FOTOFAX OCTOBER, 1977
DON BLANKENSHIP, "MR. FIRST", REMEMBERS
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Don Blankenship retired this year after
25 years of active service, 20 of which he
spent here. He is often referred to as
“Mr. First" as he was one of the first sent
from Wilmington to help start up the Plant.
When he arrived here in April, 1957, as an
employee relations supervisor, he worked
in a temporary office that was located in
an old garage on N. Caldwell Street in
Brevard because "they were still in the
process of grading and pouring the footings
for the plant."
Don has many fond memories of those
first years. He recalls Brevard as "a very
attractive small town that was very cordial.
Everyone welcomed us with open arms.
People were very anxious to get jobs at
Du Pont." It seems that Du Pont was
well-known in Brevard even then because
Du Pont Construction built Olin's cello
phane plant in 1951 and was admired for
their high safety standards.
Don had the job of screening 300
anxious applicants. He said, "The
characteristic applicants were young, in
their late teens or early twenties, and
were looking for the opportunity to get
their first real job. They tried very hard
to please. Some of them even brought in
written recommendations which was
interesting because I had never encountered
this before."
It wasn't until January, 1958 that Don
moved to the plant and production didn't
actually begin until a month later. He said
that "commuting to and from the plant
was like riding through a scenic park, but
I wore out a couple of sets of tires on the
old Cascade Lake Road."
It has been twenty years since that
time and Don says, "In comparison to
then, the Brevard plant is a huge one. The
most obvious change has been its growth
in space and number of employees,
especially since Photo Products took over."
Don said he has really enjoyed himself
since retiring this year, but he readily
admitted that "the worst part of retire
ment is that I miss everyone at the plant."
Mr. First may be retired, but he is not
forgotten . . .
CHARLIE PAXTON RECOUNTS HISTORYOF PLANT PROPERTY
The 11,000 acre tract of land where our
plant is located has a colorful and
interesting history that dates back almost
two centuries. Charlie Paxton, Plant
Ranger, is deeply involved in this history.
Charlie was the professional N. C. State
forest ranger hired by Du Pont to maintain
and manage this forest property when it
was purchased by the Company in 1956.
A native of Transylvania County, he learned
the general history of this area from talking
to the old-timers whose families have lived
here for generations.
Early artifacts such as arrowheads found
in several sites indicate this area was well
known by the Indians who once roamed
the Blue Ridge Mountains. The early
settlers called this area Buck Forest and
in the early 1800's it became popular as
a picturesque and peaceful place for wealthy
families to "get away from it all". A lodge
called Buck Forest Hotel was built near
High Falls by a man named Thomas to
take care of the tourist business that came
from South Carolina by stagecoach.
While logging, Charlie found the remains
of a rock house built, he was told, by the
slaves that Thomas used to till his land.
He has found two cemeteries on the
property dating from the early 1800's
and he knows the general location of a
third slave cemetery. The slaves called this
property "The Happy Land", which is
now the title of a book about this area.
Buck Forest Hotel later became Buck
Forest Lodge. When the property was
purchased, the lodge was in bad repair.
Charlie had it torn down and employees
helped make it into a picnic area with a
shed attached to the old original lodge
chimney.
At the turn of the century, there were
6—8 farms on the property. Several grist
mills tapped the streams for water power
and a saw mill was built on Mill Shoals.
In addition to farming, there was another
small but booming industry on the property
ca 11 ed 7)001!egging!
The land has gone through quite a few
changes. The overgrown farmland had
been badly abused by indiscriminate
timber cutting, farming, and fires. There
were only five miles of logging roads so
Charlie immediately began building trails
and fire roads to clear dead timber and
undergrowth. There are now 40 miles of
trails and fire roads on the property.
Twelve years ago, Charlie began a
forestry program to "upgrade our forests
from poor grades of Appalachian
hardwoods to evergreen and white pines."
This was financed by logging and selling
puipwood. He supervised the planting of
more than 2 million white pine seedlings
obtained from N. C. state nurseries. Now
many are over 100 ft. tall.
Several years ago, a rock and earth dam
was built near the plant to back up water
from the springs in a 400 acre watershed.
This filled Lake DERA where employees
and their families now go swimming and
boating. Hiking, fishing, horseback riding,
and camping are also enjoyed on the
property.
This area haS been popular for enter
tainment, recreation, and natural beauty
for over 100 years. Charlie believes "the
forestry program here on the property will
help keep it that way."
•if. . . .
Chariie Paxton, Plant Ranger, checks property.