Did You Know?

Only a handful of people lived in Montreat in December of 1898. One of these early residents was Philadelphian Mary Martin, who had fallen in love with the valley when she had visited earlier in the year for health reasons. She found everyone that she met “delightful,” proclaimed that the scenery rivaled Switzerland’s, and by November had moved into her small Montreat home, Chinquapin Lodge, which she had commissioned and still stands on Collegiate Circle.

With Christmas approaching, Mary began to adjust to mountain life. Though she bemoaned that she had no place to shop for gifts, she decorated with “masses of holly, laurel, and hemlock,” and festooned her tree with cookies and picture cards. She invited her new friends over for a holiday tea – as many people as she had cups and saucers.

The community also gathered for a “social” at Montreat’s lone and hastily assembled hotel. “It is the most marvelous structure,” she quipped. “It looks more like a row of bath houses than anything else.” Mary referred to it as “Big Piney Out,” since the promised Big Piney Inn was yet to materialize. (Hotel Montreat opened in 1900).

At the Martin house, Christmas dinner was a young chicken, picked and cleaned, for which Mary had paid twenty cents. One friend gave her a mousetrap as a gift. It was all wonderful – she was happy and healthy. “It is remarkable how safe one feels in this wilderness,” she wrote. “A walk in the woods is like a journey into fairyland.”

Mary spent many subsequent Christmases in Montreat. In 1902, she married James Miller, a retired civil engineer, and they raised three children in Chinquapin.

The information in this article was adapted from: “Mother Pioneered at Montreat: Her Letters 1898-1899.”  Drop by the PHC to pick up a free copy.

Thanks to the Presbyterian Heritage Center, especially Nancy Midgette, for this glimpse from the past. Stop by the PHC for additional Montreat history and so much more. Have an idea for a future “Did You Know?”? Let Nancy know at midgette@elon.edu.