Remember Cliffside

From time to time, we get corrections or clarifications to the content of this website. We'll put those updates here. Click on the paragraph heading to view the page containing the original reference. The update will appear at the bottom of the page.

Raymond Lindsey's Combinators (Photo of the Month, June 2012) - Ellen Huskey identifies one of the Combinators.

Daddy and His Doffers, Photo in “Faces At The Mill” gallery - Boy identified.

Buzzards Roost (Photo of the Month, November 2010) - There's more to this buzzard story than we initially knew about. They're everywhere!

Field on Fire (Photo of the Month, November 2009) - Myles Haynes adds a colorful sidebar to the train-fire story.

“Which Side Are You On?” - In an article on the strikers' march on Cliffside Mill in 1934, we wondered about the identity of one of the men arrested for trespass and other charges. Buzz Biggerstaff advises us that the man, identified in the court documents as “Pick” Biggerstaff, was not Buzz's father, but another man.

The W.T. Grady Family Band - The last surviving member of the family, who was interviewed for this story, has died.

Engine 110 (Photo of the Month, February 2008) - Myles Haynes and Ben Honeycutt have confirmed the location and purpose of the building shown behind the locomotive.

Snowy Suburb (Photo of the Month, January 2008) - Where was this photo—of a lonesome, snowy landscape— taken? We've had a handful of readers who are, 86 years later, pretty sure they know the answer. Go to page and scroll down.

Cliffside Man Kills Wife and Shoots Self - What happened to George Tate after he shot himself? Did he die? Did he survive and go to prison? These questions nagged Johnnie Tate Holland, whose husband Ray is a grandson of George and Sallie Morris Tate.Go to story and click on See Updates.

Over There - We've heard from Bob (Robert Hoyle Elliott), a Forest City native. Bob is the son of Hoyle Elliott, brother to Robert Cone, the World War I soldier talked about in the articles. Go to the bottom of the page and read the update.

Dam Maintenance - More information has arrived about the dam being repaired, including activity as recently as December 2006.

Cliffside Sketches - Sam Hill died on Thursday, November 2, 2006, at age 79. There's a “See update” link at the top of his page in Sketches.

Dam Maintenance - In our article on the deterioration of the wooden top of the dam at the old Cliffside Mill, we speculated that it had not been repaired since the '70s. Not so, says Ron Arrowood, who, every day for 27 years, could look out from his job in the machine shop and see the dam. Go to the article and scroll down to the update.

Cliffside Commerce (Photo of the Month, June 2006) - Eloise Whisnant-Fuleihan of Henrietta believes one of the men in the truck is her late grandfather, Dr. J. F. Whisnant, area dentist. See the footnote.

Cliffside Commerce (Photo of the Month, June 2006) - Richard Mauney of Mooresville, N. C., tells us a lot about the old truck in the photo. Go to the article and scroll down to the update. Also there's a nice letter from Richard, formerly a Rutherford County native in Reader Comments.

Family Stories - Ruth Wilkins Camp - Shortly after this article was written, Mrs. Camp’s heart problems returned. In early March of 2006 she once again entered hospice care; she died on April 10. We've appended to the original article her obituary and a beautiful comment from the Guest Book. Go to the article and scroll down to the update.

Old Trestle (Photo of the Month, May 2005) - We scratched our heads long and hard about the Cliffside Railroad trestle across the river near Henrietta. Why would it have been built when the Henrietta Mill was on the same side of the river as main line of the railroad? A reader has provided the answer, which was right under our noses all the time. There were plans to build a second Henrietta mill on the western side of the river. (Also see the Photo of the Month, September 2005.)

Black Bear Trail - We've received another artifact testifying to the existence of the trail. It's a postcard from 1936 showing a quaint photo of a 1920s auto creeping along the segment of the (unpaved) trail between Blowing Rock and Boone. Or jump directly to the story referenced by the update.

