Record #:

14689

Author(s):

Patton, Sadie S.

Abstract:

Before major infrastructure opened the western mountains for easy access, an enterprising man named Colonel S. V. Pickens tried to take advantage of river travel. In 1878, Pickens secured a charter for the French Broad Steamboat Company and $25,000 in state appropriations to open the French Broad River for river travel. With the charter and state money the Mountain Lily, a river steamboat, was launched in 1881 to run from Hendersonville to Brevard before finally making the trip to Asheville. Though the steamboat could carry passengers and cargo, the river proved inhospitable for river travel and after a few years was abandoned.

Source:

The State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 14 Issue 47, Apr 1947, p7, il

Subject(s):

Mountain Lily (Steamboat); Steamboats--North Carolina, Western--History; French Broad Steamboat Co.; Steam-navigation--History; Pickens, S.V., 1836-1919

Record #:

14899

Author(s):

Patton, Sadie S.

Abstract:

On the French Broad River, steamboat Mountain Lily carried passengers for a very brief time. During the summer of 1881, the steamboat attempted to run between Hendersonville, Brevard, and Asheville, but stranded after tumultuous weather blocked the river channel with sand and mud. Navigation throughout the French Broad River Valley was the brainchild of Colonel S. V. Pickens, who chartered the French Broad Steamboat Company and constructed Mountain Lily. After foundering at Johnson's Bridge, a Baptist congregation used the vessels as a meeting place until it was dismantled sometime later.

Source:

The State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 11 Issue 19, Oct 1943, p4, il

Subject(s):

Steamboats--North Carolina, Western--History