Town of Black Mountain supports memorial for railroad laborers
RAIL Project seeks to honor men who bridged the Swannanoa Gap
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
January 12, 2021
A project recognizing the incarcerated laborers who constructed the Swannanoa Tunnel, and the six other tunnels and switchbacks connecting Ridgecrest to Old Fort, received a unanimous endorsement from Black Mountain elected officials on Jan. 11. Photo by Fred McCormick
A project recognizing the laborers who completed one of the greatest feats of construction in their time received an endorsement from the Town of Black Mountain.
The Railroad and Incarcerated Laborer (RAIL) Memorial Project, headed by UNC Asheville Professor of History Dr. Dan Pierce and Steve Little, the mayor of Marion, will honor the men who worked, and died, to bring the first trains across the Swannanoa Gap.
Pierce presented the project to the Black Mountain Board of Aldermen in its Jan. 11, regular monthly meeting. The Western North Carolina native, who lives in Ridgecrest and began his education career in Black Mountain Middle School, explained the local significance of the plaque the committee is planning to install at Andrew’s Geyser in Old Fort.
He credited the arrival of the railroad, which crested the ridge in 1879 with the completion of the Swannanoa Tunnel, with the existence of the Town of Black Mountain.
“It was a construction project that lasted about three and a half years,” Pierce told the board, adding he believes it was the most important infrastructure project in the region's history. “I don’t think anything remotely tops it in terms of the impact it had on this area, and the obvious impact it had on Black Mountain.”
Seven tunnels were blasted through the mountains and multiple switchbacks were constructed to manage the grade, bringing the first steam engines into Buncombe County. While history remembers the names of those who oversaw the project, it has long forgotten those of the incarcerated laborers who made it possible.
“There is no public recognition of the over 3,000 incarcerated laborers who built that railroad,” Pierce said. “More than 90% of them were African American, and many of them former slaves.”
The RAIL Project focuses on the word “incarcerated” instead of “convict,” he continued. He used a clipping from an 1878 edition of the Asheville Weekly Citizen that announced three stockades were to be erected to hold convicts, and 700 additional laborers were being sent to the area.
The write-up concludes in a way that Pierce described as “chilling,” stating that the “supply of convicts at the penitentiary” was insufficient and word would be sent out to prosecutors around the state to bring more offenders before the court.
“It’s an invitation for prosecutors to go round people up, and that’s what happened,” he said. “Many of these people were arrested for minor offenses they may or may not have committed, and they were generally sentenced to three years of hard labor even for very minor offenses.”
The work was dangerous and Pierce described the conditions as “horrible.”
“At least 139 died, from a variety of causes,” he said. “Some from illness, some from cave-ins.”
The location of the remains of those workers is still unknown.
“That stretch of railroad, from Ridgecrest to Old Fort, is essentially a mass graveyard,” Pierce said. “We know from the penitentiary records of at least 139 deaths, and there are probably more.”
The educator’s frequent hikes in Ridgecrest led him to reflect on the sacrifices made by the laborers that laid the foundation for economic prosperity in the region. He met with Little in July to discuss an idea to recognize the incarcerated men who made it possible. They formed a nine-person steering committee, which includes WNC Historical Association Executive Director Anne Chesky Smith, the longtime director of the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center.
The project received unanimous support from the Old Fort Board of Aldermen. The RAIL Project committee is in the process of raising funds and awareness for the initiative.
Organizers of the project, which Black Mountain aldermen endorsed unanimously in Monday’s meeting, plan to seek funding from the General Assembly with the support of District 115 Rep. John Ager.
“I’m here tonight to seek an endorsement from the Town of Black Mountain,” Pierce said. “Hopefully, you can also help spread the word about what we’re doing.”
For more information about the RAIL Project, or to donate, visit therailproject.org.