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Development on Sunset Mountain: The Road to Fred Seely's "Overlook" Castle
Fred Seely’s home “Overlook” 2024. Photo by Tim Burchfield, Line of Sight Technologies
Hidden among the trees, high atop Sunset Mountain sits a mysterious castle. Under the cloak of a silken fog, it is only visible on clear winter days. As soon as spring returns and everything is green again, it goes back into hiding. It was once occupied by one of the most wealthy and important men in Asheville, Fred Loring Seely. “Overlook” Castle as it was formally known, was host to weddings and celebrations for all the Seely children, in addition to many society and musical events hosted by Fred’s wife, Evelyn.
Over the last 110 years, the castle was expanded with several additions under Seely’s design, served as the first official campus of Asheville-Biltmore College (now UNC-Asheville), owned by a legendary Asheville junk dealer, Jerry Sternberg, home to a full gospel ministry and church sanctuary - Overlook Christian Ministries and sold to its final and current owner, a Hendersonville cowboy named Loren Wells who made his fortune selling elastic waist pants for women through his company, Bon Worth. Join MMT as we look through the fascinating history of “Overlook” castle and the evolution of the land around it.
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The name of Seely’s stately home, “Overlook,” is tied to the land that it sits upon. Sunset Mountain, where the castle currently rests was home to a public park called “Overlook Park,” at the summit of the mountain. The site of the park was above the current location of the Sunset Ridge Condominiums on Town Mountain road. This park came to be through land purchasing and development efforts occurring in the late 1800s as Asheville began to evolve into a more modern town for pleasure seeking tourists and those visitors seeking medical treatment for respiratory ailments. It was during this era that more attractions and hotels began to be developed on a grand scale
In 1887, a local real estate named developer Walter B. Gwyn and his business partner George W. Swain, an out-of-town developer from Danville, Virginia purchased the 96-acre Glenverloch Jersey Farm at the end of Charlotte Street, near current day Macon avenue. Two years later, Gwyn and Swain filed a charter for a turnpike and railway from Asheville to the top of Craggy Mountain. The Asheville and Craggy Mountain Railway was chartered on March 11, 1889, to build a 25-mile-long line to Craggy Mountain, northeast of Asheville. In August of 1890, it was reported that Gwyn and his new business partner William M. West “have been negotiating some big trades in lands lying to the northeast of the city, not only for the new railway, but also for a development company called “Sunset Land Co.” to improve the lands over which the railway will travel.”
Historic Postcard, image courtesy of Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Library
The mountain known today as “Sunset Mountain” was formerly called “Smith’s Mountain.” It was renamed when Gwyn, West and another business partner named H.L. Taylor incorporated the Sunset Mountain Land Company and began to start development of the land on the mountain and surrounding areas. The beginnings of their development would start with a public park at the top of Sunset Mountain, that would be reached by a small steam train towing several open-air passenger cars. Along the train route, would be several scenic lookouts. This short run up the mountain would be the beginning of the Asheville and Craggy Mountain railway, which Gwyn eventually dreamed would reach all the way to Craggy Mountain.
In the fall of 1890, rough grading was completed on the Asheville and Craggy Mountain Railway, from the northern end of Charlotte Street to the top of Sunset Mountain, totaling 2.5 miles. The line opened on May 1st, 1891. Passengers clamored aboard the small train to make the first ascent up the mountain. The city of Asheville had its own streetcar system, run by the Asheville Street Railway company. Gwyn had made an agreement with the Asheville Street Railway company to provide electric trolley service from their lines running through Asheville to his railway station for the Asheville and Craggy Mountain railway. The Asheville Street Railway ran to a station at the intersection of Chestnut and Charlotte Street. The Asheville and Craggy Mountain Railway only provided service from Spring through the Fall to Sunset Park, closing in the winter. With limited operations and high overhead costs to run the line, it was difficult for ACMR to achieve a profit from the very beginning.
Gwyn had even larger ideas for the Sunset lands, beyond the Asheville and Craggy Mountain Railway. In January of 1891, Gwyn gave notice that he had applied to the General Assembly of North Carolina to incorporate the lands into a town called Sunset Park. The development of Sunset Park took a backseat to the development of the railroad for two more years. The Sunset Mountain Land Company had authorized $500,000 in stock to be issued, but only $25,000 was subscribed. Without proper financial backing, the railroad line never actually reached Craggy Mountain. In April of 1892, Gwyn rented a road scraper from the City of Asheville to construct the main throughfare of the new town of Sunset, which was named Grand Avenue. Slated to be sixty feet wide, Grand Avenue is today’s Edgemont Road, constructed just north of where the railway line was.
