Montreat Minute – August 29, 2025
Hurricane Helene Update
Town staff continue to meet regularly with FEMA representatives. Progress is steady, though the process remains slow. We anticipate receiving nearly $150,000 in reimbursements in the near future. You may notice contractors around Town working on projects in the coming weeks. Please remain mindful of speed and follow any posted signs.
If your home was damaged by Tropical Storm Helene, you may qualify for help with the costs of repairs through Renew NC’s Single-Family Housing Program. To find out if you qualify, CLICK HERE
If Helene damaged your private road, bridge, pipe, or culvert, there are only two days left to apply for the NC Private Road and Bridge Program. The deadline is August 31.
Finding Water Leaks
With an aging water infrastructure, Public Works deals with water leaks on a regular basis. Whether it’s a water main giving way or a supply line to a cottage, the underground pipe system is old and presents a variety of problems. Here is one such incident:
Recently, a cottager reported seeing water in several areas of their yard where ordinarily there shouldn’t be water. Public Works staff came to check out the situation. They tested the water to determine if it was underground stormwater or treated drinking water, and determined it was treated water. Looking at the water meter and asking the resident about his water bill, they then determined the problem was between the main waterline and the meter box, meaning it was Town responsibility.
Water Specialist Jarod McIntosh used a special sounding tool to listen underground for flowing water and clearly heard water flowing. Using a backhoe and digging very gingerly, Jarod soon found water filling the four foot wide hole he had just dug– and not because he struck the waterline! Instead, more than two feet underground, the waterline had split due to a tree root and was releasing a large amount of water into the ground, which then surfaced in several low lying sections of the residents’ property. Having experienced similar problems in the past, Jarod was able to quickly fix the leak. The resident reports that the water pools have dried up.
Jarod estimated that the pipe was leaking approximately five gallons of treated water per minute, or 300 gallons per hour, or 7,200 gallons per day, or an amazing 2.6 million gallons per year! That is 2.6 million gallons of water the Town produced but was lost and not able to sell due to an aging water system. If you see water where it shouldn’t ordinarily be, call the Town staff at 828/669-8002, ext.1, to report the problem.
Montreat Trivia Coming September 18
Trivia Night is coming to Montreat on September 18, thanks to a newly formed group called Montreat Friends Forward. The group’s purpose is to raise funds for beautification of the Town Hall and surrounding property after the devastation of Hurricane Helene.
Trivia Night will begin at 7:00 pm in the Town Hall Community Room and conclude at 8:30 with a sweet treat. The evening will be hosted by an Asheville trivia expert with a subject focus on Montreat. A $10 donation is requested, cash or check accepted. Proceeds will be used to replant areas around the Town Hall and pocket park.
For questions or other information, contact Maggie Elliott at maggieelliott5@yahoo.com or Jan Swetenburg at janswetenburg@gmail.com
Did You Know?
Four Whallon sisters: Carrie (1863-1919), Isabelle (1872-1947), Frances (1873-1944), and Bertha (1876-1935), were an inextricable part of early Montreat history. Their names first appear in General Manager Weston Gales’s annual report dated January 1901, when he indicates that sisters Carrie and Bertha Whallon, from Cleveland, Ohio, had taken on supervision of the Montreat orphanage (see previous orphanage story HERE) upon the death of its founder. A year earlier, in January 1900, Carrie and Bertha had purchased a small farm in Lower Hominy Township, so the sisters were obviously familiar with the area before arriving in Montreat. They sold that property in December 1901, and six months later secured two lots in Montreat. Over the course of the subsequent two decades the four sisters were involved in multiple land transfers in Montreat.
Why did the sisters come to western North Carolina from Ohio? With no written account from them, we can only surmise based on other evidence. Carrie died of tuberculosis in 1919, so it is logical to assume that she, like hundreds of other people, came for the climate. Bertha, a nurse, came with her. Also coming to the Asheville area from Cleveland at this same time was Dr. Clyde Ellsworth Cotton who in 1899 purchased 75 acres between Montreat and Black Mountain on which he constructed a sanitorium for tuberculosis patients. It is quite possible that he treated Carrie in Cleveland and recommended the area to her.
Carrie and Bertha ran the orphanage from 1900 until January 1905. During that time the children were housed in various rented houses, at least one of which burned. They finally raised enough money to build an orphanage at the end of what is now Oak Lane, but it burned in January 1905. The children went to other institutions and there was no further effort to have an orphanage in Montreat.
The Whallon sisters, however, did not leave the area, although records of their activities are sparse. In the 1910 census Isabelle is listed as a matron at the Lindley Training School in Asheville (a reformatory school for young women). In 1919, Carrie died of tuberculosis in Cleveland and Isabelle is shown living there in the 1920 census. Most likely, Isabelle returned to Cleveland to care for Carrie. They owned a house on Mississippi Road with a small cottage on the back of the same property. Bertha lived there, moving to the small cottage during the summer to rent the larger house to summer visitors. By 1930, Isabelle was back in Montreat. When Frances (Frankie) came is unclear, but it was after the 1920 census. Bertha died in 1935, having suffered a stroke some years earlier. Frankie died in 1944. She had suffered from a form of dementia for many years when she fell, broke her hip, and refused medical attention. Isabelle, a “wonderfully strong woman” recounted a neighbor many years later took care of them both and then remained in the house until her death in 1947. All three women were buried in Homer’s Chapel Cemetery in Black Mountain.
Thanks to the Presbyterian Heritage Center, especially Nancy Midgette, for this glimpse from the past. Stop by the PHC for additional Montreat missionary history and so much more. Have an idea for a future “Did You Know?”? Let Nancy know at midgette@elon.edu.
Updates and Reminders
- Town offices will be closed Monday, September 1, in observance of Labor Day. Trash collection will be delayed until Tuesday, September 2 and back door collection service will resume on Wednesday, September 3. The Convenience Center will be open on Labor Day from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm.
- The Montreat Landcare Committee will meet on Wednesday, September 3rd, at 9:00 am in the Town Hall Community Room for its monthly meeting. The meeting will be live streamed and all are invited to attend. For streaming instructions, CLICK HERE.
- Do you receive your own copy of the Montreat Minute or know someone who doesn’t? Sign up for the Sunshine List to receive the Montreat Minute and stay “in the know” about the Town’s happenings. CLICK HERE to sign up for the list!
- Do you receive Montreat CodeRedalerts, an emergency communications system used a number of times during the hurricane and wildfires? To learn more about CodeRed or to be added to the list, CLICK HERE.
Questions or Comments?
Do you have Town-related questions or comments to offer? If so, please send them to Angela Murphy at info@townofmontreat.org and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Have a great Labor Day weekend
