down the stairs to take turns with the only 3 ft. rod available....one pinch of a nightcrawler and we was fishing...mostly bream. One time a fellow hooked a carp out the window...it was about 30 ft. down, so landing it was impossible. Ruined the only good hook we had with us that day! Your caption on what might have been fabricated in the welder room set me to chuckling...lead was melted in an old homemade ladle and poured into a mold to make fishing sinkers. Oh boy!”

— Mike Hanson

“The website you have produced is a really great job. So much of our personal heritage today has been gobbled up by time and progress. It would be great if more folks like you and the other contributors would take the initiative and do something like this for the areas they grew up a part of. Many folks today take for granted what they have and do not put in perspective how they got to this point in life. Your site does this in a very real way for those who call Cliffside home.

“I live in Lexington, NC today, as I have for all but five years of my life. I have seen it change over the years. My church was established in a mill village as were many across the southern USA. Today just about every mill house has been torn down and non-distinctive commercial buildings have replaced them. Thank you for the memories and history you keep alive today.

“I have a small relationship back to Cliffside and spent some brief periods there during my youth (1960's). My Grandparents lived in Forest City where my Granddad (Will Greene) owned Greene Memorial Company. He had a relationship with Mr. McKinney and Mr. Landreth at the funeral home in Cliffside. Both my Grandparent's grew up in the nearby Six Points area between Mooresboro and Cliffside. I have seen a few names on your site where some of my Aunt's (Dit Wilkie), and Uncle's (James or Jim Wilkie) are mentioned. Also from the 1910 census of Cliffside, my Great-Great Grandparents, O.J. and Jane Wilkie are listed. So I appreciate the site from my own family history
perspective.

“As I mentioned, I live in Lexington, NC and you have talked about Mr. H. Lee Waters taking photographs and filming the movie of Cliffside folks. Mr. Waters used to ride his small motor scooter around town when I was young, offering rides to young folks around the block. His work will be much valued in the years to come from many people all around NC and SC and other places where he worked. Mr Waters passed away just a few years ago at the age of 95. Many of his old photographs have been given to the Davidson County Historical museum and also,I believe, to Duke University.

“Anyway, I just wanted to pass along to you my thanks and appreciation for this worthy project of yours and also to all of your contributors.”

—Donald Greene

“My Mum (who is visiting from England) and I have been trying to do some research on family members of ours who emigrated to the USA in the 19th century.

"She had two great uncles, Prof. Dock Warburton (who was the first instructor of the town brass band) and George Warburton who came to reside in North Carolina.

“We are very excited to find your information on the band he was involved with and even more excited to see the photograph.”

— Julie Regan Couvillon
and Ann Regan

“Just discovered 'Cliffside.' Wonderful undertaking and well crafted presentation. I linked to it in a language-related post on my weblog this morning.”

— Fred First

“I have no connnection to Cliffside. I read an article in the Charlotte Observer a long time ago, and went to your website. I was very impressed at the way you brought the town to life for someone that had never been there... I am a transplant, and live in Charlotte, but I think that you are doing a great service. This is such an important part of American history, and to have it documented so well is worth bragging rights.”

— Eric Diedrick

“I cannot thank you enough for the tremendous job you are doing with the Cliffside web site! It is like walking down the sidewalk in Cliffside. I grew up there in the 50's-60's...Ruby and Shaw Biggerstaff were my parents, both deceased. Dad worked on the railroad and Mother taught school at Cliffside Elementary. We lived at 41 N. Main for many years.”

—Alice Loper

“That's the best Web site I've ever seen.”

—Joe Depriest

“I hope you know how much we appreciate all the work you have done on this thing. It is absolutely the best web site I have ever visited and I spend a lot of time researching family and other genealogy sites and none compare to yours. Movability means a lot on a web site some are so slow and awkward to get around, yours is great in this respect. You must have done a lot of planning and put a lot of thought into it before you started and it shows.”

—James Haynes

“I suggested to one of my cousins that he should check your web-site a couple of weeks ago. He did and I quote 'I have been on that dad-blasted web-site for 2 hours—and it is great!' Your site is a real inspiration to some of us old Cliffside folks.”

—Robert Winn

“Let me say your website is great. ...I think you put some good time and did a good profile on the community. ... I can't imagine how many hours you have put in time to prepare that. Again, great job.”

—Tim Turner

“I really appreciate all the work you have done on this site, it is first class. I was born in Cliffside and lived there until my father returned from WW II, His name is listed on the memorial at the clock, Charlie Powell. I love the pictures, it is a wonderful trip down memory lane. Please keep up the good work.”

—Ron Powell

“I wanted to let you know that you have created a wonderful website. I have been able to find out many interesting stories, pictures, and history about my husbands' family. You may even know some of their families - the Powell family, Hollis & Odessa Scruggs, the Hames family, the Moore Family.... Through your site I have been able to find contacts who were able to give me even more information. Thanks for all the hard work that you've done.”

—Randi Powell

“I wanted to thank you for your hard work and dedication to such a wonderful subject for so many to talk about...and to see my Momma brighten up in talking about her hometown!”

—Jackie West Greene

“I'm immensely impressed with your web site. You have done yourself and Cliffside proud! I'll certainly keep checking in on your hometown.”

—Martha Mason

“Thank you for the beautiful Cliffside website and all of the pictures on it. My father, Colen Adair... passed away this past July [2002], but he thoroughly enjoyed the Remember Cliffside website and was able to show me one of his 'old' girlfriends in one of the pictures, Uncle Clang and Wormie Hawkins in others. Looking at the picture of the month...I am thinking how much my dad would have loved that picture. I know he could have told me who used to live in many of those houses too! I really appreciate your work on this website.”

—Mary Adair Baker

“Once again, I must tell you how much the site means to me. You are doing a good deed in perpetuating the memory of Cliffside. What you are doing is not frivolous work, it's important; not only to current viewers, but very important to future generations. Your work will be acclaimed, acknowledged and appreciated by many.”

—Ken West

“First thing I do every morning is read 'Remember Cliffside.' Thanks for all your hard work...I know your wife does lots of this work too, so we do appreciate her.”

