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The Loafer’s Bench, Highlands NC
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2018/04 - April | Photograph By: Highlands Historical Society
Throughout Highlands history, residents have promoted and staunchly protected the community’s charm and laid-back mountain style. When its look and character take an eyebrow-raising turn, Highlanders have something to say about it.
In 1922 the women of the Highlands Improvement Society devised a plan to restore peace to the downtown area after massive demolition and construction near Fourth and Main Streets upended the accustomed calm. The society’s idea was to build and install benches up and down Main Street where visitors and residents could rest, read, chat, and relax. They called the seats, “Loafer’s Benches.”
Once the Town Council approved the project, Will Cleaveland built six benches and placed them facing the meadow between Cleaveland’s and Dr. Gilbert’s homes. Shade was plentiful. Large maple trees obligingly draped their limbs over retiring loafers.
That was nearly a century ago. Today only one Loafer’s Bench remains. It sits under a great maple tree in front of Cleaveland’s home. Today’s bench was commissioned by Ralph deVille in 1974, designed by Dennis DeWolf and Jeff Cox, and built by Edgar and James McCall, Mike Thompson, and Jimbud Rogers. The name of Alan Lewis, who sat on that bench for many a day with his friends, is engraved on the back rest.
It’s sad that the other five are gone, for those benches had stories to tell. At the onset of World War II Marshall Reese was sitting on one of them. It was an indelible moment when he first heard that England had declared war on Germany. His friend, sitting by his side had his own declaration, “Looks like we’ll be crossing the pond again.”
The next time you stroll Main, take a moment to loaf in front of Cleaveland’s house and delight in a little of your own Highlands history.
Enjoy Ran Shaffner’s “Heart of the Blue Ridge,” filled with hundreds of informative tales of our town. You can visit highlandshistory.com, email [email protected], or, during the season, check out The Highlands Historical Museum, at 524 North Fourth Street, for more information.
