The Linville Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Portions of the content on this web page were adapted from a copy of the original nomination document. [‡]
Linville is a very small resort town tucked away in the Blue Mountains in Avery County. There is a small year-round population (about 500 in 1978), but the character of the town is determined by the seasonal population, principally from the cities of Wilmington and Charlotte, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Birmingham, Alabama, which vacations in Linville from June to September. A vast amount of acreage, about 16,000 acres, that included the tiny village, then named Clay, and extended east over Grandfather Mountain, was purchased in 1888 by a group of investors headed by the MacRae family of Wilmington with the intention of developing the area for industrial purposes. However, the group was soon entranced by the natural beauty of the area, and the decision was made to develop it as a resort in which the natural resources could be preserved. During an initial period of expansion that lasted until around 1920 the unique character of the construction of the town itself was established by the erection of resort cottages covered in chestnut-bark shingles. This style was initiated by the eminent architect Henry Bacon of Wilmington, N.C., best known today for his design of the Lincoln Memorial. During the second period of expansion that lasted until World War II, most of the building was centered around the town's most popular pastime of golf, including the creation of a new, professional golf course and the erection of rambling, Neo-Tudor homes covered in applied "half-timbering" and chestnut-bark shingles designed by Harry Stearns. Since World War II, the chestnut tree blight has precluded any further building utilizing chestnut-bark shingles, but modern construction, usually faced in vertical board-and-batten siding, has been well integrated with the existing structures. Although resort facilities, such as a new clubhouse, tennis courts, and pool pavilion, have been expanded, the "cottagers'" main concern has been the preservation of the quiet atmosphere of Linville that has not been blemished by any sort of commercial "honky-tonk" intrusions, so that they may continue their primary pursuit of enjoying the natural resources around them.
The Founding of Linville and Its Early Development
Linville came into existence as a town in 1883 when a post office was established at the present site and given the name of "Clay."[1] In what was then Mitchell County (Avery County is the newest county in North Carolina, formed in 1911 from areas of Caldwell, Watauga, and Mitchell Counties) the unincorporated town of Clay was little more than a settlement of a few modest structures; its name apparently referred to the large deposits of clay that formed the basis of one of the area's industries of pottery-making. The rich, very mountainous area was inaccessible except by difficult over-land travel on horseback. Indeed, the only individual of note known to have visited the immediate areas was the French botanist and explorer, Andre Michaux. In 1785 he was sent to North America by the French government to collect botanical specimens and during the next several years he covered the territory from the Hudson Bay to the Indian River in Florida and from the Bahama Islands to the Mississippi River. On August 30, 1794, he climbed nearby Grandfather Mountain and recorded in his journal: "Climbed to the summit of the highest mountain of all North America and with my companion and guide, sang the Marseillaise Hymn and cried: 'Long Live American and the French Republic! Long live Liberty!'"[2]
In 1885 the town's name was elevated to "Porcelain" in recognition of the high grade of pottery that could be created from the land's resources; but it was to be another three years before the town was to be discovered, given its present name, and soon thereafter set upon its present course of development as a tightly controlled resort. Linville's beginning is noteworthy when one considers, as Mr. W. Ray Long has pointed out, that "it was the railroad, the telegraph, and the electric light that brought about the discovery and first appreciation of the Linville region."[3] The 1880s was a period of discovery and development of the utilization of the vast resources tucked away in the mountains of western North Carolina. Developers from all over the country were taking a keen interest in the area. In 1888, S.T. Kelsey of Kansas, responsible for the development of Highlands, N.C., was in the process of making a survey from southern Maryland to northern Georgia for a railroad line that was planned along the Blue Ridge. Kelsey already was aware of the iron ore deposits at nearby Cranberry, and when he came upon Porcelain he immediately recognized the possibilities offered by the flat terrain of the plateau for an industrial town.[4]
In his search for other developers interested in investing in the land, Kelsey contacted his friend Donald MacRae in Wilmington. In addition to real estate developments, MacRae promoted enterprises such as textile mills and a guano plant.[5] Donald in turn contacted his son Hugh, recently graduated from M.I.T. with an engineering degree, who was overseeing the family's interest in the mica mines in Burnsville. An indication of the inaccessibility of Linville in those days is that the trip from Burnsville, only about 35 miles away, took Hugh MacRae two days on horseback.[6] When he finally saw the area he liked it so much that the MacRae family, including Hugh's brother Donald, Jr., joined forces with Mr. Kelsey and was soon the major power in the Linville enterprises.