Map of the route of Asheville and Craggy Mountain Railway, Trolleys in the Land of the Sky
The Asheville and Craggy Mountain line ran up what is now Macon Avenue and up Old Toll Road to reach Sunset Park. During this era, Asheville’s population was growing more rapidly, with the need for public transportation in the northeast part of town. To provide better service, the receiver of the Asheville Street Railway in the spring of 1893 leased the portion of the Asheville and Craggy Mountain Railway track on Charlotte Street, north from Chestnut to the point where the line started the ascent of the mountain. A wooden station was built where the streetcar service ended and the steam train service began, for traveling up the mountain.
At what is the current day intersection of Macon Avenue and Howland Road, a train car storage and maintenance facility was built to service this line. With all this construction, Gwyn eventually overextended his finances and his backers began to call their loans by 1894. The Sunset Mountain Land Company and the Asheville and Craggy Mountain Railway then went into receivership and were purchased by a northern timber baron named George W. Pack in 1895. In 1897, the North Carolina General Assembly revoked Gwyn’s 1891 act of incorporation for the town of Sunset Park.
George Pack came to Asheville in 1885 from Cleveland, Ohio. He had made his money in the lumber industry and was drawn to the area because of the mild climate. He invested philanthropically in Asheville’s late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century development. Pack’s legacy remains today in Pack Place, Pack Square and Pack Memorial Library. Pack seemed uninterested in full scale development of the former Sunset Park into a residential development. Pack donated a portion of these lands to become the golf course for the Asheville Country Club, near the location of the current clubhouse of the Grove Park Country Club. A streetcar stop would be added at the edge of this golf course.
During Pack’s ownership of the Sunset Lands, the public park conveyed in the sale was referred to as “Lookout Park,” rather than “Sunset Park” as it had been under Gwyn’s ownership. It was host to a number of large gatherings for the town, such as the site of a large 1897 Labor Day Celebration. Trolley cars were loaded with people, picnics and gallons of lemonade for the entire town to celebrate. The weather was said to be extraordinary with many people playing lawn games and enjoying a small band.
Richard Howland driving his steam powered Stanley Steamer automobile on what it is believed to be Sunset Drive. Image courtesy of Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Library
In June of 1900, Pack sold the Sunset Mountain Lands of two tracts with a total of 330 acres to Richard S. Howland of Providence, Rhode Island for $14,820. Richard S. Howland was the editor of the Providence Journal newspaper. In addition to the purchase of the Asheville and Craggy Mountain railway, Howland held various railroad interests around the country. He moved to Asheville in late 1899, where he first moved into a cottage in the Albemarle Park neighborhood while he awaited completion of a house he was building on the side of the mountain just below Sunset Drive. Howland hired former Biltmore Estate associate architect Richard Sharp Smith to design this grand home. Howland would go on to name the home “Dolobran.”
Howland’s completed home, “Dolobran” designed by Richard Sharp Smith. Image courtesy of Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Library
Howland found the condition of his newly acquired railway could not have been worse. All the railroad ties were rotten, the drains filled with debris and the passenger train cars left behind rusting away. Under Howland’s direction, the line was almost completely rebuilt. New crossties were laid on rock ballast, old trestles were replaced, some curves relocated, and guard rails placed at dangerous spots in the line. Other improvements to the line included stringing up wiring for operation of his own fleet of electric trolley cars, all purchased from the Brill company.
In addition to Sunset Park, Howland purchased a stone quarry near the top of Sunset Mountain. At this site, granite was being quarried for building materials, along with crushed stone for macadam road paving. Macadam is a process of road paving from Scotland, which involves using compressed crushed stone to form a roadway. The steam train which provided passenger transport for the former Craggy Mountain Line was retained for hauling material down the mountain from the quarry. There were 19 electric freight cars, used primarily for hauling stone. The stone cars operated before the electric passenger cars began service. At this time, Asheville had the second electric streetcar line in the country, with Richmond, Virginia having the first line.
In March of 1901, the Charleston (SC) News and Courier published an item on trolley freight service, picked up from the Asheville Citizen:
“The handling of freight over the rails of the Asheville and Craggy Mountain railway is an excellent object lesson for those who are doubtful of the success of the trolley in the freight field, and Asheville has the distinction of being the first in the country to employ an electric line building macadam roads. The stone for the mile of macadam on Charlotte Street is loaded on cars at the crusher on Sunset Mountain and is delivered faster than the steam roller can compress it, and as the contract calls for 15,000 tons of material from the quarry, one can easily understand to what extent the public is accommodated by trolley freight cars. The service rendered by them in favorable weather could not be duplicated by 75 or 100 teams.” There was a freight station on College Street, where this crushed stone and whole stone would be delivered by train car for transfer to other building sites in the area. This quarry most likely helped pave much of the early Asheville roadways.
