Thursday, July 12, 2007

Hendersonville - Flat Rock North Carolina


Hendersonville - Flat Rock North Carolina

Enjoy the hospitality and tranquility of Historic Hendersonville and the Village of Flat Rock nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area in Western North Carolina, 22 miles south of Asheville, NC. Our area, known for its gentle climate, beautiful scenery, a richness in culture & history, ample recreational facilities, and friendly people has been a popular place to live for well over a century.

Hendersonville NC

The village of Hendersonville received its charter from the General Assembly as the City of Hendersonville and was officially recognized as the county seat of Henderson County on January 7, 1847.

Hendersonville’s original charter fixed the corporate city limits to be a half mile from the courthouse, but not to go beyond Mud Creek. The charter stated that five commissioners were to be elected at once as the governing body of the town.

The elected five commissioners took the oath of office and appointed a magistrate and a town constable. The constable also served as the city tax collector, city treasurer and the overseer of the city streets.

Hendersonville First Baptist Church was the first church organized within the city limits of the new county seat. The church was founded in 1844; the first services were held in the courthouse. In 1848 the city deeded the church a lot that was located between South Main Street, East Barnwell Street and Mud Creek. The church built its first structure a year later and started the first graveyard within the city limits.

During the 1920’s the graves were removed so that King Street, which ended at East Barnwell Street, could be extended through to South Main Street as it is today.

Flat Rock NC

Flat Rock NC began about a century and half ago with large summer estates being built in the English manner by the affluent Charlestonians, Europeans and prominent plantation owners of the South’s low country. The first great estate was built in 1827 by Charles Baring of Baring Brothers Banking firm of London, consisting of 3000 acres, which he named Mountain Lodge. Baring also built a private chapel on his estate which is now St. John In The Wilderness Episcopal Church.

The second large estate, called Argyle was built by Judge Mitchell King of Charleston, SC. He later donated the land on which Hendersonville was built and directed the laying out of Main Street.

Many other coastal families soon followed, until the settlement grew to about fifty estates. The families of South Carolina’s Low Country came to Flat Rock to escape the sweltering heat, yellow fever and malaria, which were running rampant. Summers in Flat Rock became a round of Southern gaiety in antebellum days. South Carolina’s Low Country gentry call Flat Rock The Little Charleston of the Mountains.

Most of these old estate homes still stand, surrounded by wide lawns, gardens, towering trees and white pillar porches, shielding their visibility from the highway. A few of these gracious homes remain in the possession of the families of the original owners. Many of these grand estates are now lovely planned communities.

The whole district of Flat Rock is included in the National Register of Historic Places, and Historic Flat Rock Incorporated is striving to preserve what remains in this area of the Old South.

Flat Rock is built around a tremendous outcrop of granite which is said to have been the site of Cherokee gatherings. A great deal of rock has been blasted away and used for highway material. The main rock can be found on the grounds of the Flat Rock Playhouse

Source: Hendersonville-Flat Rock NC

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