—Nellie Jo Scruggs Hamrick

“Thanks for the Web Page on our old home town, brings back a lot of memories, especially drawing the pond...[It] looks like you put in a lot of work on this, congratulations and thank you.”

—Gene Ingram

“What a wonderful job you have done preserving Cliffside's history. Cooleemee is another former mill town working hard to preserve its heritage and pass on its traditions to next generation. We had a conference in 1996 that drew together reps from 28 mill towns and villages from the Carolinas along with some scholars who are writing on this 'subject.' We feel that if the cotton mill folks don't work hard now to interpret this history from our point of view, others who know too little will write our story for us and we won't have room to complain. Again, Congratulations ”

— Lynn W. Rumley
Textile Heritage Center at Cooleemee

“I love this website. You've certainly done a great job. Looking back through all the memories is fantastic. I've only been back to Cliffside a few times over the years since my folks moved to California in 1958.”

—Dave Cobb

“Can't tell you how much I appreciate all that you have done, and are doing, to Remember Cliffside. This set of 54 photos brings back memories of when I, and my friends, walked there in the 30's... I have a hard time seeing all these pictures through my teary eyes, THANKS AGAIN.”

—Grover Haynes, Jr.

“I just looked at the new pages on the site. As usual, you make me proud. When I tell people about the site, and I do that often, I always tell them that this is a site with great content and great integrity. We owe you much for sharing your time and treasures.

“I have an idea. Why don't we buy Cliffside! We would make it into a retirement town and bring back all the things that we hold dear. You could be the Mayor! I will want a small lot with a big house. I am not fond of yardwork.”

—Joyce Atkinson Hunter

Remember that?

Cliffside Advertising
It wasn't very sophisticated, really, not much different from a century before. When Jackson's Department Store scheduled a sale, they would print up about 500 handbills and hire a teenaged boy to walk the streets of Cliffside and deliver one to every single home. Mr. Ray Jackson, the store's owner, would rely on the honor of the boy not to stuff the handbills in a drain pipe somewhere and dishonestly pocket the dollar or whatever the meager payment was. Most often the boy was honest.

School paper ad for Cliffside Garage And just about every week the Cliffside Theater would print it's coming attractions on showcards. These were two-color creations, generally in some garish shade of red with black lettering, on stiff paper, about a foot high. They would be stapled to electric poles all over the southern end of the county.

Aside from the Courier, about the only other affordable advertising opportunity was to run primitive ads in school publications, like the year book or monthly “newspaper,” or on the mimeographed programs for civic presentations, such as a woman-less wedding or a minstrel show. These little ads would inevitably feature simple hand-drawn logos and graphics, and state the name of the business, its slogan and phone number.

A curiosity, sure enough
Some of you older folks may not have believed your eyes. There went an automobile buzzing down the railroad tracks! Here it comes again, this time backwards! Myles Haynes, Jr. tells the tale:

Photo: Myles Haynes, Jr. “During the war years beginning in 1941, automobile tires were hard to get. We lived in Avondale at that time and the railroad track for the Cliffside RR ran behind our house on it's way from Cliffside junction (where the Seaboard RR met the Cliffside RR in front of our house about a block away) to the Avondale mill. My father, Myles Haynes, Sr., bought a 1934 Chevrolet two-door sedan from Tubby Hawkins in order to get four almost-new tires off it. He then had four flanged wheels from an extra railroad flat car put on the Chevrolet, had the front steering locked, and put the car on the track.

“He parked the car on the track at night behind our house and drove forward in the morning to work in Cliffside at the office where he served as cashier for the Mill, parking the car on a side track before the train made its daily run to meet the Seaboard and to Avondale. After the train returned each day and he finished work, he would back the car to its position behind the house and park it for the next days trip.

“Occasionally, he would let me drive it and that was real fun. Since it did not have to be steered, you could get it started, pull out the hand throttle and it would go clickity-click down the track, at 15 to 20 miles an hour, gently rolling from side to side. Naturally, I had a lot of friends who wanted to go along. Gasoline soon became in short supply, so my driving days ended.

“My father got the idea for the car from his uncle, Raleigh Haynes, who had a four-flanged-wheel bicycle that he would ride from Cliffside to Avondale, have it turned around, and ride it back, about three and half miles each way. I have no idea how often he rode it.”

Little Building
You may have walked near it a thousand times, or saw it from a distance, and never gave it a second thought. It was a small building across Photo of 'little building' the street from Miller Furniture Co., at the west end of the row of executive parking sheds. Actually it's still there, although everything that used to surround it has been razed: the store building, the office building, the general manager's house.

It was used for a number of things. Mack Hendrick says caskets were once stored there (presumably when Cliffside Furniture conducted funerals). R. G. Watkins remembers that it was used as a polling place on election days. Jim Ruppe helps out with this info: “It was also a tax listing site, an immunization site and a meeting site for some ladies organization. The lower portion, as I remember, was a garage that housed the Company's pick-up trucks (1946-48 Fords). A green one was driven by Maurice Hendrick and a black one was driven by Ike Biggerstaff and later by Roy Hamrick. Apparently Mr. Hendrick purchased the truck he drove and after his death the truck, which was almost in pristine condition, was eventually inherited by his son Dr. Harry Hendrick, who continued his father's habit of keeping the truck immaculate. I'm not sure of its disposition after Dr. Hendrick's death, but I'm sure it is probably in the caring hands of the Hendrick family.”

Click here to see the black company pick-up parked on the square.

Update- From Zan Fisher: “The little house across from Miller Furniture was also used as a Personnel Office for the Cliffside Plant somewhere around 1970. I was Personnel Manager during that time and we renovated it for that purpose. John Scoville was the plant engineer."

The Fair
Remember the wonderful grandstand shows at the Cleveland County Fair? On various afternoons during Fair week you could see auto races with little Indy-type cars; harness racing (an activity about as familiar to us as ice hockey); and auto thrill shows, where daring drivers in white, striped coveralls would speed up wooden ramps and jump over a dozen old cars, or through flaming hoops. In the late '30s, it was Lucky Teeter's Hell Drivers. Lucky was killed in 1941, and, after World War II, his place on the state and county fair circuit was taken by Jack Kochman's Hell Drivers.

