"My heart is in the mountains far away,

And in this heart I hear one tune –

The song of the creek:

“Come soon. Come soon.”

-Charlotte Miller Weller

Cattail's History

June 27, 1857: Dr. Elisha Mitchell, from the University of North Carolina, falls to his death into a pool below what is now Mitchell Falls in the Wilson Boundary while descending from Mt. Mitchell in the dark after making barometric pressure readings at the peak in his successful attempt to prove the peak is the highest in the Eastern United States.

Timeline:

1953 Art Weller photo of Mitchell Falls (Charlotte, Buzzy and Doug Weller pictured).

July 8, 1857: Thomas “Big Tom” Wilson, famed local guide and bear hunter, tracks his path and finds his body – setting the stage for the bountiful historical lore that helps make Cattail special.

1904: Isom mine in operation (mica deposit just under Celo, probably discovered by Isom Silvers late 1800s); now known as “the Threadgill Mine” or just “the Mica Mine.”

1969 Worth Weller photo of remnants of old mining camp at the switchback that leads to the lower shaft

1911: Cane River Valley and overlooking Blacks (Celo to Mt. Mitchell) start to experience heavy logging, with construction throughout the virgin timber of logging roads and small gauge RR grades.

1912 – 1917: demand for Spruce grows as airplanes become a new war-making factor during WW I. Remnants of this era include the old commissary safe along Cattail Creek Road as well as the still-standing depot along with numerous hiking trails at the high reaches of Deep Gap Rd. and Winter Star Rd. scattered to this day with old RR ties and spikes.

Commissary safe - 1960s Worth Weller photo

August 5, 1925: Percy Threadgill visits Cattail after hearing of 5,000 logged-over acres for sale here

1934: Percy sells his first lot and house here to friend and colleague Dr. Glen James, pastor of Miami’s First Methodist Church.

1936: Percy and Elmer Day (Dean of Boys of Ponce de Leon Junior High School in Coral Gables, Florida) begin work on a short-lived Boys’ Camp where the Worth and Susan Weller “cabin” now stands

Photo provided by Jim Baden

What we now call the “Community Hall” was the mess hall for the camp, which closed the day it opened, as the Great Depression took its toll on many economic endeavors at that time

Photo provided by Jim Baden

1945/46: Percy builds a log cabin for Dr. Edward Mack. Now the Downing/Nygard cabin, it has an historic legacy. No, the trigger for the Atomic bomb was not developed here. But yes, there was an active still (and water wheel), and yes, Capt. George and Phyllis Downings made it a legendary place for the “neighborhood” kids to play in their stream-fed swimming pool with a rope swing!

Late 1940s and early 1950s: the Korean War makes Mica a strategic mineral – it was used in early computers and radios as heat insulation, and the Threadgill mine runs at full tilt, with an aerial tramway established to make hauling the mica down the upper eight switchbacks less torturous. During this time, the largest “book” of mica ever found was unearthed in the lower shaft. Many Cattailers will remember the old-fashioned flip-out toasters that had a sheet of mica acting as insulation between the two electric heating coils.

NC Wildlife bat survey photo of lower shaft, 2020

Late 1950s and early 1960s: Long-time caretaker and friend of Cattail, Ford Hensley, hikes up the Pipeline Trail to the abandoned mine to collect scrap mica for cash. The pipes started at the top of North Fork and delivered steam pressure to run the jackhammers. Remnants of the trail and pipes are still there, even after Helene. A large pipe ran water downhill to a turbine located near the Clemmons house, and a smaller pipe delivered the steam to the mine.

1969 Worth Weller photo

1964: Cattail Cloggers win first prize at the Asheville Bascom Lamar Lunsford Mountain Dance and Folk Festival. Helen Atwood, Joe Baden and Karen Fitzgerald were on the team. Karen and Helen are in these pictures, as they practice on the Town Square.

Photos provided by Jim Baden

July 31-Aug. 1, 1977: Historic flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Doria wipes out much of Yancey County, including the then-functioning railroad from Kona to Micaville and on to Burnsville (Depot St.). Percy walks out, and Sherry Ingram and her family on upper North Fork are evacuated, after the lower bridge was washed away, on foot via an old trail that Percy had opened in the early 70s from the old Round House through the woods above the creek to Grassy Ridge Rd. behind the Phillips.

Sept. 2004: flooding from the remnants of Hurricanes Ivan and Frances destroys the Penland curve and Cattail Creek Rd, just above Pensacola. The upstream end of the Community Hall is flooded and bathrooms damaged.

2004 Worth Weller photo

August 16-17, 2021 – Hurricane Fred wipes out the pilings under the Hall kitchen and deck

Claudette Childs Photo

Sept. 27, 2024 – Hurricane Helene, described as one of the most devastating weather disasters in recent North Carolina history, literally destroys Murchison, Pensacola, Mountain Farm and Cattail, with all bridges out but one, many historical landmarks erased, and the death of two Cattailers: JJ Glynn (North Fork) and Bruce Athey (Winter Star). Many residents, some 90 or so, were evacuated by helicopter. The Community Hall was rendered unusable.

Wendy Lapidus, Chriss and Lois Skokos about to take off from the Baden meadow. (Amy Fitzgerald Buchanan photo)

October, 2025 – Baptists on Mission clean the mud from the Community Hall, tear up the buckled flooring in the serving area, remove all wet debris (books, etc.), along with the ruined flooring, and clean the tables and chairs and spray for mold prevention.

Serving area of Community Hall as it looked on Oct. 16 (Worth Weller photo)

July 26, 2025: Community Cleanup Day around the Hall – terrific turnout to collect light flood debris, boards, limbs, and mud gravel piles. Heiko Baran donated his dump truck and hauled off a huge load of debris!