Projects Timeline

Historic Preservation Committee's Yearly Projects

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  • The filming of The Historic Schools of Bethel video project began in 2016 and will conclude this year. Videographer Doug Chambers and Historic Preservation Committee Chair Evelyn Coltman visited houses, schools, churches, pastures, and other settings to interview and record individuals whose special knowledge allows us to capture Bethel’s unique educational history.
  • Videographer Doug Chambers retrieved filming sessions by the late Reverend Bill Terrell, and the Historic Preservation Committee presented those to the Terrell family in memory of a valued member of the committee.
  • The committee exchanged emails and participated in a conference call with NCDOT bridge, highway, and preservation officials to discuss the fate of Truss Bridge #246 – one of only ten remaining Pratt through truss bridges in the state and one of two in Haywood County. Both are located in Bethel. NCDOT indicated that the bridge will be replaced because its restoration would require too much expense, and expense for upkeep would have to be turned over to Haywood County. NCDOT considered that it had saved one historic bridge but was unwilling to save another – even though one of its historians indicated that it was National Register of Historic Places worthy.
  • Having discovered the location of the County Home Cemetery in 2023, the committee realized that there is a dispute about the status of the small cemetery plot that was the final resting place of deceased individuals who had resided at the county’s “poor folks home” that existed in Bethel from 1911-1952. The current owner of the property surrounding the cemetery believes that all remains were relocated in the 1980s. County Commissioner, Kevin Ensley, is also a surveyor and considers that the remains may not have been removed. Neighboring county governments, Jackson and Buncombe, have restored their County Home Cemeteries and are attempting to document remains. The committee believes that that type of consideration for the Haywood County Home Cemetery is appropriate. We consulted with Melissa Timo, Historic Cemetery Specialist with the Office of State Archaeology, concerning appropriate action for our committee to take regarding the cemetery.
  • Historic Preservation Committee member, Roxie Billings, is conducting genealogical research about the twenty-eight known people who are/were buried at the County Home Cemetery.
  • The committee is beginning to research the topic, “Murders in Bethel.” Member Cheryl Haney has uncovered several murders that occurred in the Sunburst logging village. Roxie Billings has uncovered a murder that has ties to a County Home Cemetery resident, as well as another murder connected to a teacher while the first Superintendent of Public Schools who was from Bethel, the Reverend R. A. Sentelle, was present.
  • The committee will continue to investigate the Bud Miller murder by James Sheffield that occurred in the Ark Park section of Bethel in the early 1930s.
  • The family of the 2022 recipient of the Pigeon Valley Award for Historic Preservation, Mack Ledbetter, donated Ledbetter’s book of photos about Sunburst to the committee. The group has framed “Sunburst Surround” which is added to the website and to the dining hall gallery
  • Phyllis Vance and the Canton Area Historical Museum donated two 1920s era photographs of Garden Creek School students at the schoolhouse that existed off Lindsey Drive in the Center Pigeon section of Bethel. The Garden Creek surround photo is added to the website and to the dining hall gallery.
  • Videographer Doug Chambers filmed a session with John Denton, Carroll Jones, and Phyllis Vance about the history of Garden Creek School that existed from 1916-1933. Prior to the filming, several individuals had searched for years to find the location of the school.
  • Doug Chambers filmed students from Bethel Middle School band and chorus. Their rendition of the “A-B-C Song” and “Bethel the Beautiful” will provide transition between filming segments in the Historic Schools of Bethel video.
  • Doug Chambers filmed Wanda Matthews Taylor discussing the transition from Bethel High School to Pisgah as a member of the first graduating class at Pisgah High School.
  • Peter Geier participated in a filming session at SOAR (Success Oriented Achievement Realized) Academy in Hazelwood. The original school (Lake Logan Academy that became Summit Academy) began in Bethel in the 1980s. BRCO continues to search for the location of the original school site. BRCO continues to search for the location of the original school site. (delete this sentence) After years of searching for the location of this school, the HP Committee located it on McClure’s Creek at the home of Bill and Karen Hollingshed. A filming at the house featured Shelia Sumpter who relayed details about the historic school for children with learning disabilities.
