Archives: Galleries

Parade Float

Were you in Cliffside that year? You might even have been IN the parade. It started somewhere up Shelby Highway, came across the creek bridge, went up the hill and through town, then up N. Main, probably to the school. Those were the days. Enjoy a couple dozen photos of that semi-memorable event, provided by Sherry Harris Phelps.

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures! There are 114 of them, all made by Frances (Mrs. Jim) Callahan in the late ’30s and early ’40s. The collection is a nostalgic review of how we livedin those troubling times. Thanks to Riley Callahan, son of Frances, for contributing these wonderful photos.

Some members of the Cliffside Historical Bunch in Jan. 2004 went on a farewell tour of the old mill. Fortunately they remembered to take along a camera.

Every year for decades the seniors of Cliffside and retirees of Cone Mills have been given a special Thanksgiving program and luncheon at the school, sponsored by the Company. Now, the Company, for the most part, no longer exists, so whether these annual gatherings will continue is open to question. This year our loyal photography staff was able to capture nearly every attendee in 99 photos.

Finally, we’ve completed all three galleries (130 striking photos) of the remarkable model by Jim Scancarelli. It emerged from Jim’s imagination, but was inspired by Cliffside.

We’ve revised the Scenes section (merging Galleries II and III) and created a new Gallery III with 39 terrific photos. It’ll keep you busy for hours and hours.

In the ’60s, as the mill houses became vacant (and eyesores), some were intentionally burned by the Cliffside Fire Department. Sounds wasteful but most of these old dwellings were not worth the gas it took to burn them down.

Photographer W.E. Hames documented the very early days of Cliffside. Here is some of his work.

There’s a significant addition to the World War II section, another 1944 scrapbook from Juanita Crawford McNabb to a serviceman, her brother Ralph “Spud” Crawford. There are 100 photos and 114 individuals from the early 1940s, all indexed for your convenience.

It was a wonderful event [on October 9, 2009]. Over 100 gathered for talks and stories about Mr. H. C. Beatty, and the presentation of a plaque to the sons of Eugene Lipscomb, for their father’s many years of “dedication, commitment and craftsmanship in the physical development of the town of Cliffside.”

We have 16 new photos in the Haynes Gallery, contributed by Betty Shull Griffin, granddaughter of R.R. Haynes. In this lovely old picture, that’s her aunt Virginia Haynes about 1916. She was about to become Mrs. Barron Caldwell. These new photos begin on page 7 of the gallery.

You keep those priceless photos coming, thank goodness. Here are 60 more pictures of your friends, neighbors and relatives from several generations. (Some were thoughtful enough to pose in front of their outhouse!)

An array of 23 compelling photos from Cliffside’s first decades, mostly from Blanche Edwards Campbell’s collection.

You’ll enjoy these 21 photos of members of Cliffside churches made over the decades, particularly the one shown here, from a 1942 Baptist revival. You can zoom in for closeups and read the names of all 118 people.

On Saturday, October 12, 2002, close to 1000 natives and friends of Cliffside gathered for the first annual Cliffside Remembrance Day. All day, up and down blocked-off Main Street, folks enjoyed antique cars, old pictures, entertainment by several musical groups, hayride tours, refreshments-and each other.

Pony

Caution: this gallery includes, along with ponies, several goat-like animals pulling small wagons containing children.

Cliffside was in physical turmoil in the late 1960’s when a large swath of its streets were carved away for a bypass, a new bridge was built and two were demolished. It changed forever the character of the Cliffside we had known. Here are 32 photos from the Roy Lee Harris collection.

The demolition project at the old mill is in its final stage, and things are progressing nicely. See an album of 40 exclusive photos of the current state of the mill site.

For the third time in over 150 years, the old cabin that was R. R. Hayne’s birthplace has been moved, this time from the side yard of Janice and Marc Swing’s former home in Cliffside Estates to the back yard of their future home on Main Street.

We’re lucky to have found a dozen color photos of the Memorial Building being demolished, and the Haynes Memorial Tower being constructed.

On the street In the Society’s archives we’ve found a number of old photos made in and around Forest City about 100 years ago. Here’s a gallery of a dozen of them.

Mr. Garmon Barnes

It looked like a tropical storm might drown out this year’s event, but the skies brightened and lots of fun was had by all. We’ve got the story and pictures of some of the people who were there, and of the raging river, in the site’s very first video clip.

Autumn came and another year had gone by. Many of us came back to renew our ties to the old town. Here are 30 photos of some of those who returned.

On Oct. 11—and on the 18th—the 2nd annual Remember Cliffside Day was held. Because the 11th was such a dreary day, the Masons decided to repeat it the following week. Anyhow, here are 92 photos of many of those who attended.

On Sunday, May 11, Cliffside natives of all ages observed Memorial Day and celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Baptist Church. Many of them were photographed. See the evidence-43 photos-in the new gallery.

They “drew” the pondin December, in order to repair the gates that control the water flow to the power house. James Harris made a sequence of terrific photos of the area and we chose 30 of them for an animated Flash slideshow with music.

…but not too far back. We’ve assembled the work of six photographers during the 2005 demolition of the old Cliffside Mill. It’s a six-minute movie on YouTube’s Remember Cliffside channel.

The owners of the old mill are now generating hydro power, using pond water to turn the turbines, and the low water level affords us a different view of the dam site.