Howland began construction of amenities in Overlook Park around 1900 and announced that it would open to the public in summer of 1901. Overlook Park featured a large tract of land of around 12 acres, with a lookout tower and a large clubhouse building, cantilevered into the side of the mountain. To design The clubhouse, known as the “Casino” Howland again engaged esteemed Biltmore architect Richard Sharp Smith. The casino was host to numerous dances and events at the top of the mountain. Music for these dances would have been performed by the Overlook Orchestra. The Asheville Citizen advertised that there was dancing and moving pictures nightly at Overlook Park. Howland also constructed scenic walking trails and fine lawns throughout the park. Trees had been cut away on the trolley ride up, to provide more sweeping views as riders made their way up to Overlook Park. These views included Gouche’s Peak, Richmond Hill, Dryman’s Mountain, Weaver’s View, Spivey’s View and the ranges culminating in Mt. Pisgah. Today, many of these views can be seen standing on the Sunset Terrace at the Grove Park Inn.
Image courtesy of Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Library
Casino at Overlook Park, Designed by Richard Sharp Smith – Image Courtesy of Western Carolina Heritage Collection
Interior of the Casino at Overlook Park – Image courtesy of Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Library
Howland, wanting to retain the agreement for Asheville city streetcar service to provide connection to his trainline established under Gwyn’s operation of the Craggy line, initially encountered some friction. Howland and AEC disagreed on terms whereby the Asheville city cars would continue to operate to the city limits. AEC may have been less inclined to provide this service due to low ridership in the past. Howland then petitioned the city for the right to operate horse drawn carts to connect with the electric city cars at Chestnut Street. Ultimately, Howland and Asheville Electric Company were able to reach an agreement, where the electric street cars would still provide service from Pack Square to the terminus at Charlotte Street, where passengers would then depart and board Howland’s trolleys to reach Overlook Park. At the start of this service, six round trips departed daily from Pack Square. Round trip fare was 50 cents, but it was said the line was well patronized.
Starting August 1, 1901, half-hourly service was instituted from the Golf Club (where Pack had established another train platform adjacent to the golf course) connecting there with the city cars. The new fares from Golf Club station were 5 cents one way to Switchback and ten cents to the park. Switchback was a scenic overlook stop between the Charlotte Street terminus and Overlook Park. Excursions at special rates on through cars from Overlook through to the Square continued to be offered. Some special excursion offerings included a Moonlight Excursion on Wednesday evenings and special cars on Saturday and Sunday to both afternoon and evening concerts. Direct cars back to Pack Square were also scheduled after nightly programs like movies and dances ended at the park.
Despite heavy promotions and many event offerings from Howland, the first three years of operation at Overlook Park were unsuccessful. The stone trains operating prior to June 30, 1901 produced a deficit of $793. During the first year of passenger service (1901-1902) the deficit ballooned to $8,528, serving 39,000 passengers. Howland also had issues with getting enough power supplied to the track for his electric trolley cars and supplemented his electric fleet with steam powered train cars (engines) for the 1902-1903 season. With the addition of steam engines, the deficit dropped to $7,308 and 52,000 passengers were served.
Trolleys ascending Sunset Mountain to Overlook Park, courtesy Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Library
Trolley jam in Pack Square, image courtesy of Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Library
By 1903, Howland faced the same facts Gwyn did: it was difficult to run a seasonal tourist railroad at a profit. Later in the year, Howland announced that the Overlook line would be torn up, blaming Asheville Electric for having provided an inadequate power supply. Overlook Park was closed August 24 and the property was used briefly as a private school. Local promoters tried to save the line but were ultimately unsuccessful and a track gang began tearing up the line on September 8, 1903. Howland decided to try building several new lines near Weaverville that would attract more riders but was not able to execute any of these plans to any substantial success.
In June of 1906, it was reported that Howland had abandoned his property in Buncombe County and moved to Cuba. The sheriff of Buncombe County obtained an affidavit to this fact and reported that Howland had surrendered his North Carolina residency and disposed of his properties. The Sunset Mountain Lands and Overlook Park would be auctioned off on the courthouse steps by the sheriff.
Overlook Park and a tract of 521 acres on Sunset Mountain were deeded to the General Works Corporation out of New Jersey. This corporation merely held the land as an investment and it was sold to the Asheville Rapid Transit Company later in the year.
