The Todd Historic District, established in 2000, is composed of 16 features that span the years of Todd’s heyday, when the Virginia-Carolina Railroad’s Virginia Creeper line terminated at Elkland Station. Part of a community revitalization plan, the district was created with financial aid and advice from The Conservation Fund, New River Community Partners, and the Ashe County Historical Society, among others. The descriptions are adapted from the original application prepared by Sherry Joines Wyatt, historic preservation specialist.

The Walking Trail was an important part of the original plan for the District. It was completed in 2006 through the efforts of the Todd Community Preservation Organization in partnership with HandMade in America and with funding from the federal Blue Ridge National Heritage Area program.

1. Todd General Store

The store was built by brothers Walter and Monroe Cook in 1914, a year before the railroad began service to the community. The entire building, and all other remaining commercial buildings in Todd, is sheathed in galvanized pressed tin. It is believed the pressed tin was used to reduce the risk of fire from the burning coal embers which were ejected from the train’s coal-fired steam engine.  A fire in 1920 burned the original depot and several stores, causing $60,000 in damage, but the cause of the fire is now unknown. Walter Cook bought out his brother’s interest in the store in about 1917, and he continued to operate the enterprise, known as W.G. Cook Store, until he sold it in 1960. The business was operated as Goodman’s Store until the late 1970s when it changed hands once again. It changed hands four more times until Joe and Sheila Morgan purchased the store until 1985.The Morgans sold it in 2003 to current owners are Bob and Gini Mann. The business offered drygoods, feed and other supplies to residents and did a great deal of trade for herbs, skins and farm commodities. The lower portion of the store stored feed and once served as an ice house.

2.The Cook House

The one-and-one-half story bungalow adjacent to the store was built for Walter Cook and his first wife, Chessie, in 1916. Chessie died at the age of 27 in 1927. Mr. Cook later married Chessie’s sister, Ann, who raised the children and worked with her husband in the store. Walter Cook was elected the town’s only mayor after the town was incorporated in 1915.

3. Todd Mercantile

The building was built as a cooperative store by a group of area businessmen in about 1910 and purchased by John Arthur Cox in 1918.
He ran the business with Cyrus Howell until the store was closed in 1934, following discontinuation of rail service.
Like the General Store, the building is sheathed in pressed tin. It originally had three floors.
The Mercantile building was purchased by Emilie Enzmann from John Ashburn in 2002 and today includes an art gallery and bakery.

4. Turntable Site

Because Todd was the end of the line for the railroad, a manual turntable was situated near the depot to turn the locomotive around. The train would arrive at 3 in the afternoon, the engine would be disconnected from the cars, turned on the table and reconnected. Workers would keep the fires stoked through the night so the train could leave at 6 the following morning. No known detailed photographs of the turntable survive.

5. Bank of Todd

The small, one-story bank building was erected around 1918 and operated as a bank until around 1927 when the bank manager took the deposits and fled. Walter and Ann Cook, who had encouraged investors, repaid those who lost money. The bank was chartered in 1918. Burton K. Barrs started the bank with an investment of $5,000. Assets at the end of 1920 totaled $22,567.31. The building also served as the post office until 1952. It is now owned by Elkland Art Center.

6. Weston House

The front façade of this house, built circa 1940, is dominated by a large brick chimney. It was the home of Paul Weston, a noted photographer and musician, and his wife, Ruby (Cox) Weston. The Westons operated a photo studio in downtown Boone for decades. A small side-gable building at the rear of the property, once operated as Westbrook Photography Studio, is currently a private residence.

7. Cox House

Originally the Methodist parsonage, this house was bought by John A. Cox in 1952, when a new parsonage was built behind Blackburns’ Chapel. The Coxes had moved in 1927 from the second floor of the Mercantile to a house next to site #12, across Elk Creek from the depot. Currently unoccupied, this house is still in the Cox family.

8. Old Post Office

Herbert Moretz built this block building in 1952. Mr. Moretz’s wife, Eleanor Moretz, served as postmistress of the Todd Post Office from 1941 until 1980. The walls of this block building were erected on the concrete slab after a team of horses used a sled to carry the old Bank of Todd safe to the new location. The building served as the post office until 1969.

9. Ford Garage

This building dates to circa 1920. Postman Ed Blackburn and others would visit Raymond McGuire’s garage in the mornings for repairs to their vehicles. In addition to the garage, it is said that car parts brought in by train were assembled at this building for sale in the area. The McGuire family lived upstairs.

10. Blackburns’ Chapel

The original chapel was a log structure built sometime around 1860 at the Crossroads and named for one of the church’s organizers, Levi Blackburn. One account of the church’s history states that the construction of the log church was inspired by a traveling preacher who would preach from his open wagon at the crossroads while crowds gathered under shady oaks in the meadow. The log chapel was replaced with a new building on this site in 1900 and the current brick building was completed in 1951 at a cost of $1,800.

11. Elkland Depot

This building was brought in by train following a fire in 1920 which destroyed the original depot, post office and two stores. The conflagration caused $60,000 damages at the time, according to a newspaper dispatch. After the railroad left Todd in 1934, the depot was used as a residence for several families throughout the years before being restored in the 1980s. The building was built in the 1880s and transported here from Kayoulah, Va.

12. Baptist Parsonage, McGuire House

This pyramidal cottage on the bank of Elk Creek was built around 1920. No information is available about the early history. It served as the Baptist parsonage and home to Preacher Winkler during the 1930s and 40s. About 150 ft. down the creek from the building is a chimney which is all that remains of the Cyrus Howell house. The Howell house was built in the 1840s. John Ashburn, whose family has been in Todd for more than a century, owns both properties. Also note the cottage upstream which was built in 1910. It was the home of Ester McGuire, who was a night watchman for the railroad.

13. Elk Creek

This stream shaped the valley and also played an important part in how the town was developed. Typically, homes were built on the slopes while commercial interests were located in the valley.

14. Dentist Office

This small building located on the Todd Hotel parcel at the mouth of Elk Creek was built in 1912 and originally meant to be a retirement home for Felix McGuire and his wife. The one-room building with a cellar later served as the office of Dr. J.B. Hagaman. During the 1930s, it was used as a dentist office by Dr. Joe Gaither.  Since then, the structure has been used as an efficiency apartment and for storage.

15. Todd Hotel

The original structure was erected circa 1840 for the Brown family. The Browns sold the property to W.C.L. Hulcher. Mr. Hulcher, whose parents were born in Germany, operated a general merchandise store in Todd during the 1880s and 1890s before he died in 1899. He also operated a hotel at Todd, although it is not known whether this was the same building. Felix McGuire purchased the property in 1910 and sold it to his son, T.A. McGuire, in 1912. T.A. McGuire completed renovations and the home was used as a hotel when the railroad was in operation. Today, it is a private residence owned by the McGuire family.