View from The Switzerland Inn. Photo courtesy of Images of America: Little Switzerland, by Chris Hollifield and David Biddix
By Lauren Stepp
In June of 1909, North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Heriot Clarkson stood atop Grassy Mountain, a 3,800-foot peak straddling McDowell and Mitchell counties. As he surveyed the shadowed valleys and sweeping ridgelines of the Blue Ridge, the Charlotte man saw more than scenery—he saw potential.
“This is the place,” Clarkson famously declared. Those four words would give rise to Little Switzerland, one of Western North Carolina’s most storied summer colonies.
“Clarkson was a mover and shaker,” says David Biddix, who penned the book Images of America: Little Switzerland with co-author Chris Hollifield. “He envisioned a mountain paradise where he and others could escape the heat and find solitude.”
After his trip to the peak of Grassy Mountain, Clarkson and a group of investors procured 1,100 acres in the High Country. At the suggestion of Anna Twelvetrees, a secretary to one of the businessmen, the group dubbed their new seasonal retreat Little Switzerland.
The following summer, development began. The Little Switzerland Company divided the acreage into plots and set firm guidelines for the new resort community. They outlawed alcohol sales, limited development to one house per lot and designated specific lots for commercial activity.
Photo courtesy of Images of America: Little Switzerland, by Chris Hollifield and David Biddix
According to Biddix, the company’s covenants also reflected prejudices of the era. “If you go digging back through the deeds, there was a specification that the lots couldn’t be sold to African Americans,” he says. “Clarkson certainly had control over who came to the community.”
For the most part, landowners were wealthy families from urban locales. At first, relations between these newcomers and the native mountain families were strained. “There was definitely a stratification,” says Biddix.
Over time, however, a symbiotic relationship took shape. Local farmers sold produce and eggs to the transplants while craftsmen helped construct summer cottages and The Switzerland Inn, which was completed in time for the 1911 summer season. Owned and operated by Clarkson’s sister, Ida Clarkson Jones, the inn became a popular gathering spot. For just $7.50 per week, guests enjoyed comfortable accommodations along with hearty, home-cooked meals.
Little Switzerland’s growth coincided with construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP), which began winding through the region in the late 1930s. Initially, Clarkson welcomed the prospect of a new road. However, his enthusiasm was quickly tempered by plans for an 800-foot-wide right-of-way that would cut directly through the heart of the community.
The Switzerland Company filed suit in Mitchell County Superior Court, seeking $22,000 in compensation. The company not only received $3,000 more than requested but also negotiated a reduction in the planned right-of-way and secured a direct entrance to the BRP behind The Switzerland Inn.
Today, more than a century after Clarkson first declared “this is the place,” motorists cruising along the BRP still travel to the mountaintop retreat. “Things are changing in the community,” says Biddix. “But Clarkson’s vision for a mountaintop paradise as a respite from the worries of life has continued.”
Little Switzerland is located at Milepost 334 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. For more information, see MitchellNCHistory.org. Travelers are advised to check current road conditions on the Parkway before planning a visit.