In the winter of 1906, another railroad was incorporated – the Asheville Rapid Transit Company, who planned to rebuild the road to Overlook Park and have a track that would run directly from the mountain to Pack Square. “A reopening of Overlook Park and restoration of the old Howland Road was assured yesterday by the granting of a charter to the Asheville Rapid Transit Company, with a capital of $500,000 with Chas. Van Bibbler of Holden, Mass. And Thos. S. Hollins and John P. Arthur of Asheville as incorporators.” It was reported that these new investors would relocate some of the curves in the Howland route up Sunset Mountain, as well as purchase four new trolley cars. They did neither of these things and the cars abandoned under Howland’s ownership were pressed back into service. Asheville Rapid Transit slowly began relaying all the track and restringing electric cable up the mountain for the second time.
Edwin Grove – Image courtesy of Western Carolina Heritage Collection
Around this time, another real estate developer arrived in Asheville that would change the layout of this tract of land in Sunset Park. 47-year-old Edwin Wiley Grove of St. Louis, Missouri arrived in 1897, searching for a healthier climate to ease his respiratory issues. His doctor sent him to Asheville to seek treatment from specialized pulmonary doctors in the city. Grove established a second home in Asheville and began buying property. Grove, a pharmacist with humble origins, started his career in Paris Tennessee. He had gotten the opportunity as a young man to work as a pharmacist at a small drug store in town and ended up buying out the entire enterprise – forming the Paris Medicine Company in 1887. One of the most common diseases Grove prepared compounds for was Malaria. Malaria, a bacterial disease spread by mosquitos, was a widespread disease in the south. The southern states harbored many low-lying wetlands, which were breeding grounds for mosquitoes and the disease.
Grove, aware of the discomfort produced by the disease began working on a compound using Quinine. Quinine, an alkaloid (naturally occurring chemical compound) derived from the bark of the Chinchona tree in Peru was found effective at killing malarial bacteria. Although effective at preventing and easing the symptoms of malaria, Quinine has an awful, bitter taste on its own. Edwin had developed a formula for suspending quinine crystals in liquid, which greatly reduced the bitter flavor of the quinine. Grove began to develop a product called with this new Quinine extraction method called “Grove’s Tasteless Chill Tonic.” Grove’s advertising slogan for his chill tonic was “makes children and adults as fat as pigs.” It proved so popular, he needed more production space and began looking around the country for a more industrial city.
Early newspaper advertisement for Grove’s Tasteless Chill Tonic
Grove moved the Paris Medicine Company to St. Louis, Missouri in 1891. St. Louis was known as an industrial hub, which helped expand Grove’s manufacturing and distribution capabilities for his chill tonic. Although St. Louis proved to be what Grove need to expand his business, the city was filled with pollutants from manufacturing which aggravated his bronchitis. This led to chronic exhaustion from insomnia and bad cases of hiccups that would last for days. Grove’s doctor recommended he visit Asheville, which was a common prescription for patients suffering from respiratory issues including asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and tuberculosis.
The thought among physicians of the time was that breathing the clean mountain air could kill bacterial lung diseases. Although this was not true, the clean mountain air did make breathing easier for those with respiratory ailments. This led to the rise of Asheville being known as a destination for those suffering tuberculosis. Unscrupulous business owners in Asheville, seeing an opportunity, began to construct sanitariums and boarding houses offering “treatment” of tuberculosis. Many patients of these institutions were never cured and suffered in unsanitary conditions. Grove had become aware of these institutions and was concerned about the optics that they presented for Asheville, especially as far as marketing and tourism appeal were concerned. This current situation would become something that would later influence his future work in the city.
Being a savvy businessman, Grove knew his company couldn’t continue to compete with only one product. He continued to use his St. Louis laboratory to develop new pharmaceutical compounds, several of which were variations of his famous chill tonic formula. At a time when most medicines came in either a liquid or powder form, he came up with an idea for the first cold tablet: Grove’s Laxative Bromo Quinine. In 1898, his search for a manufacturing plant that could produce these cold tablets led Grove to Detroit and the headquarters of the fledgling Parke, Davis and company. It was there that Grove met Fred Loring Seely, one of the company’s most promising young managers.
Fred Loring Seely – Image Wikipedia Commons
Fred Loring Seely was born in Port Monmouth, New Jersey on December 22, 1871 to Colonel Uriah and Nancy A. Hopping Seely. Uriah Seely, a veteran of the Civil War, made a career in the pharmaceutical industry working for Seabury and Johnson of New York and later Johnson & Johnson as an expert in several of their manufacturing lines. Nancy Hopping would give birth to five sons and two daughters. Mrs. Seely loved reading and discussing books with her family. This would be something that was an influence on Fred for many years as a great lover of books and history.