Later in 1888 the group of investors had grown to include, among others, a Mr. Parker and a Mr. Wanamaker, both of Philadelphia, and Mr. Ames, then the president of Johns Hopkins University.[7] The group acquired about 16,000 acres of land which included the town of Porcelain and spread northeast to include Grandfather Mountain, and then obtained a charter for the new company. The name of the town was changed to Linville, in honor of the two brothers William Linville and John Linville who had hunted along the Linville River for many years before being killed by Indians below the Falls in 1766,[8] and the company became the Linville Improvement Company. Although the group was impressed with the beauty of the area, their goals were not concerned yet with developing a resort, but with laying out a town from which mining and timber operations could be directed. According to Katharine Blackford, there was already a bobbin mill in Linville, and the investors planned to expand the uses of the timber.[9] Consequently, the area on the plateau between Pixie Mountain and Grandson Hill was cleared of trees and the streets were laid out foursquare.
The first summer and fall when the land was being cleared is said to have been miserable due to the frequent rains that left the area a quagmire. Accommodations for the workers were just as dismal as the town consisted only of an old building that was used as an inn and a few other buildings nearby that were little more than shacks, including Ed Loven's store which stood on the present site of the Hughes House (Ash Street).[10] Finally, from early 1891 to 1892 the Eseeola Inn was built in order to solve the housing problem. Shepherd N. Duggar, in "Beginnings of Linville," wrote: "In 1891 the ground now occupied by Linville had been cleared and stumped so clean that it looked like a desert bordered with trees. Eseeola Inn sprang up on this like a mirage on the sands of the East."[11]
The Inn was not completed when the board of directors met there and the course of development of Linville changed to its present one. Supposedly all of the members brought their wives with them who were so taken with the area that they succeeded in persuading the board members to develop the town as a resort for themselves and their friends.[12] Construction of the Inn was well underway and the lumbering facilities would be directed toward construction of the resort.
From then on, significant developments occurred rapidly. As principal stockholders in the Linville Improvement Company, the MacRaes directed operations, with Hugh MacRae as president. Hugh was also manager of the Inn and as such he had the small, shingle-style house (Beech Street), now called "Hemlock Cottage," built for his family. When it was decided that the Inn would be used principally for vacationers, Mr. Parker, who was soon to leave the company, built six houses for the senior workers. Three of these Queen Anne style houses were built on the base of Pixie Mountain and three were built in the area of the lumber yard where the majority of year-round residents now live.[13] As early as the summer of 1891 and before the resort plans had been fully formulated, enough building had been completed so that visitors were impressed by the progress. The town and surrounding area received its second written praises when Professor William James of Harvard University visited in 1891: "At last, I have struck it rich here in North Carolina and am in the most peculiar and one of the most poetic places I have ever been in. Strange to say, it is on the premises of a land speculation and would-be boom. A tract of twenty-five square miles of wilderness, 3,860 feet above sea level at its lowest part, has been bought, between thirty and forty miles of the most admirable alpine, evenly graded, zigzagging roads in various directions from the center, which is a smallish cleared plateau; and exquisite little hotel built, nine cottages round about it, and that is all. Not a loafer, not a fly, not a blot upon the scene. The serpent has not yet made his appearance in this Eden, around which stands the hills covered with primeval forest of the most beautiful description, filled with rhododendrons, laurels and azaleas which, through the month of July, must make it ablaze with glory. I went this morning on horseback with the manager of the concern, a really charming North Carolinian, educated at our Institute of Technology, to the top of Grandfather Mountain (close by which the company owns), and which is only a couple of hundred feet lower than Mt. Washington. The road through the forest, the view, the crags, were as good as such things can be. Apparently the company had just planted a couple hundred thousand dollars in pure esthetics — a most high-toned proceeding in 'this degenerate age.' Later, doubtless, a railroad, stores and general sordidness will creep in. Meanwhile, let us enjoy things! There 'does be' advantages in creation as opposed to evaluation in the railroad, the telegraph, and the electric light, and all that goes with them. This peculiar combination of virgin wilderness with perfectly planned roads, Queen Anne Cottages, and a sweet little modern hotel, has never been realized until our day."[14] Fortunately, the investors had already recognized the irreplaceable beauty and proceeded to prevent the "general sordidness" of speculation from creeping in.