Best of all were the night-time shows on the grandstand stage. Maybe it was the lighting, but the dancing girls were absolutely gorgeous—miles ahead of the bored, gum-chewing specimens of the girly shows on the midway, shows with phony, over-reaching names like “From Broadway to Hollywood.” Those poor women were already as close to Broadway or Hollywood as they'd ever get. (I doubt that we made these distinctions at the time.)

The most fantastic stage act was The Banana Man. He's best described on Rhett Bryson's web site: “Dressed in clown attire and pushing his trunk on wheels, [he] enters singing his shrill, absurd melody. He then proceeds to produce from his pockets whole bunches of bananas, pineapples, watermelons, banjos, violins, about everything under the sun—he changes wardrobe and character three times, right before your eyes—he fills three trunks with his hundreds of props, converts the trunks into a train, and as the engineer, drives the whole string of cars offstage.”

The finale was a stunning fireworks display, so close and loud you were sure your ears would bleed. And on the long, dark, sleepy ride home, as you scroonched up in the back seat of the family car, those magical sights and sounds would whirl around in your head like a kalaidoscope.

Car Accessories
Whatever happened to squirrel tails on radio “aerials?” When is the last time you saw a spotlight mounted by the driver's window, and what exactly did we use them for? Don't you miss those fancy steering knobs? They were so essential before power steering. Where can I buy a new pair of mud flaps? (My old ones are wearing out, as are my zebra seat covers.) The most useful thing of all, of course, were fender skirts. They always came in handy, almost as handy as a set of Venetian blinds mounted in the rear window. And don't forget those high-tech curb feelers, spring-like devices mounted on your fenders that warned you away from the curb, lest you scar up your fat whitewalls and fail to impress the girls.

Bost Bread
I often vowed that I'd never live anywhere I couldn't buy Duke's Mayonnaise and Bost Bread. Well, I guess my end has come, because now, although Duke's is still on the shelves, I can't buy

Bost's patch courtesy Barbara Miller

Bost Bread anywhere. It was simply the best loaf bread you could find. (Not white, not light, but loaf bread!) It was baked in Shelby, and the familiar red and yellow Bost trucks would make their deliveries to our stores and markets like gentle bumblebees nosing around a flowering shrub.

Unfortunately, some years back, Continental Baking, a division of the huge world-wide conglomerate called ITT, decided it couldn't exist another day without owning the Bost brand. Naturally, the first thing Continental did was change the recipe—from the one that made Bost such an outstanding product, to one that turned out something bland and tasteless, decidedly inferior to the original. Corporations always know best, you see. After a time, Continental sold the brand to Waldensian (in Valdese, NC), who moved it out of Shelby and eventually discontinued it. In turn, Waldensian was soon bought out by Interstate Bakeries, another big corporation.

Sadly, if you search for “Bost Bread” on the internet, about all you'll find are Star obituaries of people who once worked at Bost, who helped make it the pride of the region. Eh law.

Dippers
At our house, on the wall near the water bucket, or, after we had running water, near the kitchen sink, there hung a shallow metal cup with a long handle. It was called “the dipper,” for there was only one. Everyone drank from it. It never occurred to us to use a glass; glasses had to be washed and dippers didn't. Occasionally, if we saw a fly or a bug light on the dipper, we'd “rinch” it out, but rarely did it get immersed in a sink full of dishwater.

Kits
Remember Kits, the little candy squares? For about 3 cents you could buy a block of ten squares wrapped in cellophane. Each square was individually wrapped in waxy paper. There were chocolate, strawberry and banana flavors. We'd buy them at Barney's store and eat them at recess (or before recess, if we could get away with it).

Detective Magazines
Tempting the wrath of Mrs. Mills, we'd stand around the magazine rack at the drug store thumbing through all the latest “detective” magazines, True Detective, Official Detective, Inside Detective, etc. The photos, having little or nothing to do with the stories, were invariably of women bound to a chair or a bed, and were always “posed by professional models.”

Orange Crush
It came in dark brown bottles, which were kept in a store's old fashioned ice-filled drink box. Orange Crush was one of the most delicious and refreshing of all the soft drinks. But eventually they began putting it in clear bottles, and the taste was never quite the same.

Saturday's Heroes
Let's see, there was Charles Starrett (the 'Durango Kid'); Johnny Mack Brown and his sidekick 'Sandy Hopkins' (played by Raymond Hatton); Tim Holt; Buster Crabbe and his comic foil, bicycle riding Al 'Fuzzy' St. John (did you know he was one of the Keystone Kops in the silent era?); Sunset Carson; Bob Steele; Buck Jones, Bill Elliott as Red Ryder (with Robert Blake—yes, THAT Robert Blake—as 'Little Beaver'); Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Tex Ritter, The Three Mesquiteers (one of whom was a ventriloquist!), and on and on. Of course there was Gene and Roy, but they had CARS in their movies, which was totally out of context (although Gene and Roy themselves never rode in the cars, always staying 50 years behind the bad guy, who did). And they sang! Yuck!

The Sunday Funnies
Usually we'd read the funnies in the Charlotte Observer or the Spartanburg Herald, but sometimes we'd get, of all things, the Baltimore American. How that paper found it's way to Cliffside is one of life's big mysteries. Some of my favorite strips were: The Teenie Weenies, tiny people (policemen, cowboys, ballerinas, etc.) who lived inside the walls of human's houses; Dick Tracy and his amazing 2-way wrist radio (Remember Gravel Gertie and B. O. Plenty?); Smilin' Jack, the flying ace; Smokey Stover, the nutty fireman; Bringing Up Father (Jiggs & Maggie); Major Hoople; Ally Oop; and Prince Valient. On weekdays, in the Shelby Star, we'd laugh at Dagwood and Blondie's misadventures, and follow the exciting adventures of Mandrake the Magician and Secret Agent X-9.

Drive-In Theaters
Can you imagine spending hours in your car, in weather either too hot or too cold, watching a cheesy third- or fourth-run movie through a dirty windshield, hearing the sound through a single squawky speaker? Well, we did it on a regular basis, and loved it. There were several drive-in theaters that Cliffside people usually attended: the Sunset at Swainsville, the Midway at Sandy Mush, the Tri-City in Forest City, and the Sky View in Shelby. If the theater charged by the person, you could count on some cars having several boys hiding in the trunk until they'd passed through the entrance. On our way to the concession stand, to get a foot-long hotdog or a large popcorn with extra butter, we'd often notice the windows of one or more cars would be completely fogged up. Why they'd pay good money to watch a movie, then not watch it, we never figured out.

