The Turn of the Century
The Lake Toxaway dam was built in 1902 and finished in 1903. It was 500’ wide, 60’ tall and approximately 20’ deep. This allowed a large 500 room Inn to be built, with electricity, indoor plumbing, and even telephone service to be built on the newly formed Lake Toxaway.
You did not need the name or resources of a Rockefeller or Firestone to be able to enjoy the Inn, but you did have to pay up to $20 per day, and the meals were not cheap either. Highly-skilled French and European chefs were hired so that people would come from all over the world, and they did.
While all of this was going on, at Overlook the Morrow family obtained the Overlook property, and Roy Morrow built a Stickley-style home, something relatively unheard of at that time in this area.
The best photographers came to the area, but one in particular loved the environment in and around what is now Overlook. His name was Rupert “Henry” Scadin. Originally from Michigan, he traveled to Florida and then back up north to WNC where he had a home in what is now Henderson County. His wife, Katie, was a local artist.
But Scadin also had a cabin on or adjacent to what is now Overlook. He loved that area, and when he stayed there he frequently met with with the wealthy tourists at the resorts, the innkeepers, the locals, and even other photographers. He documented, in pictures and in his diaries, what was happening at the time.
From the UNC-Asheville, Ramsey Library, the Rupert Henry Scadin special collection, Scadin wrote as he and another famous photographer, William Henry Jackson, were working in the area in 1902:
“Tuesday, June 3 I was sent for this morning and when I got to Sapphire I found that Mr. Jackson, the most noted view photographer of America, was there and I had the pleasure of going with him to make some views. It has been a fine day.
Wednesday, June 4 Went to the Narrows early this morning where I met Mr. Jackson and then we went to the Horse Pasture Falls. I came home at noon and he went up on Mt. Toxaway.
Thursday, June 5 Mr. Jackson came over and took breakfast with us this morning, then we went to the Whitewater Falls. The water was too low for a good photo of the falls, but he made some exposure. When we came back we went up on Rainy Knob for a view of Mt. Toxaway. I went to Sapphire tonight.”
Scadin lived until 1923, so he was able to witness the change to the area when the Lake Toxaway dam broke in 1916.