Hugh MacRae, who followed in his father's footstep to be a promoter of the Tidewater Power Co., Wrightsville Beach, and pioneering agricultural development in Wilmington,[15] guided the major improvement in Linville, first by building in 1892 a road to connect Linville with the town of Blowing Rock 17 miles away. So many bear traps were unearthed during its construction that the artery was named the Yonahlossee Road, "Yonahlossee" being an Indian term for "passing bear." Today this road is the treacherous N.C. Route 221, but for many years after it was built at a cost of $18,000 it was considered "the most picturesque and durable highway in the mountains or in the state."[16]
Once visitors reached Blowing Rock, they could hire a hack to take them to Linville. In 1894, the Linville Improvement Co. purchased its own coach drawn by four horses which made two trips a week to Blowing Rock. This coach still exists and is used once a year during the Fourth of July parade. Visitors could also reach Linville by first going to Johnson City, Tennessee or Cranberry, North Carolina where they could procure a horse and buggy or a hack for the rest of the trip to Linville, or they could ride the Tweetsie Railroad, built to take out lumber and ore from the fertile area, which ran between Johnson City, Tennessee and Boone, North Carolina. Also in order to attract visitors, pamphlets were published by the Company to promote the town. A very early pamphlet in which photos indicate that resort houses had not yet been built, describes Linville as not being a railroad stop, but as a resort striving to retain the natural environment.[17]
In the beginning there were few activities, contemplation of its natural environment being the major attraction of Linville. Visitors occupied themselves with walks and horseback riding, cards, or the popular figure dancing called "Germans." By the mid-1890s, a nine-hole golf course was developed in the area known as Tanglewood extending from the Inn north to the stables. In 1900 five more holes were added by Donald MacRae, so that by playing four holes twice one could play a complete round of 18 holes.[18] From these humble beginnings the game of golf rapidly became a major attraction of Linville.
The first individual resort houses were begun shortly after the Eseeola Inn was finished. The residential development got an auspicious start as the first houses were designed by the eminent architect Henry Bacon who proceeded to execute a few designs for Linville in the years between the early 1890s and 1910. Bacon was to become nationally famous for winning in 1913 the commission for the design of the Lincoln Memorial for which he would receive the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects in 1923. In the 1890s, Bacon had resumed practice in the offices of McKim, Mead and White, after studying abroad for two years on the Rotch Traveling Scholarship as Charles McKim's personal representative in charge of the Columbian Exposition.[19] Although his early years with McKim, Mead and White were occupied with pen-and-ink drawings of houses and the study of American Colonial architecture,[20] Bacon was to become known chiefly as a designer of monuments, particularly in collaboration with Daniel Chester French.
Apparently, Bacon designed few domestic structures during his career and very little is known about those that were executed. Some designs exist in the National A.I.A. library in Washington, D.C., but it is not known if all of them were built.[21] Of the handful that are known positively to have been constructed, all except two were designed for relatives or close friends. Except for Chesterwood, the house Bacon designed for Daniel Chester French that is now a National Trust property, these houses have received very little publication.[22] The chief published recognition given the houses in Linville designed by Bacon appeared in The State in 1969.[23] Since the three houses (Beech Street and Watauga Avenue) positively designed by Bacon in Linville increase his known domestic oeuvre by over forty percent, the slight understanding of Bacon's approach to domestic architecture may be greatly increased by examination of these structures, which consequently deserve recognition for their place in Bacon's development. All four of his Linville structures, including All Saints Episcopal Church (Carolina Avenue), of course deserve notice for their materials alone.
