Highland Lake Club Membership Documents

Name/Title

Highland Lake Club Membership Documents

Entry/Object ID

2004.012.005

Scope and Content

In 1873, the Honorable William Aiken, Governor of SC, the mill/property was passed on to his daughter Mrs. A. Burnet Rhett, whose father-in-law, Robert Barnwell Rhett owned "The Charleston Mercury" and was the author of the first draft of the Ordinance of Secession. The mill was renamed Rhett's Mill. In 1910, Joseph Holt and a group of Columbia and Charleston, SC, businessmen organized the Highland Lake Club as a corporation. They bought nearly 500 acres of land in the Flat Rock area and enlarged the lake to the largest in the county at that time. The land of this new corporation was subdivided into large lots which were to be sold for summer homes. An owner of a lot had all the privileges of the lake, such as boating, swimming, and fishing, as well as the privilege of the Highland Lake Club House. It was a big rustic type hotel that had all of the modern conveniences of the day including a large lobby and dance hall, which were to be lighted by electricity- a rare thing in this area in those days. The Club would furnish hotel accommodations to club members and their guests and serve meals to those members who had built cottages. The Club had its own orchestra that played at meal times and for dances. John Ingils (or Ingles), a nationally known golf expert, was brought here to lay out the only 18 hole golf course in the entire mountain area of Western North Carolina at the time and predicted to become the Mecca of golf enthusiasts the world over. Too far ahead of its time, the Club failed after two years. (Source: Highland Lake Inn website, "History," http://www.hlinn.com/everything/history.htm) File contains membership applications for Ion Rhett, W. Aiken Rhett, Edmund Rhett, and A. Burnett Rhett, dated August 25, 1910; payment due letters to same, dated Sept. 28, 1910; payment receipts for same, dated Oct. 1, 1910.

Collection

Aiken-Rhett House

Acquisition

Accession

2004.012.

Source or Donor

Rhett, Mary F.

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

In memory of Edmund Rhett, 1914-1997 In Memory of: Edmund Rhett, 1914-1997

Lexicon

Search Terms

Correspondence, Personal Papers, Memorabilia, Highland Lake Club (Flat Rock, N.C.)--Membership, Aiken-Rhett Family--Correspondence

Legacy Lexicon

Object Name

Collection

Archive Details

Date(s) of Creation

1910

Archive Size/Extent

1 folder containing photocopies of membership applications, receipts, and related correspondence; originals in protective sleeves

Restrictions

Access: Refer to photocopy. Handle original only when necessary.

Primary Language

English

Archive Notes

Date(s): 1910 Level of Description: Item System of Arrangement: Copy of each document; originals in protective sleeves.

Location

Location

Container

Misc. A-R Family Documents

Shelf

ARH Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Date

February 7, 2023

Location

Container

Document Box

Shelf

ARH Shelves, ARH Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Rhett, William Aiken

Person or Organization

Rhett, Edmund

Person or Organization

Rhett, I'on

Person or Organization

Rhett, Andrew Burnet (Jr.)

Created By

admin@catalogit.app

Create Date

July 26, 2004

Updated By

kemmons

Update Date

February 18, 2016