All Day Long: Building the Western North Carolina Railroad

All Day Long: Building the Western North Carolina Railroad. . , Look out over the Swannanoa Gap to the base of the mountains below. Hundreds of men unwillingly gave their lives to construct the railroad line up this steep grade., Until 1879, travelers , and supplies , could only reach western NC by scaling these mountains on foot, on horseback, or by wagon or stagecoach. After a drought in the 1840s resulted in a total crop failure in the mountains, the lack of reliable transportation into the region became an emergency issue. The State of North Carolina began to work in earnest on bringing the railroad up the steep grade into Asheville., The project stalled with the onslaught of the Civil War and again faltered when the men in charge of construction embezzled the funds earmarked for the railroad and skipped town. Though the State apprehended the criminals, they did not recover the funds, nor did the men, who were wealthy, white, and well-connected, serve any prison time., Instead, the State found a new solution to their financial woes. They began rounding up (primarily Black) men for petty crimes and quickly convicting them; many were innocent. This allowed the State to then send a steady stream of men and women from the penitentiary in Raleigh to the mountainside to cut tunnels and lay track for far less than it would cost to pay free laborers., Within four years of the first incarcerated laborers arriving on the mountain, the State of North Carolina celebrated the completion of the railroad into Asheville. At the same time, the families of the more than 150 people who died from disease, exposure, accidents, and escape attempts mourned the deaths of their children, spouses siblings, and friends., By the Numbers , Dates of Construction: 1876-1892 , Total Incarcerated Laborers: 2,957 , Black Men in 1878: 501 , White Men in 1878: 35 , Black Women in 1878: 22 , Age Range in 1880: 14-66 , Died of Disease/Exhaustion: 388 , Died in Accidents/Escapes: 77 , Escaped: 540 , Recaptured: 236 , Released: 1,673 , based on NC State Penitentiary and US Census Data, Image: This popular postcard image shows incarcerated men chained together during a meal break on the WNC Railroad. The 13th Amendment outlawed slavery in the U.S. except for as a punishment for a crime. It was this loophole that allowed brutal involuntary servitude to continue long after the end of the Civil War. (T.H. Lindsey, Asheville, NC)