Andrew's Geyser

Andrew's Geyser in Old Fort, NC. The geyser, which is a massive artificial fountain, was created as a dramatic tourist attraction during the early years of the Western North Carolina Railroad around 1885. Passengers of the WNCR thoroughly enjoyed gazing at the man-made geyser as they made their journey crossing the Eastern Continental Divide. However, after a fire destroyed the hotel located next to the fountain in 1903, Andrew's Geyser fell into disrepair. In 1911, New York banker and philanthropist George Fisher Baker rescued it and had it redesigned and moved across Mill Creek. At that time it was named in honor of his friend and Southern Railroad’s vice president, Alexander Boyd Andrews. In 1975, Andrews Geyser was deeded by Southern Railway to the town of Old Fort, which restored and rededicated it a year later. It is now part of a town park.

1947 photo of Andrew's Geyser. 

A friend of mine in Black Mountain used to own another inn/B&B on the gravel road which still follows the stage line between Old Fort and Black Mountain. He said their property had the valve to turn on the geyser, which itself was downhill quite a ways from where their inn was located. That road is still car worthy if you don't mind ruts and bumps...and sometimes cyclists use it...or hikers. I think I've driven it about 3 times, either way. The fun is seeing the times that the railroad (still in use for freight) crosses it, or goes through tunnels.

Another post in 2019, where I shared other (not too good) photos of the old railroad, as well as the geyser, taken at the Swannanoa Valley History Museum. HERE

Another source offers excerpts from this article:

Lost or forgotten no more: Incarcerated Black laborers that built WNC railroad memorialized 

Blue Ridge Public Radio News | By Matt Bush Published October 21, 2021 at 2:34 PM EDT

Now, the thousands of laborers who did the work are finally memorialized at the site too.  

“In many ways states just revamped the slave codes and turned them into what is known now as the Black codes," says Dr. Darin Waters, North Carolina’s state historian. 

“It really was a way for states to continue to control the labor, especially of Black men.  You could be convicted of being a vagrant, put into jail for x number of years, for something as simple as not being able to show that you were gainfully employed.  And then the state would contract with private employers to use that labor on work crews throughout the state," Dr. Waters says.  

The disproportionate arrests and incarcerations of African Americans that still exist in 2021 – that can be traced to the Black Codes.  “This has had a tremendous impact on Black families.  We have to have the courage to face that.”

Andrews Geyser is named for Colonel Alexander Boyd Andrews, the vice president of the company that owned the railroad.  The memorial to the incarcerated laborers who built the railroad is at the bottom left by the parking area.

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Today's quote:

Peace has a mind of its own, and doesn't follow victory around. -Norman Corwin, writer, producer, and teacher (1910-2011)

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