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Apple orchard preserves Appalachian history |
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Tuesday, 23 October 2007 |
by ALLISON CASEY
Lifestyles Reporter
Varieties of red and green apples dot the trees as orange and purple butterflies flutter along the flowers, while a local bluegrass player strums his banjo in the background.
Located in Spruce Pine on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Historic Orchard at Altapass was given its name by the railroad “Alta” meaning high and “pass” after the McKinney Gap.
“We started off thinking ‘how hard can it be to grow apples?’” said William D. Carson, the orchard proprietor. “Well, this isn’t a green thumb.”
Carson worked as a rocket scientist for 32 years, helping to create
global positioning systems and put astronauts in space, before retiring
in 1993.
Growing apples on the property is extremely difficult because of the mountain terrain.
“It’s expensive and dangerous,” he said. “It’s an inefficient orchard.
It will never be economically viable. Our main function is historic
preservation.”
The orchard became a non-profit organization to combat its financial instability.
 Orchard employee Charlotte Edwards (l) weighs fudge for customer Steve Hardesty (r) of Little Switzerland. In making the fudge, Edwards claims, “I took all the calories out [of the fudge] and put love in its place.” Photo by Derek DeSha
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Despite the difficulties associated with mountain-side farming, the
Orchard at Altapass grows 40 different kinds of apples using a minimal
amount of chemical spray.
“We encourage people to come and sample them,” Carson said. “They do
have blemishes, so people who come looking for the perfect apple aren’t
going to find it. But then they taste them!”
Run entirely by volunteers, the property has a wide variety of activities.
Inside, the orchard shop offers freshly made fudge, ice cream, jams and local art.
Visitors can stroll through the butterfly gardens and tag and release
monarch butterflies. On the weekends, an herbalist gives lectures and
tours of the various herb gardens.
The property also hosts weddings and memorial services.
After being sold in 1925, the property passed through the hands of
private owners until 1994 when Carson’s sister, Kit Trubey, found an
advertisement for the property while flipping through the local paper.
Afraid developers would buy the land, Trubey made the call just three hours after finding the advertisement.
Using insurance money she received in her husband’s death, Trubey
decided to purchase the land to do something special with it in his
honor.
The realtor, who had been out of the office most of the day, happened
to walk into the room as the phone rang and answered Trubey’s call.
He later checked his messages to discover four calls from developers in the time he was gone.
Soon after purchasing the property, the orchard’s rich history began to reveal itself to the proprietors.
Harley Jolly, a local historian, told Carson they had purchased one of
the most historically active places in Western North Carolina.
In 1908, the orchard property was part of the Clinchfield Railroad’s
“Clinchfield Loops,” as one of the best crossings in the Blue Ridge
Mountains with 18 tunnels and 13 miles of track at a one percent grade.
“At the time, the only way to get the apples out was through the railroad so it was good marketing.” Carson said.
A good, low spot between the Toe and Catawba rivers, the orchard employed 4,000 immigrants.
Altapass is on the record books for receiving around 22 inches of rain
in a 24-hour period in 1916 during two hurricanes and the worst
disaster in Western North Carolina history.
“People got carried away, a lot of them children,” he said. “It was a time of heroism and tragedy.”
Carson said he uses this story to bring a perspective to the level of difficulty of life in the mountains.
Today, the orchard exists as a thriving place of life and culture.
Every year on Sept. 28, the orchard hosts a re-enactment of the march
to Kings Mountain by the “Over Mountain Men,” a battle that changed the
course of the American Revolution.
“I haven’t counted, but about a ‘bazillion’ school kids come through here,” Carson said. “Mostly first and fourth graders.”
He often takes them out to see the grave of Charlie McKinney, a settler buried on the property for which McKinney Gap is named.
McKinney lived in the area with his four wives and 48 children.
Every Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday, free music performances can be
heard coming from the property while locals dance under a sign that
says, “Dance like no one is watching!”
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