Chronology of Chimney Rock Park’s Development

Chimney Rock Park was the creation of Henderson County native Jerome Benjamin Freeman (1849-1919), whose gravemarker is seen above. 

This is fairly well known, but the correct date for the Park’s beginnings & Freeman’s part in the Park’s development has been obscured by the greater emphasis placed on the later role of Lucius Morse — who agreed to buy the Park lands from Freeman in late 1902 & eventually brought improvements which established the Park as a major attraction.  However, I believe I finally worked out the correct chronology for Chimney Rock Park’s early development when I was researching my book, Chimney Rock Park and Hickory Nut Gorge.  I give here some more detail on the evidence & logic I followed in ascertaining that 1890 was the year in which the Park began.

Under the Morses, the Park has mantained that it began in 1885 & conflicting dates — variously 1870 & 1880 — have been given for Freeman’s acquistion of the land which included Chimney Rock Mountain.  I felt the date of 1885 was too early, owing to my discovery of an Asheville Citizen article of 24 July 1890 which described Freeman’s purchase of the land & construction of a stairway to the monolith as recent.  Finally, I was able to puzzle out the problem by studying the Jerome B. Freeman deeds at the Rutherford County Courthouse & looking at the “Speculation Land Company” papers at UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Asheville & Appalachian State.

There are two key land documents at the Rutherford County Courthouse which record the creation of the Park — the agreement to purchase the property & the deed conveying it.  First, in a document dated February 3rd, 1894, J.B. Freeman agreed to purchase two tracts on Chimney Rock Mountain — one of 64 acres, the other of 67 — from William Redmond & Francis M. Scott, trustees for the heirs of Isaac Bronson (Rutherford County Deeds, book 67, pp. 206-08).  These were the trustees for the “Speculation Land Company” — this company name seems to have been informal & does not actually appear on the agreement, perhaps creating confusion for anyone else who has attempted to trace the history of the Park.  The surveys for the above noted tracts were made in late August, 1890, but Freeman did not gain clear title to the land until a conveyance made on November 3rd, 1896 (the second key document, which can be found in book 75, pp. 383-85, & which provides the metes & bounds for the two tracts).  

How do I know that these are the correct agreement & deed for the Park lands?  This can be established by comparing the metes & bounds given in the indenture of 1896, noted above, with those of the later deed in which J.B. Freeman indisputably conveyed the Park lands to Lucius Morse & his brothers in 1903 (book 79, pp. 50-54; book 80, pp. 10-13).  The northern courses of the 67 acre tract, noted above, match exactly those of the 64 1/2 acre tract conveyed to the Morses — this is irrefutable evidence that we have here a record of essentially the same land, the difference in acreage being attributable to some slight changes in the southern courses in the survey for the Morses.    

I had hoped my research in the Speculation Land Company papers would lead me also to copies of the original agreements between Freeman & the Speculation Company trustees.  Though I indeed found references to the land, I could not find these agreements & presume they are lost.  But, I did find a brief letter in which Freeman paid $10 bond for the lands to Speculation Land Company agent C.B. Justice, at the Southern Historical Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill.  This letter, dated 8 March 1890, is reproduced on p. 37 of my Chimney Rock Park and Hickory Nut Gorge.  Though there is an inconsistency in that the letter states Freeman wanted the surveys done in the spring — they were not done until the summer of that year — I think this must be the first documentation of Freeman’s efforts to purchase the Park’s lands.  Though the letter does not mention Chimney Rock, I cannot think that it refers to any other lands, for I have found no evidence that Freeman was engaged with the Speculation Company to buy any other lands at this time; & the $10 bond is evidence that two tracts were involved, as my familiarity with the Speculation Company transactions for this period indicates a bond of $5 per tract was typical.          

Therefore, I would offer the following chronology for the early development of the Park:  Freeman paid his bond for the two tracts in March, 1890, and probably began building the stairway & the trail called the “Appian Way” that spring.  Work was certainly completed by July, when the above noted Asheville Citizen article appeared.  By the time the lands were actually surveyed in late August, 1890, the Park was already underway.  I would add here that further evidence for the Park beginning in 1890 is a Rutherfordton Tribune article of 5 February 1903, concerning the sale of Chimney Rock Park to Morse, in which it was stated that “Twelve years ago, Mr. J.B. Freeman bought this property from what is known as the “‘Speculation Land Company.’”   

It may strike one as strange that Freeman developed the Park before he actually owned it.  But I think we must think of the purchase of a Speculation Land Company tract as being very much analogous to the purchase of a State land grant or a Granville Grant — which will be familiar to those who have done much genealogical research on 18th century (or even 19th century) North Carolina families. 

These land grants worked like this:  first, individuals entered the land they wanted or claimed at a local land office.  Thus, when Freeman paid C.B. Justice, the Speculation Land Company agent, his $10 bond, he was effectively entering or claiming land on Chimney Rock Mountain with only vague boundaries.  It was not unusual for claimed lands to be “improved” before legal title was obtained; thus, Freeman’s stairway to the monolith & the Appian Way were completed well before he actually owned the lands.  

Next, the land office issued a “warrant” to have the land surveyed; thus, C.B. Justice must have contacted a local surveyor (in this case, a man named E.C. Merrill or Merril) to survey the lands to be sold to Freeman.

I do not know why there was so much delay in the agreement & the actual conveyance of the property to Freeman, which would be analogous to the issuing of a land grant patent (in fact, the Speculation Company referred to their lands as patents & their lands on Chimney Rock Mountain were part of patent no. 1061).  The consideration for the land was about $330; perhaps Freeman took his time paying it.  

Of course, I am not immune from mistakes & omissions.  Perhaps others will be able to dig up more information or make corrections.  But I feel confident in saying that 1890 was the year.

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Tags: "Rome" Freeman, Chimney Rock, Chimney Rock Park, Hickory Nut Gorge, J.B. Freeman, Jerome Benjamin Freeman, Jerome Freeman, Lucius B. Morse, Speculation Land Company, tourism, Western North Carolina