“Chasing History is Hard Work” - On September 30, 2005, in the article about the problems with accuracy in identifying old photos, we speculated about the identities of people standing at a grave site. We immediately got word from a reader that one of the girls in the photo was his mother. Go to the bottom of the article and read the update

“Old Cliffside's” New Owners - On Oct. 24, 2004 we reported on the acquisition of the mill properties and the Main Street area of Cliffside by new owners. We failed to include another acquisition that had previously occurred, the purchase of the old Baptist church building. Go to the article and scroll down to the update.

Black Bear Trail - The puzzle pieces are coming together about the trail. Turns out, the Black Bear Trail Association membership included some Cliffside people. Go to the article and scroll down.

Old Trestle (Photo of the Month, May 2005) - Mike Buckelew has a thought about which way the camera is pointing, and Myles Haynes wonders why they built the trestle in the first place. It's his contention they didn't need to cross the river to get to the Henrietta mill.

Jim's Cabin (Photo of the Month, July 2004) - Jeri Padgett Conner, Jim's great granddaughter, wants to set the record straight about Jim being “something of a hermit.” For this and other information about Jim and his family, go to the article and scroll down.

Cliffside Man Kills Wife - In a Guestbook entry, Frances McMurray Houser reported that her mother was a witness to this incident, and speculated that, if it were a weekday, her mother, then a 16-year-old student, must have been playing hooky from school. Maybe not. Go to the article and click the “See update” button.

Fair Exhibit (Photo of the Month, July 2003) - The photo taken in the 1920s shows two young woman in a Cliffside Mills booth at the Cleveland County Fair. Don Bailey may have discovered their identities.

Glenn Head Accident - In Sam Davis' Flashback on Glenn Head driving into the pond, we've added a photo of the car being towed from the river. Courtesy Nell Flo Head.

Picture of the Month (“Buddies,” May 2004) - From Rebecca McCraw of Matthews, N. C.: “I believe we may have an answer to your question regarding the photo of the month. Attached is a photo of my husband's great-great grandfather, John C. McCraw, longtime resident of the Cliffside area. What do you think? I believe he is younger in our photo but notice the hands and the droop to his right eye. I would love to know who his [older] companion is. I know that [John] was very close to his brother Chesley, with whom he fought in the Civil War, and they do seem to resemble one another.”

Man with a Bird (#cgw047) - Charles F. Moore posed with a large bird sometime in the early 1920s. We've established that it was an eagle that was shot and stuffed in 1920 then sat on a perch for over half a century in the library in the Memorial Building. The old raptor still “lives”—in the conference room at the new mill. Look here for the full story.

Picture of the Month (“Snowy Alley,” Feb. 2004) - From Phillip White: “The later versions of the parking barricades made of concrete and metal rebar were commonly referred to as "sputniks" by some of the mill officials. I believe Mr. Bearden was in charge at the time. When he left one of the first things done was to remove all the sputkniks and bury them in a dump.”

Little Building (Remember That?) - 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."

Big Parade (Photo of the Month) - From Jim Haynes: “A while back I was looking through the 1910 Cliffside census and spotted the Rubin McBrayer family on N. Main Street. I have been friends with this man's son and grandsons for many years. I remembered R. B. (the son) telling me that he was born in Cliffside and that his dad managed a store there.

“I made copies of this part of the census and mailed it to both grandsons. A while later one of them, Blanton, wrote to thank me for the copies and enclosed a copy of the picture of the month on your web site. He wrote, 'Just a word about the [photo on the web site]. I have the original photo. The copy on the web came from the picture I have here. Bill McArthur usually comes by our store once or twice a week and throughout the years he has been a camera and photo buff. I let him take our copy of the picture and he made us several copies.'