Milk Deliveries
The dairy truck would come by before dawn. It's driver, sometimes dressed in white, with a white uniform cap, would carry your order to the doorstep. The milk came in quart bottles, each capped with a circle of pasteboard, which, in freezing weather, would be pushed up off the top of the bottle by the frozen cream. The milkman would pick up the empty bottles your mom had carefully washed and placed on the porch.

Stick Horses
In case the neighborhood boys needed to form a posse, all us little cowpokes would fashion “horses” out of tree limbs. Taking a sturdy but limber 4- to 5-foot limb, we'd cut off the branches, attach “reins” of rawhide or cord to the fat end, and, for that impressive “pinto” effect, would strip the bark off several places along the length of the limb. (If a solid white horse—like Silver — was desired, we'd strip off ALL the bark.) When the time came for action, as it often did, we'd straddle our cayuses and tear out at full speed down the cinder-strewn streets of Cliffside.

On the Radio
Saturday mornings at 11, we'd be enthralled by Let's Pretend, followed by those giant locomotives roaring into Grand Central Station. And we wouldn't miss The Lone Ranger every weekday at 5:00. When we were a little older, we'd grow to love these nighttime dramas, comedies and mysteries: Mr. Keene, Tracer of Lost Persons (theme song: “Some Day I'll Find You”); Lux Radio Theater, Dr. Christian, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Edgar Bergen & Charley McCarthy, Fibber McGee & Molly, Burns & Allen, The Great Gildersleeve, Baby Snooks, Henry Aldrich, Inner Sanctum, Suspense, The Lucky Strike Hit Parade, My Friend Erma, Gangbusters!, The FBI in Peace and War, Easy Aces, The Adventures of Sam Spade, and many more. Our parents and grandparents tuned in every night to hear the news from Edward R. Murrow, Gabriel Heatter, Elmer Davis and William L. Shirer. How the world has changed.

Cars
There used to be only a few brands of cars on our roads, all made in the U.S.A. There were Ford products (Ford, Lincoln, Mercury), GM products (Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, Olds, Pontiac, LaSalle), Chrysler products (Chrysler, Plymouth, DeSoto), plus Willys, Packard, Hudson, Kaiser-Fraser, Studebaker, Nash, and one or two others. We had no Volkswagens, Saabs, Porsches, Land Rovers, Humm-Vees, Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans, Acuras, Infinitis, Lexus', Saturns, BMWs, Mitsubishis, Daiwoos, Mazdas, Hyundais, Volvos, Diahatsus, Suzukis, Kias, etc. Back then, some people could identify the make of any car that came along, by sight or even by sound. Now you can't easily identify the continent a car was made on, much less its manufacturer.

Toyland
A long time ago, along about Thanksgiving of every year, Mr. Ray Jackson would open up the basement of his department store for the Christmas season. Our parents would hold our hands as we slowly descended the creaking stairs. What appeared below was a wonder to behold. The dank, musty room was stocked with row after row of tables holding bright, shiny toys of every kind. There were pedal cars, wagons, tricycles, dolls, doll houses, tea sets, pop guns, cowboy suits, Erector sets...everything a boy or girl could imagine. Our little hearts would pound and our eyes would nearly pop out. Amazingly, one or more things we'd see in that room would be under our tree on Christmas morning. Funny how things work out.

Did you know?

It was pretty gloomy in Cliffside homes prior to 1915, for they were lit only with kerosene lamps or open fireplaces. But around that year the Company began providing electricity to the workers. A page of rules and charges, written in 1918, stated that light fixtures would be installed in the houses of those who wished them, in the center of the rooms, with a “full set of lamps (25 to 40 watts)”. One light would cost 40¢ per month, two would cost 60¢, and so on. (Or you could purchase and use an electric meter and be charged—per month—10¢ per KW hours for the first eight KW hours and 5¢ for each additional KW hour.) If the lamps burned out, the homeowner had to pay for replacements, and, if a family moved, it was required to leave behind a “full equipment of lamps that will burn.”

Cliffside’s available power for consumers was limited. Through the week, the power was “on” only from 5:30pm to 6:30am. The street lights were turned on only from dark to 10:00pm, except Saturday and the nights before holidays when they were on all night. Some mill companies would make periodic inspections in the wee hours of the night. If the inspector saw a light burning, he would wake the family and, if there was no one sick in the household, request they douse the light.

First published in the CHS Special Report, the Cliffside Historical Society's bimonthly newsletter, Nov-Dec 2006 issue.

Chase is lower Rutherford county's consolidated high school. The letters in “Chase” all stand for something: C - Caroleen and Cliffside; H - Henrietta and Harris; A - Avondale; S - Shiloh; and E - Everyone else. This according to Scott Withrow in his article “Henrietta, Caroleen and Avondale” in the book The Heritage of Rutherford County, North Carolina, 1984. (We've republished the article in the County section under History.)

Before the days of tape players and FM radios in cars, Otto Moore bought a new 1957 DeSoto that had a factory-made 78 rpm record player installed in the dash. Sam Davis says, “Otto was in town one night and was playing the record player for us boys. Don’t know how DeSoto mounted the player but he could drive down the road and play records. At least he said he could.”

Did you know where our school song came from? We had never given it much thought, assuming it was something that was always there, like the bark on trees or the blue in the sky. Not hardly, as they say in places less sophisticated than Cliffside. We were thumbing through a copy of an old school paper, the Cliffside Hi-Lights, dated February 1939, and this item leapt out at us:

New School Song

Margie Blanton is worthy of all the praise we can give her, for the new school song she composed. The old song was discarded because it was difficult to sing and a new song was born and adopted by the majority of the students of the school. This is an honor that comes only once in a "coon's" age, so we are thankful that Cliffside School possesses such talent within her bounds.