Henry Bacon's close association with North Carolina is barely recognized by scholars. He grew up in Wilmington where he became a close friend of the MacRae family. He eventually executed designs for houses constructed in Wilmington for Donald MacRae's three children, Hugh, Donald and Agnes, although it is reported that some of these designs were done under duress from these friends.[24] Newspaper clippings indicate that Bacon frequently visited his childhood home, and during some of these visits he was taken to Linville by the MacRaes.[25]
Although a couple of Bacon's domestic designs have uninspired Colonial Revival or Greek Revival facades, all of his plans are straightforward and reflect the arrangement of rooms. Thus his serious study of Greek architecture is reflected even in these houses in revival styles of the period. In eulogies for Bacon it was noted that "... even on the smallest problem he felt an obligation patiently to search for the inevitable perfect solution,"[25] and that he should be called "a classicist, but he has made the classic idiom absolutely his own and gives to his designs a superb individuality."[26] If the amount of duress under which Bacon designed houses for friends is reflected in the degree of their individuality, it may be surmised from examination of his Linville designs that Bacon was so taken with the landscape and the possibilities it offered with regard to materials that he needed little prodding from the MacRaes to proceed with designs.
As an architect who "made the classic idiom absolutely his own," Bacon naturally incorporated materials indigenous to Linville in his design, the foremost of these materials being the chestnut-bark shingles. He was not copying any sort of established vernacular style. It is true that the Indians and early settlers incorporated bark in their shelters, but the earliest settlers copied the Indians by building wigwams covered in large sheets of bark, usually of pine or fir trees,[27] while later settlers moving West built houses in which bark shingles were used only for the roofs.[28] Chestnut trees were very prevalent around Linville and were very important to the local income as the bark was used for tanning at Old Fort.[29] Bacon apparently was the first to use the bark shingles when he redesigned the farmhouse for Donald MacRae (Watauga Avenue). When he designed "The Studio" (Beech Street) shortly thereafter he gave full vent to his desire to utilize indigenous material by also covering the interior walls with chestnut-bark shingles and using different types of logs for the exposed beams and fireplace mantle. These same characteristics also appear in his ca.1900 design for the VanLandingham House (Watauga Avenue).
In all of these houses and the church Bacon incorporated lattice-work of logs in the porches or recessed under windows. This motif may have been original, or it may have been inspired by the irregular log fences featured in Palliser's New Cottage Homes and Details of 1887.[30] Regardless of the derivation of the use of logs of decoration, no prototype can be found for Bacon's use of the chestnut-bark shingles which set the style for all future building in Linville, as long as the supply of chestnut trees lasted, and for much of the surrounding resort areas, particularly Blowing Rock. The rivalry between Blowing Rock and Linville is legendary, both towns claiming responsibility for the origin of the bark shingle style. Many structures in Blowing Rock are covered in bark shingles, but the frequency is nowhere near to that in Linville, and the earliest chestnut-bark covered houses in Linville pre-date those of Blowing Rock.
