Lenoir-Blowing Rock Turnpike

Lenoir-Blowing Rock Turnpike. . It was very difficult to travel to Blowing Rock until 1847, when construction began on the Lenoir-Blowing Rock Turnpike. Initially a toll road, it was surveyed by James C. Harper who became President of the Turnpike Company. Building the Turnpike was challenging. Laborers used picks, shovels, and gunpowder. Mules and oxen hauled off debris. The graded dirt surface included many switchbacks to keep the slope manageable for horse-drawn wagons. , Access to Blowing Rock via the Turnpike enhanced the attractiveness of the area for tourists and summer residents called “Cottagers.” In 1856 James Harper, one of the founders of Lenoir and uncle of James C. Harper, built the first Blowing Rock summer home, “Summerville,” in the Green Park area. The Turnpike also boosted the local economy by facilitating the shipments of lumber and other goods to markets down the mountain. , When completed, the bumpy trip from Lenoir (which today takes about half an hour) consumed an entire day provided the weather was good. Visitors, paying $2.50 for a carriage trip, sometimes had to push the wagons out of mud or walk beside the carriage to rest the horses – much easier travel, but not by our standards today.