1945 Map of Brevard

About this map

Brevard and its surrounding mountain gaps are captured here following a mid-1940s field examination by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The French Broad River snakes through the valley, past the campus of Brevard College and the industrial activity of the Southern RR. The landscape is a patchwork of early mountain education and spiritual life, featuring the Little River School and numerous small congregations like Carr Hill Ch and Mitchell Chapel. Outside the town center, the terrain rises into the Pisgah National Forest, where infrastructure like the Lookout Tower on Rich Mtn and the Power Plant near Cascade Lake reveal the mid-century management of the region's water and timber resources. Dozens of family-named cemeteries, including Gillespie Cem and Holden Cem, provide significant grounding for genealogical research in this part of Transylvania County.