The song is as follows:

"Cliffside High"
Three cheers for dear old Cliffside High,
To which we will ever be true;
Hurrah for the blue and the white,
The colors of our school.
We love all its rules and we'll try
To be loyal forever and ever.
We love our dear school, and we know
That it's proved worthy of our paise and our endeavor.

(It's sung to the tune of John Phillip Sousa's “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Elsewhere in the paper it's revealed that Margie Blanton was head cheerleader that year, although neither her name nor photo appears in the school yearbooks for 1939 or '40.)

Since Colonial times, or even before, it has been the custom in Christian cemeteries to bury the departed “facing” east (with the head at the western end of the grave). And for all these years this tradition has been Tubby and Georgia's grave followed at Cliffside—with one exception. One man, before his death in 1980, made arrangements with the undertaker to break with this tradition, and to bury him facing the west. He now—and forever— lies at the edge of the cemetery, facing Stimpson Street—and the setting sun. His reasoning: If someone comes along the street and wants to have a conversation, he (the departed) doesn't want to miss the opportunity. His name: Robert Clyde “Tubby” Hawkins. Three years after his passing, his wife Gerogia was buried beside him, also facing west.

Source: Horton Landreth

Quinn Lee Womick was only eight when his father John died in 1885. Quinn's widowed mother Alpha married a widower, Thomas R. Cole^*, who (by his late wife Mary) had had a young daughter named Eva. Quinn Lee and Eva grew up in the same household, and in adulthood fell in love, married and had four children: Josephine, Worth, Mary Quinn and Lee. So, the grandparents of these children were the same on both the paternal and maternal sides of their family. Their paternal grandmother was their maternal step-grandmother and their maternal grandfather was their paternal step-grandfather.

^*Thomas Cole and Alpha had children of their own, including a son named D. C., later to become Cliffside's and Rutherford county's well-known musical director.

We all know, don't we, that the Romina Theater in Forest City was named after Walter Haynes' two daughters, Rosa May and Amanda. So he combined the two names and came up with... Romanda? No, wait, that doesn't work.

Actually the theater's name was a combination of the first two letters of “Rosa” and the last four letters of Amanda's middle name, Elmina. Ro—mina. We're happy to have cleared that up. But lending a part of her name to a movie theater was only a minor accomplishment; Amanda later became the mother of Rutherford County's State Senator, Walter Dalton.

Back when summer meant going barefoot and boys had long idle days to get into all sorts of mischief, Earl Owensby and I cleaned out a space in the old barn behind my house at 59 N. Main and made it into a “theater.” In the war years it had housed Fred Swing's chickens, and the smell of poultry still lingered on into the fifties. But you work with what you have.

We hung blankets over the windows, tacked a bedsheet on the wall for a screen and “installed” the two 16mm movie projectors we had gotten for Christmas. Our vast inventory of silent films (none over five minutes long) included a documentary called Cavalcade of Presidents, a shortened version of a Little Rascals short, a fragment of a Tex Ritter western, and a few other less-appealing titles. (You could buy these little gems at the drugstore for about a dollar.)

By word of mouth, our enterprise became known to a fair-sized contingent of little Cliffsiders, eager, despite the smell, to attend our matinees— for only five cents.

A few days passed without incident, but one afternoon we looked down the cinder-track driveway and saw the manager of Cliffside's real theater, Bobo Harrill, and his trusted projectionist, Paul Gosey, approaching our cinematic outpost. We were busted. He told us in no uncertain terms that, inasmuch as there was room for only one theater in town, that one was going to be his. Moreover, running a business requires a license, and if we had one he would like to see it.

Curses, foiled again. It was just as well, though, for we had pretty much run through our library, and our patrons had just about depleted their meager allowances.

Frankly, it was a relief to be out from under the burdens of our piddling undertaking. But it was an auspicious beginning: Earl went on to make millions in the movie business. I went into broadcasting and continued to collect nickels.

— Reno Bailey

Some Cliffside residents lived in fairly isolated places that made it difficult to reach the rest of the town. In the 1940s teenager Mavorine Melton lived on the west side of the river. Her only means of reaching her friends and the stores in town was either to walk several miles around by Bunker Hill or to cross the river. Most often she chose the latter option, using her father's rowboat.

Mavorine's family's house was almost directly across the stream from the 4th Street footbridge, and about half a mile up the hill through the woods from the west bank. When she'd come to town she would tie up her boat on the Cliffside side and walk up through the woods by the old band house to her friend Juanita Davis'. They would go downtown to the movie or the cafe or wherever, and when the day was done she'd reverse the route and paddle back across.

Was she ever scared? Once she got “concerned” when the river was way up and the current swept her a ways downstream. Somehow she got to the bank before going further on down and maybe over the dam itself. (Mavorine was just twelve or thirteen at the time, but she didn't ask her daddy's permission that day, for she knew he'd never give it.)

Brothers Grayson and Fred Beheler also lived across the river, and used the same method to get to work the year round. They could often be seen after work getting into their boat with their groceries and paddling across.

Source: Sam Davis

In the summer of 1928 two Cliffside boys, Gifton Jolley and Butler Pruette, made a 20-day round trip to Kansas by what was then an unusual method— hitchhiking. It made the front page of the Rutherford County Sun.

The Cliffside Telephone Company was incorporated on August 16, 1912. Its purpose (as stated on the Certificate of Incorporation) was “to carry on the business of erecting, operating, owning, maintaining, selling and leasing telephone lines, exchanges, instruments and all necessary appliances, and all electrical apparatus of any kind, also run a shop for repairing telephones.”

Source: Phillip White/Wayne Smith Cliffside Archives

It doesn't happen very often but a new enterprise has sprung up in “downtown” Cliffside. Mark and Janice Bridges Swing have opened a new barbecue restaurant called the “Swingin' Pig.” It's on Old Main Street across from the new Baptist Church, and the food is outstanding. They're open Tuesday through Saturday.

“There was a park built on a wooded slope between the railroad and the river. Rustic seats were built here and an elevated band stand stood in the center. The Haynes Band often gave concerts there on Sunday afternoons.”

—R. R. Haynes' biography

The band stand was later converted to a small, 3-room house in which, over the years, the G. C. Fishers, Riley Callahans, T. C. Smiths, Gabriel Hills, and Odus Greenes lived, among others.