By the beginning of the second decade of the twentieth century, two of the churches in the resort area were built. Services are still held in them only during the resort season, June to September. The earliest was the Presbyterian Church (Beech Street), erected shortly after the Eseeola Inn was completed. All Saints Episcopal Church (Carolina Avenue) was designed by Henry Bacon in 1910 but it was not completed and consecrated until 1913. According to a plaque to the right of the main entrance to the church, Mrs. Walter Parsley, Hugh and Donald's sister Agnes Parsley, was responsible for construction of the church. The initial building fund of $1,000 was raised through the sale of a lot that was bequeathed to Mrs. Parsley by her nurse.[31] The church was built in memory of Mrs. Parsley's half-sister, Mary Savage MacRae, the altar and the cross were given in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh MacRae's daughter Dorothy, and the bell was the gift of Donald MacRae.[32] It is appropriate that Henry Bacon's most intricate work in Linville was actively patronized by all members of the MacRae family in Linville. The church has been the scene of many baptisms and marriages of members of the long-standing "cottagers" of Linville, including the wedding of Agnes MacRae, Hugh's daughter, to Julian Morton, who became general manager of the Linville Improvement Company.[33]
Mrs. Donald MacRae, who is said to have been the guiding spirit of All Saints Episcopal Church for many years, was also responsible for the educational facilities at the Mission House. As Linville's year-round population is too small to warrant a public school in the town, children today go to school in the nearby county seat of Newland. When Linville was first being developed, however, there were no public schools in the area, so Mrs. Donald MacRae founded the Mission House as a school for the mountain children. Crafts, principally weaving, were the main subjects taught by the resident deaconess and mountain missionary named Miss LeSeur who devoted many years to the school.[34] After her death, her brother had the All Saints Episcopal Rectory built as a memorial to her.[35]
A unique feature of Linville is that its slow but steady early physical growth can be traced through ownership of property by members of the town's first pioneering families. Many of the earliest houses still belong to the families of the original owners. One of the earliest cottages was the Hemlock Cottage which was built for Mr. and Mrs. Hugh MacRae as managers of the Eseeola Inn. When they outgrew the cottage they built the present Hugh MacRae House, which today belongs to their grandchildren, and in turn sold Hemlock Cottage to Mr. Robert Donovan Smith of Birmingham in 1898. Mr. Smith bought the cottage as a gift for his daughter Celia and the cottage today is owned by her nephew's wife. The tiny shingle-style house called the Donald MacRae "Honeymoon" Cottage (Burke Street) was built for Donald and his wife, Carey; they lived in the cottage until the larger farmhouse could be remodeled according to Henry Bacon's plans, and this larger house today belongs to their son's family. The VanLandingham House stayed in the original family until it was sold to Carl Smith. Fenbrook (Linville Avenue) was built for the Kirkpatricks in 1920 and still belongs to their descendants, some of whom have also owned the Trinket Cottage (Ash Street; converted from the bachelors' quarters of the Inn to a private residence by the secretary of the Inn) and The Studio (Beech Street) for many years.
1920 to World War II
The second phase of Linville's development, which closed with the advent of World War II and the simultaneous death of mature chestnut trees, began around 1920 when Hugh MacRae's son, Nelson, became president of the Linville Improvement Company. Nelson MacRae began an extensive program of expansion with the aid of his brother-in-law, Julian Morton, who had recently been appointed general manager of the Company. An avid golfer who was well aware of the rapidly growing appeal of the game, Nelson planned the core of this expansion to be a new golf course that would extend south from Dogwood Street. At that time, this area consisted of woods and dense thickets of laurel and rhododendron. The Company contracted Donald Ross to design and build the new course. With the aid of a team of surveyors, Ross completed his on-the-site studies in only two days and later completed the plans which perfectly fitted the topography. The land for the course was begun to be cleared on June 9, 1924, with Julian Morton in charge of construction, and two years later the course was completed. In 1926 and 1930 the holes were worked over so that by the end of the work in 1930 they were in perfect condition and qualified for ranking as a championship course. For several years both the new course and the old one were used simultaneously, with the new one gradually replacing the old one so that by 1934 the old course was abandoned altogether.[36]
With the addition of a championship golf course, interest in Linville as a vacation spot spread. Several golf tournaments are held every year and several pros, including Clayton Heafner, Estelle Lawson Page, Deane VanLandingham (Henry Bacon designed a house for her parents), and Katherine Hemphill, have been attracted to the course.[37] During this period fishing became more popular as the Eseeola Inn maintained its own fish hatchery, as did bridge and tennis tournaments. Many social events such as costume parties and dress balls that have become annual affairs were also instituted. In order to accommodate this social expansion that accompanied the physical growth of the golf course, Nelson MacRae also planned the construction of a new clubhouse. For this project he commissioned the architect Harry Stearns, said to have been from either New York or Connecticut, who developed a distinctive style that extended Bacon's chestnut-bark shingles and lattices of logs to a more elaborate mode. The new clubhouse, finished in 1927, was extensively decorated with logs in all sorts of lattice and fan patterns.