“Here is the good part:'The [original] picture came from a house up the street from our home [in Forest City]. My granddaughter Kelly bought this house several months ago. Her father, my oldest son Mac, is a house builder, and is in the process of remodeling the home, Mac found the picture, brought it down to our house and asked if I knew what it was. I told him I did not know, but it looked a whole lot like Cliffside in the early days that I remembered. I brought the picture up to the store to asked other old timers, and most of them said it was Cliffside, but did not know what event was taken place. When I get a chance, I am going to ask the lady who lived in the house before Kelly bought it if she or someone in her family knows anything about the picture. If they do and let me know, I will write and let you know.'

“This just goes to shows that you do not know what you miss if you don't ask the question. I just thought you would like to know, as Paul Harvey says, the rest of the story.

“Rubin Mc Brayer left Cliffside and went to Forest City and opened a furniture store some time after 1910. When I met his grandson, Blanton, Rubin was still coming to the store every day, but his son R.B. and wife were running the store. Blanton, their oldest son, worked on Saturdays. Now Blanton and Eddie, his brother, still go to the store every day, but their kids are running things. This is a fourth generation family business still in the same building where Rubin started about 85 or 90 years ago (on Main Street in Forest City next to Ron & Eddy's Cafe). Their customers are still the sons and grandsons of their original customers.”

Clock's New Home - From Sam Davis: “After the clock works were removed from the Memorial Building tower, the next step was to bring down the clock frame itself. They had the town blocked off and had a bulldozer with cables hooked to the clock frame. Several people were at the old church and I was one of them, to watch the old town clock tower fall. Well, we all waited for a good while for this to take place and when they finally did pull at the old clock frame, I guess maybe 10 bricks came off and that's all. The old tower didn't want to go. When we saw it wasn't going anywhere, we all left. I don't know how they tore it down but they didn't do it with a bulldozer that's for sure (not that day anyway). That was the last time I saw G.C. Fisher alive; JD Johnson was also there that day. For some reason nobody in the crowd had a camera. If we had only known.”

Drink Haynes Cola - You've seen the rolling advertisement for his product that Robert E. Haynes devised. Now we've found an article announcing the startup of his company in Rutherfordton in 1905. Just follow the links.

Wonderful Operation - Surely you recall Mrs. L. L. Surratt, whose gall bladder operation we chronicled in the "Cliffside in 1910" section. Well, we've discovered she survived another 14 years, to age 79. Her obituary, which we've appended to the article, appeared in the Dec. 4th, 1924 Spartanburg Herald.

Celebration Time - Lula Goode Humphries says when she was nine or ten years old (about 1918), John Phillip Sousa and his band indeed came to town and performed at the exact place shown in the photograph. She remembers going barefoot and standing in the crowd. Whether the occasion captured in the photo and the one she remembers are the same, she can't say.

March 2003 Photo of the Month - We've learned the identity of the “Lady On The Street.” It is not Una Edwards as we guessed. We heard from Maurice (“Marny”) Hendrick and his sister Susan, children of Harry Hendrick and grandchildren of Maurice Hendrick, for many years general manager of Cliffside Mills. “She is our grandmother, Lela McFarland Hendrick, who was born in the Westminster community on January 21st, 1894. That picture is of her when she worked in the mill store. The scissors hanging from her waist is what she used to cut ribbon and fabric. While she was working at the store she met our grandfather, Maurice Hendrick, and they later married (on top of Chimney Rock!) The picture was probably made between 1912 and 1914 because her family lived in Cliffside during those years.”

Jet Crash - Apparently we've misidentified all that sheet metal in our Odds & Ends item called “Jet Crash.” David L. Taylor writes: “That is the picture of the top of the water tank that blew off. I know because I was there. I saw it blow off.” He did not provide the date or circumstances.

Amos Owens - Since publishing the 1903 news article mentioning a man named Amos Owens (and professing ignorance as to who he was) we've received information about him from two sources. One was R. G. Watkins; Gary Hunt was the other. Amos Owens, we've learned, was a well-known “distiller” (moonshiner) in Rutherford County in the late 1800's. Click here to read the information Gary Hunt provided. (According to Bill Floyd's cemetery website, a grave stone exists in Walls Baptist Cemetery for “Amos W. Owens, CSA,” but bears no dates. This is likely our man.)

