Montreat History Trivia: Questions
What famous youth club(s) did Montreat's founder, the Rev. John C. Collins, help establish in America?
|
Answers
The Boys Club of America, now known as the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Collins created a Boys Club in New Haven, CT, and then help create new clubs in numerous cities. |
| When did the Montreat Lake become Lake Susan — and why? |
1924. Susan Graham and her son donated the funds to build a concrete dam to replace the old wooden one. Susan Graham's mother and daughter also were named Susan. Before 1924, it was simply known as Montreat Lake.
|
The founder of the Florence Crittendon Mission
(now the Rescue Mission) in New York City came to Montreat in 1898. Who was this person? And why did he come? |
Henry B. Gibbud. He spoke at the 1898 Bible summer conference. More details click Montreat History button at top of page.
|
| When and where were putters used at Montreat? |
There were a few golf holes laid out along Flat Creek, which were later abandoned. A few decades later, there was a putt-putt type course near Assembly Inn, where the meditation garden is now located (between the Inn and the former Historical Building).
|
| Who saved Montreat during the early 1900s? Why was he famous across America? |
John S. Huyler. Huyler was the U.S. Candy King selling chocolates across America (Milton Hershey of Hershey's Chocolate worked for Huyler's company in 1883 to try and learn how to succeed). |
| Who was the First Lady to visit Montreat? |
Eleanor Roosevelt visited Montreat in March 1945, a month before her husband died. She spoke to the Council of Southern Mountain Workers (a traditional craft organization) meeting in Montreat, as well as visiting the Montreat College. She also visited injured soldiers at the Moore General Hospital (formerly the Swannanoa General Hospital), as well as going to Black Mountain College. |
| During World War II, Axis diplomats and their families on the East Coast were detained at various hotels until they could be exchanged for stranded American diplomats and families. Can you name some of the hotels? |
Greenbrier and the Homestead (Dec. 1941 - July 1942); Grove Park Inn (1942); Assembly Inn in Montreat from Oct. 29, 1942 - April 20, 1943). Part of the funds received from the U.S. Government for housing these diplomats by the Mountain Retreat Association were used to help build the former Historical Foundation building. |
| When did Montreat appoint its first Christian missionaries and to where? |
Around 1900, the Mountain Retreat Association created the Mountain Missionary Work in Appalachia. For eight months, Rev. Irving Keeler and Arthur O'Rear "traveled hundreds of miles on horseback, afoot and in buggy; have preached over two hundred times...." |
| The early Montreat community members were very active in Christian mission work — including a local school for mountain children, religious home missionaries and what other short-lived attempt that ended in 1905? |
Montreat was home to an orphanage for 18 young girls during 1904 - 1905. The orphanage rented a home during 1904, which reportedly was destroyed by fire. Then the orphanage built a building (on Oak Street), which was only partially completed and occupied by the orphan girls when it burned down on January 20, 1905. |
| Cora Stone started Montreat's first library and store. Who built and operated Montreat's first post office and second general store, and where was it? |
The Rev. F. R. Rood was Montreat's first postmaster. He built his general store and post office building on the property immediately across from where Shennandoah intersects with Assembly Drive. This facility was open from at least 1902 to 1907. |
| When did speed limits get imposed for automobiles in Montreat? And what was the speed limit? |
There were only 550 horseless carriages in all of North Carolina in 1905 and 3,220 by 1910. But mass production introduced in the early 1910s brought down the high prices of  cars, leading to a boom in the vehicles. By 1919, there were almost 110,000 cars in the state. (1914 Ford at right )
On July 24, 1914, the Mountain Retreat Association adopted a resolution that it was "unlawful to drive an automobile or other motor vehicle in excess of the rate of 15 miles an hour."
The first offense was subject to a $5 fine; with a $10 fine for the second offense and a $25 fine for the third offense. |
| When did the first children's playground get built in Montreat? |
The MRA Board authorized the construction of the first children's playground on August 11, 1911, to be open by the 1912 summer conferences. |
| A Real Cola War — When did Cola soft drinks get banned in Montreat? |
Responding to a petition by Montreat residents, the Managing Committee of the Mountain Retreat Association voted on July 12, 1915, that it is "unlawful for any person or persons to sell or dispose of any of the following named drinks, Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, Cherri Cola, Ten-Cola or Christi Cola within the grounds of the Mountain Retreat Association after July 20th, 1915." The penalties were a fine of $25 to $50 for the first offense, and 10 days imprisonment for the second offense.
Cola drinks were under attack by the Women's Christian Temperance Union and others. In late 1915, the hobble shirt bottle design was created, with its adopted and introduction in 1916. The popularity of Coca Cola and its competitors soared during the late 1910s, and needless to say, the Montreat ban didn't last. |
| By the 1910s, baseball was America's pastime and how did Montreat recognize the game? |
In addition to a Montreat ballfield being built (where the current ballfield exists on Assembly Drive) circa 1907, a grandstand was authorized in 1912 and built for spectators. |
| When was the first police officer or force implemented in Montreat? |
When the North Carolina General Assembly revised Montreat's charter on March 11, 1901, it provided for a marshall to provide a police function for the community. William Suttles was named Marshall at a July 26, 1901 meeting. The pay? The marshall was paid $25 a year, plus keeping any fines (Aug. 15, 1905). |
| When did Montreat start charging a gate toll — originally only during conference seasons? |
 The first gate house tolls or entry fees were published in the 1910 conference brochure (1910 gate right ). Costs were: 25 cents a day; $1.25 a week; $2 for 10 days; $5 for the season; $10 for a family season ticket. |