The top couple of feet of the old stone dam is made of wood, which, because of the wear from the passage of water over it, has to be replaced every decade or so. Frank Holtzclaw says he can remember it being replaced three times.

The deep-red, glazed bricks used in the construction of Cliffside School, now over 80 years old, are as new-looking as ever. If you have the chance, stand close to an exterior wall and marvel at how the bricks, although never pressure washed or sand blasted, are as clean, solid and shiny as they were in 1920.

In holiday seasons of the 1950s, downtown Cliffside would be adorned with Christmas lights and a large decorated tree—sometimes atop the clock tower; in other years in front of the fish pond in the town square. Lighted wreaths were placed high up on the front of the store building and strings of lights were hung across the square. Its scope and grandeur might not have rivalled Rockefeller Center, but it was enough to make us proud

A tornado hit Cliffside around 1955-56. “I can remember looking out the bedroom window and seeing the trees move, it traveled down Mud Cut crossing Academy and Church St.,” says Mary Scruggs. “I remember that it picked up our neighbors Jack and Margie Bostic's garage and carried it away before splashing it into the ground, and put trees on the house beside ours...my brother and I were so upset because we had no damage.”

(This may have been the 'blow' that took the top off the water tower.)

In the early years of Cliffside, as we've documented, the town had a photographer named W. E. “Will” Hames. Around the same time there was another photographer in Caroleen named W. E. Haynes, and in the Forest City-Rutherfordton area there was yet another photographer named W. E. “Will” McArthur.

Speaking of photographers, in 1922 there was a Gilbert's Studio in Cliffside, which advertised in The Courier. Its exact address was not revealed in the ads.

Once upon a time, the first line of our school song was “Cliffside School is quick and snappy,” according to the 1937 yearbook, Old Gold and Black. (By 1940 the yearbook's name had been changed to The Echoes.) In the '20s and '30s the school's newspaper was titled The Purple Cloud. It was reprinted each week in The Rutherford County Sun, at least during the late '20s.

The population of Cliffside once included a General who was not in the army, a Commodore who was not in the navy, and a Doctor who was not of the medical or academic professions. Were they imposters? No, those were their names, not their titles. The first was General W. Tate, who worked in (and may have supervised) the card room in 1910; the commodore was Plato Commodore Hawkins, once the superintendent of the mill; and the doctor was Doctor Samuel Boyce Bridges, for many years the beloved boss of the weaving department.

In the 1920s the Cliffside Mills Department Store (and its three branches) had over 50 employees, and in its advertisements claimed to be the largest department store in the county.

In the spring of 1910 there were two Charles Haynes in Cliffside. One—the famous one—lived with his father, Raleigh, in the big house on the hill; the other boarded at the Q. L. Womack house at #2 N. Main Street. He was a 17-year-old weaver in the mill. (Another boarder there was Frank Haynes, age 20, who may have been Charles' older brother.)

Until the early '30s the state of North Carolina financed only six months of education per year in the public schools, and left it to the county school systems to foot the bill, if they could, for up to three additional months. Cliffside School was able to stay open eight months a year, says Myrtle Greene Mashburn, thanks to the Company, which provided the money for the extra months. Read more in Anita Price Davis' North Carolina During the Depression.

No one graduated from Cliffside High School in 1946! This is no joke; that was the year the state tacked on an additional 12th grade to all high school programs, so the class of '46 had to go another year, and graduate in 1947.

Since Cliffside had no real fire truck, about every second house in town had its own ladder. Built in the mill's wood shop, these ladders were mounted on the side of the home (or car shed) for use when needed.

As hard as it may be to believe, the Sauline Players, the acting troupe that enchanted Cliffside school kids for years with performances of “Hans Brinker & the Silver Skates,” “Tom Sawyer” and other unforgettable productions, was not from New York's Great White Way. It was based in Belmont, N.C.

From The Cliffside Hi-Lights (the school newspaper) of January 1939:

Sauline Players Visit School
    The Sauline Players were cordially accepted to our school Thursday morning when they presented the interesting and entertaining "Anne of Green Gables."
    A large crowd gathered in the auditorium at ten thirty and enjoyed splendid acting by each of the players, especially Uncle Matthew and Moody.
    Every year these players come to our school and present a play. The programs are clean and everyone looks forward to their return next time.

Back in the late '40s and early '50s, boys in Cliffside would make a game out of hitchhiking. One group would hitch to Forest City-Shelby-Cliffside, while another group would simultaneously reverse the route: Shelby-Forest City-Cliffside. The winner was the group that returned home first.

Dr. Mills would open up the drug store for about 30 minutes after church on Sundays for people to get medicine—and nothing else. You couldn't even buy a funny book!

“Cliffside School Changes Its Name” was the headline in the paper one day in May, 1927. The pupils of Cliffside High had voted to change the school's name to “The Charles H. Haynes High School.” Proving once again that inmates never have much say-so in running the asylum, officials promptly ignored the action.

Cliffside once had an 8-piece musical group named The Collins Orchestra. On Dec. 3, 1927, it became the first orchestra in Rutherford County to broadcast on the radio. It performed for half an hour on Sunday evening on WBT, Charlotte.

The last motion picture to be shown at the Cliffside Theater (before it was so unceremoniously abandoned) was “Dracula Has Risen From the Grave,” starring Christopher Lee. This, according to K.D. Scruggs, who was in attendance that night in 1970 or '71.

One of Forest City's popular movie theaters in the 1930s, the Romina, was named by its owner after his daughters—two Cliffside girls, Amanda and Rosa Mae Haynes.

In January of 1928, Cliffside opened its dry cleaning plant. It was called “Rutherford County Dry Cleaners and Dyers,” and was installed on Main Street in the long white building three doors up from the Memorial Building. That building, before the Memorial Building was erected, was used as a movie theater.

Back in the 1920s, the building that in later years housed the hardware store was the site of Cliffside Furniture Company, which had a “funeral department” that sold caskets and conducted funerals.

Until it was renumbered in 1933, our Main Street, the highway from Forest City to the state line, now known as "221A," was Highway 207. (It was a dirt road until the county “tarred and sanded” it in late 1926.) Also, the highway we know as US 74, was officially Highway 20 until it too was renumbered in 1933.