In 1887, after completing high school at the age of sixteen, Seely worked for eight years at Seabury and Johnson (possibly with his father), a New York City pharmaceutical firm and then for two years for the Frazier Tablet Company. In New York, Seely also took a course in chemistry at the New York College of Pharmacy. He then moved to Detroit to work for Parke, Davis where he distinguished himself by improving the design and efficiency of its machine for compressing tablets.
For one week, Grove and Seely worked side by side in one of the Parke, Davis laboratories, perfecting Grove’s formula so that it could be compressed into a pleasant-tasting cold tablet. In May of 1898, Grove invited Seely to his summer home in Asheville. One week later, on his return to Detroit, Seely resigned his position at Parke, Davis setting off a stream of accusations that he had stolen company formulas and plans for a tablet pressing machine as well as a potential client – The Paris Medicine Company.
Seely’s decision to leave Parke, Davis may have been prompted by more than just the opportunity to work with Grove. Several years later, Grove recalled Seely’s first visit to Asheville, where the tonic magnate introduced his new employee to Evelyn, his only daughter by his first wife, Mary Louisa Moore. Of their four children, Evelyn born in 1877 was the only one to survive infancy. Mary later died suddenly in 1884. Two years later at the age of thirty six, Grove married twenty two year old Alice Gertrude Mathewson of Murray, Kentucky. Their son, Edwin W. Grove Jr., was born in 1890; their only daughter, Katherine died of diphtheria at an early age after the family had moved to St. Louis.
When Seely met Grove’s daughter Evelyn on his first visit to Asheville, he was immediately drawn to her. Seely, according to Grove, arrived wearing “a Prince Albert coat and a silk hat and a white vest. He met my daughter at this meeting, when he came dressed up, and it was only 48 hours before he became engaged to her.” Grove offered no objection to the engagement. He had been impressed with Seely’s determination, leadership and innovation, especially in the new field of tablet manufacturing. Grove and Seely, both energetic and motivated businessmen had a lot in common.
With succession planning on his mind, the 48-year-old Grove started looking to Seely to take over the Paris Medicine Company. Grove had begun to explore interests outside of the pharmaceutical industry and wanted someone to take over the day-to-day operation of the Paris Medicine Company. Seely officially began working for the Paris Medicine Company in St. Louis in June of 1898 (just two months after meeting Grove), drawing a starting salary of thirty-five dollars a week – the same amount he had been making at Parke Davis. That October, he and Evelyn were married in St. Louis and moved to Asheville. Seely was placed in charge of his father in law’s new subsidiary, the Tasteless Quinine Company, headquartered in Asheville, in a small building on Biltmore Avenue. Its task was to perfect existing formulas and develop new products, especially in the growing field of tablet production.
In 1899, the forty-nine-year-old Grove suffered a relapse in his bronchitis and was ordered by his doctor to remain in Asheville until his health improved. This gave Seely the opportunity to run both the Paris Medicine Company and the Tasteless Quinine Company, splitting his time between Asheville and St. Louis.
After a year, the Tasteless Quinine Company subsidiary was merged into The Paris Medicine Company and all operations were moved down to St. Louis. While Grove remained in Asheville, Seely and Evelyn went down to St. Louis, where Fred began to revolutionize the operation of the Paris Medicine Company. Seely proved to be an effective and efficient manager and soon had the St. Louis factory running smoothly in Grove’s absence.
While Seely was running Grove’s pharmaceutical interests, Grove began buying up property in Sunset Park and the Kimberly lands – a tract of around 600 acres owned by the Kimberly family. His new development was known as Grove Park. In 1904, even before selling his first lot, he created the E.W. Grove Park near the north end of Charlotte Street, complete with an existing one-story granite real estate office for the new E.W. Grove Park Company. While Grove had begun his land acquisition, things remained difficult in the operation of Overlook Park and the operation of trolley service to Overlook Park for the Asheville Rapid Transit Company.
Entrance to Grove Park and Grove Real Estate Office, Charlotte Street. Image courtesy of Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Library
Asheville Rapid Transit had been very slow in construction of the new tracks up to Overlook Park, to replace the ones removed by Howland. It was not until July 4, 1907, when the reconstructed line to Overlook Park opened. A new restaurant and motion picture theater had opened at the park on the same day. More than 2,000 passengers were transported to the park that day for the festivities. Beginning in August of 1907, Asheville Rapid Transit began grading through Grove Park, until an economic crash known as “The Panic of 1907” occurred and the entire city of Asheville ran out of money. The Panic of 1907 was the first worldwide financial crisis of the twentieth century. It transformed a recession into a contraction surpassed in severity only by the Great Depression.
