Then….                                                    Text by Beth Morrison/Photos Courtesy of James Lewis

The early history of Todd is much like that of numerous crossroads communities throughout northwestern North Carolina.  Located

where Elk Creek flows into the South Fork of the New River, it was

 a logical site for trade, starting with Native Americans and continuing with early English, Scots, and Scots-Irish settlers following the Revolutionary War.

By the early nineteenth century, Elk Cross Roads included South               Fork Baptist Church and a Post Office.   It was still a rural

community; agriculture was the primary focus of life.  On

June 13, 1894 the Post Office name was changed to Todd, in

 honor of Captain Joseph W. Todd (1834-1909), a leader in

Ashe County following the War Between the States.

Soon thereafter, the expansion of railroads in the quest for natural resources reached

 Ashe County, in the form of the Virginia-Carolina Railway -- later a branch of the

Norfolk and Western, nicknamed the Virginia Creeper--that reached from Abingdon

 across White Top to Lansing, West Jefferson , and finally to Todd's Elkland station in

 1915.

 

The coming of the railroad transformed the little crossroads community into a boom

town, as the timber that clothed the surrounding mountains yielded lumber, tanbark,

pulpwood, and extract wood to be processed and shipped up to Virginia and beyond.  

 To support the boom--and to share in the profits anticipated from the railroad--Todd

expanded.   In 1910, a co-op of farmers built a general store that became the Todd

 Mercantile Company.   In 1912, T.A. McGuire updated his hotel to accommodate

expected passengers.   By December 1913, Todd included two stores, a gristmill ,

a sawmill , the Post Office, two churches, two lodges, and several substantial houses,

besides a big lot of crossties for the construction of the railroad.

As the terminus of the rail line, Elkland Depot boasted a turntable to reverse the engines for the return trip, a water tank, and three cabooses in which the railroad crews spent the night.   To serve the passengers and workers and freight, Todd soon had another hotel, a bank, a Ford garage , nine stores, four doctors, a dentist, a printer, a blacksmith and

 wheel­wright, and countless lumber buyers and dealers.

The Virginia Creeper ran to and from Todd from May 15,1915, until March 31, 1933.   In less than twenty years , Todd went from a rural crossroads community of a few farming families to a bustling town of some 500 souls.   When the timber gave out and the train pulled out for the last time, the community dwindled quickly , losing the people whose livelihoods depended on the railroad and its attendant prosperity.   The deepening Depression            took its toll, as did a devastating flood in 1940--the one still cited as the worst flood in anyone's memory.   Before long, Todd was back to its former size, with two churches, one store, and the Post       Office.   People who had retained ties to the land throughout the boom stayed and farmed as always; but their children often had to leave the area to find work.

…...And Now

Todd is once again a rural crossroads community, and its peace and quiet beauty are a pleasing contrast to the hustle-bustle           of life not very far away.   The faster pace of modern life could easily destroy the vestiges of a fascinating chapter in North Carolina history ; but the Todd Community Preservation Organization is determined that this should not happen.  

As you walk among the buildings in the Historic District, you may be able to get some feel for the way things were in Todd during the boom times of the early twentieth century.   We hope you will also appreciate the unique character of Todd the way it is now.