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Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
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Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
The path to the blacksmith’s shop is lined with rhododendron as visitors pass over a modern bridge.
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Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
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Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
Many forestry students were told, “find yourself a place to stay.” Settlers who lived on the land left behind cabins in which students sought shelter. This particular cabin was referred to as “Hell Hole.”
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Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
With the sound of a hammer and the scent of coal in the air, blacksmiths were vital members of the Biltmore Forest School. Two blacksmiths traveled 14 miles from Brevard to share the work. Iron-working skills were needed in order to keep wagons on the road, logging equipment functioning and working horses shod.
6 of 14
Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
With the sound of a hammer and the scent of coal in the air, blacksmiths were vital members of the Biltmore Forest School. Two blacksmiths traveled 14 miles from Brevard to share the work. Iron-working skills were needed in order to keep wagons on the road, logging equipment functioning and working horses shod.
7 of 14
Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
Washday called for everyone to tend to his or her own laundry. Clothes were boiled in a kettle over an open fire—saving the most soiled clothing for last—using “Octagon” or homemade soap. Clothing and bedding was hung on nearby tree branches and fence rails to dry.
8 of 14
Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
Schenck, the keeper and facilitator of the Biltmore Forest School, used a converted abandoned barn as his main office. He graded papers, planned projects and prepared lectures in this space. His secretary, Eleanor Ketchum and his bookkeeper, Dan Marshall also used the space.
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Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
This two-story home, known as the Ranger House, is the first stop on “The Biltmore Campus Trail.” Originally constructed in 1882, the building housed Ranger George Gillespie, his family and eight forestry students. The side garden was also used as a seedlings nursery for school projects.
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Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
People who lived around Pisgah Forest engaged in illegal logging, hunting and moonshining, so ranger lodges were built at strategic locations. These buildings’ unique facades, built from chestnut and tulip poplars, were modeled after the architecture used in the Black Forest in Germany.
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Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
12 of 14
Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
Washday called for everyone to tend to his or her own laundry. Clothes were boiled in a kettle over an open fire—saving the most soiled clothing for last—using “Octagon” or homemade soap. Clothing and bedding was hung on nearby tree branches and fence rails to dry.
13 of 14
Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
As with many industries at the time, railroads were the lifeblood that made possible transporting logs over long distances.
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Margaret Hester photo
Cradle of Forestry
Sliding Rock and Looking Glass Falls mark the winding roadway through the Pisgah National Forest to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Perhaps lesser known, the Cradle of Forestry is a unique 6,500-acre Historical Site that offers a well-preserved, interactive look into forest conservation and an industry that helped define the mountains of North Carolina.
The Cradle of Forestry’s history of conservation dates back to the Biltmore Estate’s construction and reforestation of overly farmed land that once surrounded it. Frederick Law Olmsted, the founding father of American landscape architecture and designer of New York’s Central Park, had been hired to design the grounds of the Estate. His vision for Biltmore included a small pleasure ground and garden, a major arboretum and nursery, and a systematically managed forest. A conservation-minded man, Olmsted felt creating a managed forest at Biltmore was important because it could serve as an example for the rest of the country.
Olmsted ensured the long-term success of the estate’s forestry program by persuading Vanderbilt to hire a trained forester named Gifford Pinchot in 1892. Pinchot implemented a unique management plan that included identifying tree species, growth conditions, and volumes of timber per acre and improving tree growth with selective thinning. The plan, which was designed to improve the forest while returning a profit to the landowner, was the first of its kind in America and served as a national model. German forester Dr. Carl A. Schenck took charge of Biltmore’s forest in 1895, which at the time totaled over 100,000 acres. In 1898, he established the Biltmore Forest School—the first of its kind in the country. During its 15 years of existence, the school educated more than 300 students, many of whom served as the first generation of American foresters.
The Cradle’s Forest Discovery Center celebrates Vanderbilt, Pinchot, Schenck and the beginning of forestry in America through a brief video and two guided trails that lead visitors back in time to seven historical buildings, a 1915 Climax logging locomotive and an antique portable sawmill.
For more information, visit cradleofforestry.com.