  • Mike McLean and Evelyn Coltman presented a program to the Saunook Community Organization about the Historic Preservation Committee’s Sunburst DVD.
  • Mike McLean presented a program at a Waynesville Township High School class reunion about BRCO’s Sunburst DVD.
  • Steven Tingle is included in the “Bethel Writers and Media Contributors” portion of the website under the “About Bethel Community” header. Tingle’s family lived at what is today’s Springdale Country Club while his parents were overseers. Tingle is a South Carolina journalist, freelance writer specializing in travel, style and drink, and a novelist. He is a member of the Authors Guild, International Thriller Writers, and Myster Writers of America. His first novel, Graveyard Fields, is set in Cruso.
  • Another writer, though not from Bethel, has included Bethel banjo players in his book: Making Music: The Banjo in a Southern Appalachian County. Dr. William C. Allsbrook, Jr., has compiled a scholarly account of all banjo players from Haywood County.
  • Stephanie Quis Garrett completed a colored pencil drawing of the Pigeon Gap Watering Hole. Quis Garrett was selected as the artist during a competition. The painting is added to the website and to the dining hall gallery.
  • Peter Constantion, former minister at the church, donated a copy of his painting of Long’s United Methodist Church on Coffee Branch Road to the art print collection. The painting is added to the website and to the dining hall gallery.
  • Tropical Storm Fred damaged BRCO’s local historic marker of Lenoir’s Creek Devon Cattle Farm on Highway #276 on the way to Cruso. HP Committee member, Mike Clark, funded a new sign, and Ted Carr and Charles Rowe erected the new marker. To commemorate the new signage, the HP Committee contacted Lenoir family descendants, slave descendants, and caretaker descendants to meet for a gathering to honor their previous connection to the land. Members of the three cultural groups participated in a filming session in which they recorded information about their shared heritage. They also visited Bethel Community Cemetery to view the likely graves of their ancestors.
  • Thanks to Pansy Cochran Blalock’s family, BRCO has copies of Blalock’s books: Ma’s Memories as Recorded by Pansy Blalock and A Gift of Memories from Grandma in which she relays details about her growing up years in a more bucolic era. She lived in numerous locations, including several in Bethel. The family has granted permission, and reprinting her book will be on next year’s agenda.
  • Thanks to the Doris Rollins Cannon family, BRCO has copies of Cannon’s book: Class Act – The Story of Bethel High School Class of 1953, Haywood County, NC. Rollins is known for her publications, Cold Mountain Bomber Crash: The Enduring Legacy and Grabtown Girl: Ava Gardner’s North Carolina Childhood and her Enduring Ties to Home. The family has donated the books to BRCO. BRCO’s website contains order information.
  • The HP Committee reviewed writings of former Bethel resident, Kin McNeil, regarding moonshining (blockading), blockade running, and bootlegging. McNeil’s article relays details about techniques they adopted to evade the law.
  • Thanks to the research and contributions of several HP members, we have a thorough list of all of the schools and camps that have existed in Bethel: “Historic Schools of Bethel and Cruso Timeline” is listed under the “About Bethel Community” header on the website.
  • BRCO’s Beautification, HP, and Rural Preservation Committees coordinated with Morning Star United Methodist Church’s summer enrichment camp of first and second graders to offer a tour of the community center sanctuary and participate in a “What is History?” and “What is Ecology?” session at the community center.
  • An update of the “Historic Post Offices in Bethel and Cruso” added oral history about the Blaylock House Post Office that existed briefly during the Civil War.
  • The HP Committee participated in the Haywood County Historical & Genealogical Society’s meeting about America 250, a non-partisan celebration scheduled for the next two years leading up to 2026 to commemorate the founding of our country. Mike McLean gave an overview of America 250, Carol Litchfield showed BRCO’s filmed session of Charles Miller’s account of the Rutherford Trace March (from Walking in the Footsteps of Those Who Came Before Us) that initiated the Revolutionary War in this region, and Malinda Messer discussed Charles Miller and his research about the event.
  • BRCO’s HP Committee selected Douglas Chambers to receive the Pigeon Valley Award for Historic Preservation for 2024. Chambers has been the videographer for From New College to Springdale, Sunburst and Other Logging Operations in the Bethel and Cold Mountain Region, and Walking in the Footsteps of Those Who Came Before Us DVDs. He has also recorded The Cold Mountain Heritage Driving Tour CD and Possum on a Whale’s Sunburst Sessions CDs. Chambers showed a preview of the upcoming Historic Schools of Bethel video project at the BRCO meeting when he accepted his award.

2024