The engines of Cliffside Railroad could not be turned around; there was no turntable. They always faced the same direction, either pushing or pulling cars. If the train was going forward, it was headed toward Avondale. If going backward, it was returning to Cliffside.

Why several of Cliffside's Biggerstaff men were called “Pick?” Remember when “Pick” ran one of the barbershops in town? Well, his real name was Broadus Franklin Biggerstaff (1896-1954). His father, William Henry, was the original “Pick.” William Henry once made picker sticks for the fly-shuttle looms in the mill at Caroleen. Consequently, people began calling him “Picker Stick,” which was soon shortened to “Picker,” and then “Pick.” When William Henry passed on, Broadus Franklin, the barber, inherited the nickname. And upon his passing, his son Jack assumed the name.

In 1935, according to the house list, the Mills residence at 11 Main Street was described as having seven rooms. But the town map, drawn seven years later, has the number of rooms as 11. Do you suppose “11” was a mapmaker's error? Or do you think Charles H. Haynes, in hard times, authorized the addition of five more rooms to a building that housed a family of three? Doesn't sound like the Charlie Haynes I remember.

In the '35 house list, the Charles H. Haynes residence at 37 N. Main was omitted. And on the town map of 1942, the house was shown but its number of rooms was not given. Perhaps the desire for privacy was at play here. By and large, the rich don't advertise. Now it can be told: Before the house was demolished, Phillip White walked through it and counted the rooms. There were 17.

Manhole covers in the early days were square, not round. According to our California correspondent, R.G. Watkins, “there was a man hole at the rear, southwest corner of the Memorial Building with a very heavy cast iron cover. It had to be 'old' for it was square, and every time I had to lift it to turn off the steam going to Solon Smart's washerette, I was worried I'd drop it down into the pit and break pipes down there, or I'd drop that heavy thing on a finger or toe. Round man hole covers can not fall into the opening.”

From the very earliest years, downtown Cliffside had a central heating system. The boiler was located at the ice plant (so the operator could attend to both the boiler and the ice-making machinery). Steam was sent through underground (and some overground) pipes to the Memorial Building, and many stores and offices. [Thanks to Jim Haynes for this information.]

In an area between Academy Street and Riddles Creek, there were a number of hog pens. Anyone wishing to raise a pig or two as a food source could build themselves a new pen or appropriate a vacant one. The downside was, you had to visit the smelly site often to keep the curly-tailed darlings fed and watered. But the bacon, ham and sausage sure tasted good later.

The street that we all called “White Line” was, according to the 1942 town map, actually named West Avenue. And the road running up beside Haynes Grove Church, the colored church, was named Washington Way. (Its official name now is Washington Street.)

According to the 1935 list of households, and also the town map drawn in 1942, what many of us knew as River Street was actually named Riverside Street.

The small stream that runs between Valley and Academy Streets, and flows into the river just downstream from the dam is called Riddles Creek.

For many years there were two major bridges in Cliffside. The one that spanned the river on highway 221-A was always referred to, logically enough, as the “river bridge.” The other one, which led to Highway Street (or, as some of us called it, “Shelby Highway”) was called the “creek” bridge.

Over the years there have been four different locations for Cliffside's Haynes Bank: The first was in the mill office building. Later it was moved into the “store building,” in the space between the drugstore and the department store. In 1948 a standalone bank building was erected on North Main across from the Baptist church. In the 1970s, this was replaced by a new building near the spot where the dry cleaners used to stand.

For one year during World War I, Cliffside School had a woman principal. She was Miss Caroline Wright.

About 1914 electricity was installed in the homes of Cliffside. It was “on” only between 6:00pm and 6:00am. All chores using electric appliances, scarce as they were, had to be done at night.

For many years, up into the 1950s, the street lights in Cliffside were turned off at midnight.

Until the mid-1940s, many homes in Cliffside had no indoor plumbing. On most streets, there was a single water faucet located between every other house, shared by two families. Toilets were outdoors.

One of the busiest streets in Cliffside had no name. It was the street that passed between the store building and the Memorial Building, and wandered on down toward the old ice plant. (If you know otherwise, please let us know.)

Can you speak Cliffside?

Every region of the country has its own peculiar words, expressions and pronounciations. Somehow, we natives of the Cliffside area feel ours are particularly special. (At least special enough to list them alphabetically on a website.) We hope you'll submit your favorites by clicking here.