By January of 1908, the Overlook lines were out of service and the ART was requesting an extension of time to complete other lines partially constructed in Asheville. Sometime during the summer of 1908, ART tried again to revive the Overlook line with a newspaper ad. Sometime in the middle of June, limited service resumed on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The ad stated “Parties for Overlook Party can be accommodated at any hour of the day or evening. Beautiful hall for dancing and the finest view in North Carolina. Phone 715.” Despite promotion, the response from the public was less than enthusiastic and the Asheville Electric Company, which had not been paid shut off power to the line. The Overlook Line and Overlook Park remained closed.
After his sojourn to Cuba, Richard Howland had returned to Asheville and was up to his old tricks. The Rapid Transit Company had gone bankrupt and was offered at a Sheriff’s sale on December 8, 1908 for pennies on the dollar. Howland had gathered a new group of investors and purchased ART for $25,000 jointly with three other investors: Messrs. LaBarbe, Moale and Chiles. Howland paid 40 percent of the total and the combination of the other three men paying 60 percent. In February 1909, LaBarbe, Moale and Chiles renamed the Overlook Line as the Sunset Park Railway and announced that they would reopen Overlook Park once again and run rail service. They announced that the casino would reopen and that the Manhattan Opera Co. had been hired to provide summer entertainment. Due to clashes between Howland and his investor group, as well as continual operational difficulties of the line an option was floated for sale of the property in 1910.
As the operation of Overlook Park seemed to be nearing an impasse for Howland and his group of investors, Seely and Grove were turning a corner in their relationship as well. In addition to improving the operations at the Paris Medicine Company, Grove sent Seely on a quest for a new source of quinine. At that time, The Paris Medicine Company was the largest consumer of quinine. In a move designed to sever its dependence on pharmaceutical distributors in the United States, Grove sent his daughter and son in law on a five month, around the world trip to secure contracts with quinine plantations in Java, Ceylon and India. This trip would also serve as Fred and Evelyn’s honeymoon. Despite many setbacks and challenges, Seely negotiated a contract that secured a steady supply of quinine for the Paris Medicine Company over the next forty-two years.
When Seely returned to St. Louis, he was rewarded by being named to the position of secretary-treasurer of the Paris Medicine Company at an annual salary of $2,500. With Grove still living in Asheville for the majority of the year, Seely continued to manage and improve the efficiency of the company’s advertising and production departments. He was also granted a patent for a tablet pressing machine, for which Grove paid him an annual royalty for its exclusive use from 1900 to 1922.
Seely and Grove, two very driven and intelligent men started to have some friction in their relationship. As early as 1902, signs of trouble began to emerge when in October, Seely suddenly offered his resignation as plant manager of the Paris Medicine Company. He cited health reasons for his decision to leave St. Louis. Although his dedication to the reorganization of the Paris Medicine Company had taken its toll on the thirty-one-year-old, his decision might have also been influenced by Grove’s total recovery and subsequent decision that year to return to the company’s helm. Rumors also circulated about tension between Grove’s second wife, Gertrude and her stepdaughter, Evelyn – Fred’s wife. Evelyn was said to be very close to her father her entire life and never fond of Gertrude and Edwin Grove Jr.
When Fred Seely was interviewed about all that he had accomplished at the Paris Medicine Company, he said the following: “I built the laboratory and equipped it, cleaning the business end of it up thoroughly, put it on a business basis, eliminated something like twenty traveling men, some of whom were drinking and neglecting their work, and I won’t say I did it, but the sales and profits increased. I got the business in such running order and left it in such running order that there have been very few changes made since.”
Seely went on to say that Grove told him “The business was now in such shape that he wanted the pleasure of handling it himself; that his health had improved and that he would like for me to leave the business and go to Atlanta to look after his property.” After a few months back in Detroit where Seely was perfecting his tablet pressing machine, he and Evelyn arrived in Atlanta in February of 1903. While there, he supervised the development of Grove’s residential development, Atkins Park – just east of downtown Atlanta.
Seely sold some of his shares of the Paris Medicine Company for a profit of $15,000 and invested it in nine acres of land, on which he oversaw the construction of three rental houses. However, after a few months, Seely announced he had grown tired of the real estate business and decided to move his family to Princeton, New Jersey to attend Princeton University, to prepare for a career in either law or education. After arriving in Princeton, Seely changed his mind again and after discussing opportunities with Grove, decided to move back to Atlanta to pursue other business opportunities there.
In 1906, Grove and Seely announced that they were going to start a new daily newspaper in Atlanta called The Atlanta Georgian. Grove had suggested that Seely partner with his friend, John Templeton Graves. Seely nor Grove had any formal training, education or journalism experience between the two of them, but given the breadth of their careers, anything seemed possible. The Georgian made its launch in April of 1906 with a special 36-page edition.