Stearns' clubhouse was such a success that he was commissioned to design eight houses along the golf course and two others a block or two away from the course. These houses also expanded the style set by Bacon into rambling, Neo-Tudor structures in which applied "half-timbering" as well as the logs and chestnut-bark shingles covered the facades. This more distinctive style did not signify rustic summer cottages but rather seemed to proclaim the wealth of the vacationers who were choosing to invest in Linville. The Depression apparently had little effect on these private investors as Stearns' designs were executed steadily between 1927 and 1935. Like the very early chestnut-bark shingled houses erected in Linville, most of these more palatial homes still belong to the original owners or their families.
The Depression did have one negative impact on physical expansion in Linville in that it necessitated the abandonment of plans for a new hotel complex on Grandson Hill. Another one of Nelson MacRae's projects, the hotel was to be an adaptation of a Swiss mountain chalet with many broad-eaved roofs and an observation tower (from Grandson Hill there is a superb view of Grandfather Mountain). The complex was to include 200 bedrooms, 134 baths, dining room, lounge, offices, ballroom, reading, writing, and billiard rooms, a club and an outdoor swimming pool.[38]
Although the new hotel was not built, facilities at the Eseeola Inn were expanded. An annex and a small bowling alley had already been built next to the Inn prior to 1920. To accommodate the increasing number of visiting golfers, the Chestnut Lodge was built across from the Inn on Linville Avenue in the 1920s and was connected to the Inn by a bridge. In 1936 one of the several calamities to befall Linville during this period occurred when the Inn burned to the ground. Due to swift action by the residents who chopped down the bridge and poured water on nearby cottages, the Inn and its immediate annexes were the only losses. By the 1936 season, a sizeable one-story wing was built onto the Chestnut Lodge to house a kitchen and dining and living rooms and the building became the new Eseeola Lodge (175 Linville Avenue).[39]
Two other major crises occurred prior to World War II. In August of 1940 heavy rains resulted in flooding that submerged the entire town and cut it off from the outside world for a short time. Polio epidemics also struck the area several times and one such epidemic killed one mountain boy and crippled two others.[40] An even greater impact was felt from World War II, which effectively put an end to development for several years.
Post-World War II to the Present (1978)
After the War, Linville quickly resumed its slow but steady physical expansion. Remaining lots around the golf course and a few lots that remained empty in the older area were developed. The most noticeable feature of this new construction is the absence of chestnut-bark shingles due to the blight that killed off the mature chestnut trees. Most of the houses erected in the past fifteen years have been designed by the architect Thomas H. Rickenbaker. These more recent houses include two developments, one being seven almost identical houses called Linville Square in the older area of the resort and the other being a larger development of several streets and individually styled houses called Linville Woods.
The new wave of development has been carried out by the new company called Linville Resorts, Inc. Right after the end of the War, the cottagers united to purchase about 1,500 acres from the MacRaes, including the hotel, golf course, and riding stables. The new owners arranged for Pinehurst, Inc. to manage the resort for seven years, with an option to purchase at the end of that time. In 1951, Pinehurst, Inc. failed to exercise its option; the cottagers took over the active operations of the resort and named their corporation Linville Resorts, Inc. During this first year, all property owners and stockholders in Linville Resorts, Inc. became charter members.[41] In 1967 the shareholders subscribed to approximately $150,000 of additional stock which cleared the properties of all mortgage debt.[42]
Throughout the 1950s, the community ownership made many advances that included the expansion of recreational facilities such as new tennis courts and a swimming pool with a pavilion for social events. The only setback to this development was the destruction by fire of Stearns' clubhouse in 1952, but by the next season a new clubhouse was erected.