Word or Phrase	Meaning	Usage
A fine howdy-do	exasperated reaction to an unexpected or undesired circumstance	Now that's a fine howdy-do!
A piece	some distance	The old sawmill is down that road a piece.
Ain't got a lick a sense	stupid; foolish	Well, if he even thinks about marryin' her, he ain't got a lick a sense.
Ar	or	Who you gonna choose, him ar me?
Bad to	inclined to; has a propensity for	My uncle Bob was bad to drank.
Bedroom suit	bedroom suite	We bought a bedroom suit at Miller's Furniture.
Been a bein'	past condition	She ain't nearly as well as she's been a bein'.
Bless your heart	you/that poor thing	Well, bless your/her/his heart
Boogerman	the devil	You better be good or the boogerman will come git you.
Bring	be worth	What do you think that cow will bring at auction?
Car shed	garage	We keep our lawnmower out in the car shed.
Come across	find; discover	Holler if you come across my missing car keys.
Come up a storm (or shower)	storm will occur	Looks like it's about to come up a storm.
Continueds	movie serials	After the newsreel and the cartoon they showed a continued.
Cow horns will hook, doesn't believe	Unrealistic, not in touch with reality	He doesn't believe cow horns will hook.
Cut out the light	turn off the light	Wish you'd cut out the light so I can git to sleep.
Dibs	baby chicks	I bought me a dozen of them dibs at the hardware store.
Dinner	lunch	We'll eat dinner right after the 11:00am church service.
Directly	after a while	She'll be along directly.
Dope	soft drink	I'm gonna drank me a dope.
Drive ... in the ground like a stob!	humorous threat	You keep foolin' with me, I'll drive you .....etc.
Eh, law	oh, well; too bad; alas	Eh, law. He'll end up in prison, you wait and see.
Ellenber	Ellenboro	Jimmy Sparks lives up 'air not too far from Ellenber.
Evenin'	afternoon	He'll be here about two o'clock this evenin'.
Fall of the year	fall; autumn	Last time I saw him was in the fall of the year.
Far	fire	Put another log on the far.
Far board	fire board; mantel	Got a cigarette? I left mine on the far board back at the house.
Far City	Forest City	I think he lives in Far City.
Fell off	lost weight	You have fell off since the last time I saw you.
Futher	farther, further. To avoid confusion about which word to use, we adopted a hybrid word to fit all occasions.	And futhermore, you'll find that the ocean is futher away than you think.
Git a wheel	Tear off in a car, spinning the wheels	Everytime he takes off in his Thunderbird, he gits a wheel.
Going to the store	going shopping	I'll be back after 'while, I'm going to the store.
Git Gone	Leave, be missing	I'll put off sweeping the porch 'til y'all git gone.
Granny woman	haggard old lady	Pore Hattie, in the past few months she's come to look like a granny woman.
Hard	hired	Cliffside Mills hard me on the day after Christmas.
Hawg-killin' time	cold weather	You know, I believe it's hawg-killin' time.
Heck far	mild expletive	Well, heck far, I never seen the like!
Hen aigs	eggs	We gonna dye some hen aigs at Easter.
Henretter	Henrietta	She's the purtiest girl in Henretter.
Hep	help	I can't hep it, but I'm still in love with you.
Here 'while back	some time ago. Not as long ago as 'way back yonder, but prior to some date in the last week or two.	I run into him in Far City here 'while back and he was wearing 'at new wooden laig.
Hickory	a thin tree limb, two to three feet in length, used, as punishment, to whip a child's bare legs. Also called a "switch" or a "hickory switch."	The teacher whipped me with her hickory.
Hind end	posterior, butt	I wish somebody'd kick him in the hind end.
Hisself	himself	Ernest got hisself a new Studebaker.
Hoodoo	fool, deceive	Don't you try to hoodoo me!
Humdinger	special or unique individual or thing	'At '55 Chevy I got is a humdinger.
I declare	good heavens, my stars	Well, I declare, I ain't never seen nothing like 'at!
Idey	idea	I ain't got no idey.
I'll be doggone	my heavens; I swear; I can't believe it	I'll be doggone, he run off with that hussy.
Jeet?	Did you eat?	Jeet yit?
Jerk a knot in ... tail	punish, straighten out	If he keeps that up, Mr. Beatty will jerk a knot in his tail.
Kingdom come	end of time	It will last til kingdom come.
Knowed	knew	Hung hisself, eh? I never knowed him to do that before.
'Light and come in	alight (from your conveyance) and enter our home	Why don't y'all 'light and come in? (Undoubtedly a term carried over from "horse and buggy" days, when one would alight (come down) from a carriage or stage coach.
Loaf bread	white bread	Put a slice of baloney between two slices of loaf bread.
M'daddy	my father (pronounced MUH-DADDY')	That old reed hook belonged to m'daddy.
Mess	portion, quantity	She picked her a mess of poke sallit.
Moseber	Mooresboro	Grandma is buried in Sandy Run cemetery over at Moseber.
Nanner pudd'n	banana pudding	I'm saving room for some of that nanner pudd'n.
No 'count	worthless	Since my health turned bad, I jist ain't been no 'count.
Of a mornin'	mornings, on mornings	I always enjoy the sunrise of a mornin'.
Old as the hills	really old	Grandma is old as the hills.
Orten to	ought not	You orten to do that.
Outta whack	undone, broken	The links on this page are outta whack.
Paper poke	paper bag	She put my groceries in a paper poke.
Piccolo	juke box	Why don't you play somethin' on the piccolo?
Piled up in the bed	be, remain, in bed	I went over there at dinner time and he was still piled up in the bed.
Pitch a fit	express displeasure	When my sister came home late, Mama pitched a fit.
Pizzle-sprung	exhausted, tard, wore to a frazzle	I tell you, after following that mule around all day, I'm just pizzle-sprung.
Pore	underweight; skinny	Since she had her operation, she's pore as a snake.
Puttin' on the dog	being uppity	Look at that hat he's wearing, ain't he puttin' on the dog?
Quare	peculiar	He's a quare one.
Red as a gobbler's snout	florid	His face was red as a gobbler's snout.
Rinch	rinse	Rinch the soap offa your hands!
Rite smart	a lot, a goodly amount	There's rite smart a cotton left in the field.
Roas'n'ears	roasting ears	Go down to the corn field and pick us a sackful a roas'n'ears.
Rulfton	Rutherfordton	You wanna ride with me up to Rulfton?
Scarce as hens' teeth	in short supply	Snuff dippers are gittin' scarce as hens' teeth.
Show, or picture show	movies, movie theater	Let's go to the show tomorrow night.
Squallin'	crying	She left the room just a squallin'.
Standin'	shut down	The mill is standin' this week.
Straight shot	direct route	You jist turn left right down air and it's a straight shot to Chesnee.
Suit a clothes	suit	I put on my best suit a clothes.
Sweet milk	milk	I love corn bread crumbled up in a glass a' sweet milk.
Tard	tired	I can't get up, I'm too tard.
Tater	potato	Most years we store our taters under the house where the pigs can't git to 'em.
The house	home	I gotta git along to the house.
They	buildup to an exclamation	They, hellfar! He's gonna kill hisself.
Tight as Dick's hat band	stingy; miserly	Don't count on him paying that high a price, he's tight as Dick's hat band.
T'mar	tomorrow	I cain't thank about that today, I'll thank about it t'mar.
Toenails	cashew nuts	When Tommy Hamrick and his daddy went to Spindale they bought some toenails.
Tote	Carry	How 'bout totin' this anvil? My arms are tard.
'Way back yonder	years ago; long ago	Grandpa bought that mule 'way back yonder.
Whuppin'	whipping	You better behave or you'll get a whuppin'.
Wore to a frazzle	exhausted	After climbin' 'at hill, I'm jist wore to a frazzle.
Yore	your	Is 'at yore coat?
You'nses	yours	Is that little shoat one of you'nses?