The Hames Studio — As to the whereabouts of the studio: our old friend J. D. (“Dugan”) Johnson remembers that, in the mid-1930s, Will Hames maintained a studio in his home on River Street, just a few houses south of the river bridge.

Women at the Pumpl — From Jim Haynes: “I think this well was at Reservoir and North Main Street by the Methodist Parsonage. My brother Bob was born in the house next door at 56 North Main in 1927 (the place you and I know as the Shine Freeman house).” Lula Goode Humphries also remembers the pump being on Reservoir Street.

The Foot Bridge — Several have responded about the location of the footbridge. It was located just east of the Methodist Church and spanned the creek to Academy Street. The house on the hill in the background is on Highland. In earlier times, before erection of the more modern creek bridge we remember, the footbridge in the photo was somewhat wider, and was used for all traffic, pedestrian, buggy and auto.

The Oil Man — For months we've wanted an identity for #159, whom we've taken to calling “The Oil Man.” Recently Don Bailey wrote that he has found a copy of this picture among his effects. On the back, in Don's uncle Clayton Scruggs' handwriting, is this notation: “Boss Scruggs last night he worked.” (Putting two and two together, we've decided that the first man in the last row of picture #877 is the same man.) What was Boss' real name? Ben Humphries found Boss in an old census. He was listed as “James B. Scruggs,” so maybe Boss is his real (middle) name. Anyone?

Management Group photo — Revised identification list. Had previously stated (incorrectly) that only five managers in group were from Cliffside; rest from other Cone plants. Buzz Biggerstaff has provided us with definite ID of every individual in group. All were from Cliffside.

Cliffside Mills Store — R.G. Watkins remembers the entry to the “company” store was in front of the building where it was a “dry goods store.” The dry goods section continued all the way to the rear of the building. Near the rear you could turn left, where it became a grocery store that ran all the way to the side entrance, where later the Miller Furniture store was housed. Between the furniture store location and the rear of the drug store there was an open space, which had a wide flight of stairs to the second floor where the Mason Hall was located. The county use to send a nurse around every summer. She used that open space to give “free shots” to one and all.

Celebration Time — Was that man John Phillip Sousa? No, according to Jim Haynes, grandson of Robert Edgar Haynes (son of R.R. Haynes). Jim thinks the man in uniform addressing the crowd is Barron P. Caldwell (1882-1952), husband of RRH's daughter Virginia. Caldwell was Superintendent of Cliffside School in the early days. It's told that, on special occasions, he would wear his WWI army uniform to school.

The Goat Man — Our article about this eccentric who traveled through Cliffside was read with interest by Bobbie Quarles, who remembered the same man coming through her home town, Lexington, S.C., about 50 years ago. Bobbie did a search and sent us a couple of internet links that reveal the Goat Man's actual identity. Seems he was as weird as we thought. See Goat Man, the Legend Lives On and Legendary Traveler Not Easily Forgotten.

Women's mill uniforms — Through Dan Wortman, we hear from his mother, Maude, that women had to buy, at their own expense, the blue chambray material from the cloth store (beside the drugstore). Using a common pattern, the women either had to make their own dresses, or hire someone else to make them. It's still not clear if only the women in the finishing plant had to wear the uniforms, or whether the rule was standard throughout the mill. If anyone can straighten us out on that, please do.

Shaw Biggerstaff for County Commissioner — Colleen Biggerstaff, widow of Odell, points out in our Guest Book that it was not Shaw who ran for the office, as we stated on one of the train picture pages; the candidate was Joe (or “Jobie,” as we knew him), who at one time operated the dry cleaners. Jobie and Shaw were both nephews of Odell.

Those small white structures alongside the mill — We've heard from both Myles Haynes, Jr. and R.G. Watkins that these little buildings held fire-fighting equipment: hoses, nozzles, axes, etc.

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