Back to the Future in Marshall NC Then and Now
Photo credit: Matthew Turlington
By Colleen Watson Dominated by the Blue Ridge Mountains and broken by rocky outcroppings created by the rush and flow of the French Broad River, Madison County is beauty actualized. Marshall is the county seat and sits with its back to the rocky edge of the mountains with Main Street running alongside the beautiful river. This gem of a town is only 20 minutes from Asheville and 10 miles from the Appalachian Trail. Marshall occupies a narrow strip of level land that is often quoted as being a half-acre wide, a mile long and sky high. In the early days, its school was on the island in the river. Today, that building houses artists’ studios as the city continues to reinvent itself. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s go back to the beginning. Madison County was formed from portions of Buncombe and Yancy Counties in 1851. At that time, Marshall was called Lapland and was a crucial location on the Buncombe Turnpike. Also known as the Old Drovers’ Road, the turnpike stretched from South Carolina to Tennessee and provided access to regional markets. Throughout the year, thousands of drovers would drive their stock of hogs, sheep, horses, mules and even turkeys (some say 10,000 at one time) along Page 24
the French Broad River, stopping in Marshall along the way. In the mid-1870s to the early 1880s, regional railroads were connecting to other rail lines, creating a railroad throughway that linked Western North Carolina with Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Ohio. With the completion of this throughway, the day of the drover was gone forever. Up to this time, corn had been the king of Madison County, but soon after, Tobacco would reign and business was booming! But several times over the ensuing decades, Marshall would see a rise and fall in both its population and economy. The first time this happened was in the early years of the 20th century. But, following the Great Depression, young families moved back to the farms and mountains. Young men plowed the fields and food was plentiful, in spite of the lack of money during that time period. Another exodus would occur after the war. It seemed as if Marshall was forgotten. With no new industries, no tourists and bypassed by the interstate road system, the bustling town seemed closed for business. 50 + Living | May 2018