The Atlanta Georgian, like many other things Seely put his mind to, amassed a large subscription base of 17,000 subscribers immediately, making it the third largest paper in Atlanta. They utilized a unique business model called the “Penny Press” model. Instead of relying on subscriptions and political funding for revenue, the penny papers chose to rely on advertising. They were therefore able to offer their version of news to the public for merely a penny when sold on the street. Penny Press newspapers became some of the first to be sold in the street and ad newsstands. Because many more people could now afford to buy a paper, the penny press had to try to offer something for every type of reader. Because of the necessity to appeal to a broader audience, they began to seek out scandalous headlines that would attract readers.
Being a penny press operation helped keep The Georgian independent compared to other papers, but relying on advertising revenue was difficult when competing with more established papers like The Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta News. The Georgian advertised that they had their own privately owned telegram line and emphasized their independence. They initially began by advocating for prohibition, pushed for child labor laws and criticized Georgia’s Convict Lease System.
Georgia’s convict-lease system was a program started in 1866 after the conclusion of the Civil War and utilized convicts for hard labor infrastructure projects. Convicts expanded Georgia’s railway system by laying hundreds of miles of railroad track, worked in coal mining and rock quarries, as well as other industries that required cheap labor. This led to discriminatory policies and unfair sentencing for many prisoners – most of them African American. The state granted private businesses complete control over the lives of prisoners. Seely launched a campaign against this program, which caused him to lose most of his major advertisers and receive death threats by angry businessmen who used this system. Seely also uncovered corruption in the Atlanta mayor’s office, which continued to decrease his popularity. The publication of this corruption did lead to some national notoriety, leading to an introduction with President Woodrow Wilson’s secretary of state, William Jennings Bryant, who would become a lifelong friend of Seely.
For all the good reporting the Georgian contributed, a series of unfounded articles it published contributed to a terrible tragedy in Atlanta’s history. Gubernatorial candidate Hoke Smith, a reform democrat leaned on Atlanta newspapers to stir up controversy during his political campaign. The Georgian’s editor, John Graves shared the same political views as Smith, being a segregationist and defender of lynch law. Smith asked the major newspapers of Atlanta, including the Georgian to publish false police reports and unsubstantiated claims of alleged sexual assaults on white women, supposedly perpetuated by Black men. These false newspaper headlines aroused anger among a mob of 100 white men, which culminated in the September 22, 1906 Atlanta Race Riot, which lasted three days and drew international attention to the city. The frenzy created by the publishing of these stories led the angry mob into Black business districts and neighborhoods of Atlanta, where they destroyed property and killed 25 Black men.
The Georgian became the Atlanta Georgian and News in February 1907 after it absorbed the recently bankrupt Atlanta News, and this officially made the Georgian the leading sensationalist and society paper in the city. In October 1907, Graves accepted an editor position with William Randolph Hearst’s New York American, but the Georgian continued to feature Graves as a special contributor.
By 1911, Seely was tired of running the controversial paper and Grove, tired of underwriting an unprofitable venture considered selling the Atlanta Georgian and News. In February of 1912, they received an offer of $360,000 from William Randolph Hearst which they accepted. Hearst continued to exploit the “Yellow Journalism” the paper produced, and it continued in operation until 1939. Reeling from a troubling time in the newspaper business, Grove and Seely decided to return to what they knew: real estate.
Grove, with the development of his neighborhood Grove Park progressing, had become interested in the Sunset Mountain area. He had been offered a purchase option of the Sunset Lands from the investment group of Howland, Moale, LaBarbe and Chiles who had purchased the Sunset Lands from the Asheville Rapid Transit Company in mid-1910. This investor group struggled to gain any traction and had begun floating options for sale of the property.
As 1911 rolled over, Grove decided to exercise his purchase option. He acquired the Sunset Park railway, including Overlook Park and other surrounding lands on March 8, 1911 for $25,000. While Grove briefly explored building an incline railway to the top of Sunset Mountain, his logical business sense prevailed. Grove being a sharp businessman knew the rail line would be a difficult venture to make profitable, as multiple businesses trying to operate a tourist railway had already failed.
The rail, ties and wire were all removed from the grade up Sunset Mountain before late June 1911, this time permanently. Grove closed Overlook Park to the public and the old casino/club house was remodeled into a residence for Fred and Evelyn Seely, with design work on the remodel done by architect Richard Sharp Smith.