The distinctive characteristic of this modern period is the desire to maintain the secluded, private quality of the resort. In order to make Linville a more private club, the Linville Golf Club was founded in 1959. As stated in the Golf Club's 1978 Yearbook, "The resort is owned by Linville Resorts, Inc., which is the operating organization. The Linville Golf Club is a private social club which uses the facilities and grounds of Linville Resorts for its social activities."[43] Linville Resorts, Inc. and the Linville Golf Club each has its own president. In order to maintain the town's quiet atmosphere, one of the stockholders' major concerns has been the re-routing of NC Route 181 which runs through the resort area via Linville Avenue. For several years the cottagers have been trying to donate to the State the land on the western side of Pixie Mountain and a large portion of the fund for the construction of a detour, to no avail. The basic, overriding concern of the Club is stated in the closing lines of its 1978 Yearbook: "As can be deduced, the Club is rapidly maturing. Much has been accomplished by the talented, able leaders and Members — but more will be done. With the changes adopted by the Board of Directors, a more private club will be realized."[44]
Endnotes
References
Blackford, Mrs. Katherine. Interview by Claudia P. Roberts. June 16, 1978. Linville, N.C.
Boney, Leslie N., Jr. Interview by Claudia P. Roberts. May 30, 1978. Wilmington, N.C.
Boney, Leslie N., Jr. "List of Work by Henry Bacon, Architect." Personal file, revised 1974.
Chapman, Ashton. "Chestnut Bark and Baronial Castles." The State, vol.36, no.24 (May 15, 1969).
Corey, Faris Jane. Exploring the Mountains of North Carolina. Raleigh: The Provincial Press, 1972.
Cortissoz, Royal. "The Architect." Architectural Record, vol. 55.
Cresson, Margaret French. "Daniel French's Heaven." Historic Preservation, vol.25, no.2 (April-June, 1973).
Davant, Mrs. Anne. Interview by Claudia P. Roberts. June 16, 1978. Linville, N.C.
Embrery, Aymar II. "Henry Bacon (1866-1924)." Architectural Record, vol. 55.
Greene, Mrs. Samuel. Interview by Claudia P. Roberts. June 13, 1978. Linville, N.C.
Index to photograph collection by Nelson MacRae, stored in vault of Eseeola Lodge, Linville, N.C.
Lindsay, G. Carroll. "Plantagenet's Wigwam." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, vol.XVIII.
Linville Golf Club. "1978 Yearbook."
The Linville Ledger. Printed by Linville Resorts, Inc., 1967, to commemorate Linville's "diamond jubilee."
Linville Improvement Company. Untitled and undated promotional pamphlet. Linville vertical file, North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Morton, Mrs. Julian. Interview by Claudia P. Roberts. June 15, 1978. Linville, N.C.
Morton, Mr. Julian, Jr. Interview by Claudia P. Roberts, June 15, 1978. Linville, N.C.
Nowlin, William. The Bark Covered House. Ann Arbor: University of Microfilms, reprint of 1871 edition.
Palliser's New Cottage Homes and Details. New York: Palliser, Palliser and Company, 1887.
Rickman, Michael. Daniel Chester French: An American Sculptor. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1976.
Sharpe, Bill. A New Geography of North Carolina. Vol.II. Raleigh: Sharpe Publishing Company, 1958.
Shurtleff, Harold R. The Log Cabin Myth. Edited and with an introduction by Samuel Eliot Morison. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1967.
Smith, Carl. Interview by Claudia P. Roberts. June 14, 1978. Linville, N.C.
Swales, Francis S. "Henry Bacon as a Draftsman." Pencil Points 5 (May 1924).
‡ Claudia P. Roberts, Consultant, North Carolina Division of Archives and History, Linville Historic District, Avery County, N.C., nomination document, 1978, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.
Street Names
Ash Street • Beech Street • Blowing Rock Highway • Burke Street • Carolina Avenue • Dogwood Street • Golf Course Road • Grandson Hill Road • Hemmingway Street • Hickory Lane • Linville Avenue • Roseboro Road • Route 181 • Route 221 • Watauga Avenue