The Spring Still Flows

Just months after the acquisition, Hurricane Helene brought down a large oak tree onto the springhouse—the last standing historic structure on the site. The octagonal stone structure with its pyramidal roof, first plastered by Alfred Taylor’s hands in 1854, was severely damaged. The building that had survived two hotel fires, a flood, and half a century of neglect fell to a storm three months after the community finally got it back.

Volunteers cleared brush. Neighbors walked the property for the first time in decades. The spring that drew the Cherokee, that made Dr. Chick’s fortune, that survived two hotel fires and a hurricane—it still flows. The next chapter belongs to the community.