Part of the right of way up the old Howland Road/former train route became an automobile road which opened to traffic on August 18, 1911. This became known as the Grove Automobile Road, which was a tourist toll road where motorists could wind their way up the mountain to different scenic overlooks. Parts of this road were paved with macadam and graded gravel sections, to make it a pleasant tourist drive.
Grove Automobile Toll Road – Image Courtesy of Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Library
Grove Automobile Toll Road – Image Courtesy of Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Library
The Grove Automobile Road was acclaimed for its drivability and scenic overlooks in early automotive enthusiast magazines around the region. Automobiles had become very popular in Asheville, as there were more paved roads in the region from the efforts of George Vanderbilt and the Buncombe County Good Roads Association. Automobiles provided a cheap and convenient way for tourists to travel throughout the region that was totally new. As wealthy tourists and their automobiles descended on the city, Grove saw an opportunity to convert these visitors into potential residents of Grove Park.
Grove knew he would need more than an attractive tract of land and an automobile toll road to entice them to move to Asheville. Grove Park needed an anchor of sorts that could be a source of business for both locals and visitors. In the summer of 1911, Grove was approached by a local group of city council members that suggested he should consider building a luxury resort in the neighborhood. Grove thought this was a good idea and set about formulating a plan to see if it could be viable.
Although Grove had the financial might to create unsurpassed development in Asheville, he needed someone with more creative vision and leadership. The answer was right in front of him in the form of a family member: Fred Seely. Seely could revolutionize his developments in Asheville, just like he had transformed the Paris Medicine Company. Grove decided not to partner with the group of council members for the luxury inn but began to pursue it himself – a decision that would change Asheville’s landscape and economy. Grove Park was a blank canvas, just waiting for Fred Seely’s artistic vision.
Join us next month as we explore the construction of the Grove Park Inn and Fred Seely’s master creation, Overlook Castle in part two of The Collision Between Man and Mountain.
Sources:
Books:
-Johnson, Bruce
Built For the Ages: A History of the Grove Park Inn
2018 Revised Addition, Omni Grove Park Inn
-Johnson, Bruce
Tales of the Grove Park Inn
Knock On Wood Publications
2014
-Bailey, David C. – Canfield, Joseph M. – Cox, Harold E.
Trolleys in The Land of The Sky: Street Railways of Asheville, N.C. and Vicinity
Harold Cox Publishing
2000
-Johnson, Bruce
Built Without an Architect: Architectural Inspirations for the Grove Park Inn – p. 214-227
Article in May We all Remember Well Vol. by Robert S. Brunk
Robert S. Brunk Auction Services Inc.
1997
Web Sources:
The Yellow Journalism of the Atlanta Georgian | "Covers Dixie Like the Dew" - Stories of Life in Georgia (usg.edu)
Town of Sunset Park; Proximity Park; Prairie-Style; and Soda Pop! | The Preservation Society of Asheville & Buncombe County (psabc.org)
Newspaper Articles:
Asheville Citizen-Times. (September 3, 1911). Grove/Seely Overlook park - Seely living in Casino. Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 15, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/asheville-citizen-times-groveseely-over/157186336/
The Star-Ledger. (September 15, 1910). Obituary for Nancy A Hopping Seely. Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 21, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-star-ledger-obituary-for-nancy-a-hop/157545353/
Asheville Citizen-Times. (December 18, 1911). Grove Automobile Road . Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 21, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/asheville-citizen-times-grove-automobile/157360526/
The Asheville Times. (September 8, 1911). Ride up to Overlook Park/Casino. Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 21, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-asheville-times-ride-up-to-overlook/157360033/
The Daily Standard. (October 4, 1929). Obituary for Uriah Seely. Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 21, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-standard-obituary-for-uriah-se/157257950/
The Asheville Times. (November 20, 1911). Grove AVL Partnership Details. Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 21, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-asheville-times-grove-avl-partnershi/157186564/
The Asheville Times. (November 4, 1911). Grove Toll Road. Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 21, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-asheville-times-grove-toll-road/157186863/
The Asheville Times. (August 29, 1900). Lookout Park - Overlook Park Sunset Mountain. Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 21, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-asheville-times-lookout-park-overl/156770867/
Asheville Citizen-Times. (March 15, 1902). Stone Quarry - Sunset Mountain. Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 21, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/asheville-citizen-times-stone-quarry-s/156704247/
Asheville Citizen-Times. (August 24, 1897). Labor Day Celebration at Lookout Park - Overlook/Sunset Mountain. Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 21, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/asheville-citizen-times-labor-day-celebr/156770269/
Asheville Citizen-Times. (November 23, 1911). R.S. Howland Railroad lines. Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 21, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/asheville-citizen-times-rs-howland-rai/156702454/
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