Record #:

8211

Author(s):

Gates, Nancy G.

Abstract:

Wildacres Retreat is a fourteen-hundred-acre forestland sitting atop Pompey's Knob beside the Blue Ridge Parkway. I. D. (Dick) Blumenthal of Charlotte bought the land in 1936 for only $6,500. The original owner, Thomas Dixon, famous for his racist novel “The Clansmen,” wanted the site to be a colony of artists and scientists. When Blumenthal acquired the property, he began inviting interfaith religious groups to Wildacres Lodge in an effort to quash the property's racist beginnings. He invited different groups and societies each week and established camps for musicians and artists to come and appreciate the solitude and beauty of the area. Wildacres hosts over three thousand participants a year. Blumenthal died in 1978 and is buried alongside his wife at the summit of the mountain.

Source:

The State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 51 Issue 1, June 1983, p16-18, por

Subject(s):

Spiritual retreats--McDowell County; Camps--McDowell County