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Highlands’ First Families
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2020/06 - June | Photograph By: Highlands Historical Society
Highlands graduated from a tiny settlement to a town in the early 1880s.
From 1881-83 the midwest and northeast contributed many of Highlands’ first families, among them: Illinois’s H.M. Bascom (served thrice as Mayor); Connecticut’s William B. Cleaveland (who left an impressive rock and Native American relic collection, which contributed to the founding of the Highlands Museum and Biological Station); Massachusetts’s Sumner Clark (education advocate, serving as Superintendent of Public Education and owner of land on which Wright Square and Helen’s Barn now stand) and John “Papa” Durgin (scout and Indian fighter who served under General Custer and earned the nickname, Reckless Jack always comes back); Wisconsin’s Antle Henry (a man accustomed to snow who saw a two-footer as an opportunity to introduce Southerners to a romantic nighttime ride on a make-shift sleigh in two-below-zero weather); New Jersey’s Capt. Charles A. Boynton (the originator of the Boynton, Norton, Crisp, Potts, Paxton, Tate, Phelps house, built 1881) and Henry Stewart (agriculture editor for New York Times and Montreal Star and would-be physician, had Napoleon not run him out of France).
In 1883 Albert Clark, Highlands’ first newspaper’s editor, announced the community was a bona-fide town. It had daily mail service, roads coming and going every direction, several churches, respectable organizations and societies, a good school, a number of businesses, and a population that had more than tripled since 1880, growing from 82 residents to 300. Twenty-seven states contributed to this growth, folks coming from as far away as Florida, Oregon, Maine, Texas, and many points in-between.
Bear in mind Highlands has always had a summer influx of resident/visitors, so numbers are hard to nail down. In 1883 Highlands House boarded 409 people. But by 1900, Highlands’ permanent population dropped to 250. Highlands Chamber of Commerce says the year-round population currently hovers around 3,200, 18,000 in the summer.
The remarkable men noted above (along with other early settlers) inspired many more intriguing entries to Heart of the Blue Ridge’s table of contents. For additional historical chronicles, visit: highlandshistory.com or email [email protected].
