A JOINT RESOLUTION honoring the founders of the town of tryon on the town's one HUNDREDTH twenty‑fifth anniversary.
Whereas, in 1767, William Tryon, Royal Colonial Governor of North Carolina, negotiated a treaty line separating lands claimed by settlers from the Cherokee hunting grounds to the west, at which time one of the landmark peaks was named Tryon Mountain; and
Whereas, in 1839, a frontier post office named Tryon was established on Howard Gap Road; and
Whereas, in 1877, the Asheville‑Spartanburg Railroad established a line to connect the markets and seaports of the South Carolina Low Country to the people and resources of Western North Carolina, Tennessee, and the Ohio Valley, which had a dramatic impact upon the course of this area's economic and social development; and
Whereas, Tryon City was chartered as an incorporated municipality on March 11, 1885, by the North Carolina General Assembly with the appointment of T.T. Ballenger as Mayor; C.L. Jordan, George A. Smith, and Edwin Anderson as Commissioners; and John M. Dalton as Marshall; and
Whereas, the Town was formally laid out in a half‑mile radius circle around the intersection of Pacolet Street and the railroad, a location presently marked by the Town's mascot, the Tryon Horse; and
Whereas, one of Tryon's most distinguished early residents, William Gillette, a noted actor who, in collaboration with Arthur Conan Doyle, created the stage version of Sherlock Holmes in 1889; and
Whereas, on January 9, 1889, the Le Duc sisters established the Lanier Library, as a private subscription library, named in honor of Sidney Lanier, Poet Laureate of the Confederacy, to stimulate the development of the community's civic and cultural character; and
Whereas, in the 1890s, General Ulysses Doubleday, brother of American baseball founder General Abner Doubleday, established his Tryon grape industry on the slopes of Tryon's Laurel Avenue and the slopes of Little Piney Mountain growing white Niagara and red Delaware grapes and initiating an era of highly successful viticulture on Tryon area slopes; and
Whereas, in 1915, Eleanor Vance and Charlotte Yale, late from Biltmore Industries, moved to Tryon and established the Tryon Toymakers and Wood Carvers, which trained local craftsmen for production of artisan furniture and toys which were sold worldwide; and
Whereas, in 1918, Carter P. Brown, noted Michigan hotelier, hearing of the Town's natural beauty and friendly citizens, converted a lodge, formerly used as a tuberculosis sanatorium, into the historical Pine Crest Inn, founded, shortly thereafter, the Tryon Riding and Hunt Club and laid the foundation for Tryon's thriving equestrian cultural tradition; and
Whereas, in 1920, the State Legislature granted Tryon a second charter changing the name from Tryon City to the Town of Tryon; and
Whereas, in 1928, the Tryon Daily Bulletin, the world's smallest daily newspaper, was launched by Seth Vining; and
Whereas, also in 1928, Tryon physicians, Dr. Allen J. Jervey and Dr. Marion C. Palmer, founded the 25‑bed St. Luke's Hospital, with funds from an initial bequest by Miss Lucy Embury, a grant from Duke Foundation and $57,000 contributed by local citizens; and
Whereas, Tryon has contributed to the leadership and historic preservation of the State of North Carolina, sending T.T. Ballenger to serve as State Senator in 1903, Francis T. Bacon to serve as State Representative in 1925 and 1937, Carroll P. Rogers to serve as State Representative in 1929, 1939, and 1941, and as a State Senator in 1945, during which time Rogers cosponsored the bill enabling the State to purchase the site of Tryon Palace in New Bern; and
Whereas, numerous individuals of social, cultural, literary, and cinematic fame have deeply invested themselves in the Town of Tryon, including Lou Hoover, Grace Coolidge, Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Culkin Banning, Lady Astor, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemmingway, General George Marshall, and David Niven, among others; and
Whereas, in 1933, internationally renowned singer and human rights activist Nina Simone, née Eunice Waymon, was born in Tryon; and
Whereas, in 1964, a bequest from Violet Parish‑Watson requiring matching funds from the public to build a "civic auditorium and arts center" led to the organization and opening in 1969 of the Tryon Fine Arts Center through the vision and hard work of many individuals and arts organizations including Tryon Little Theater, Tryon Concert Association, Tryon Arts & Crafts, and Tryon Painters & Sculptors; and
Whereas, in 1985, Foothills Equestrian Nature Center (F.E.N.C.E.) came into being as a non‑profit nature education and outdoor recreation center, built around an original contribution of 112 acres from the Mahler family who had come to Tryon in the 1920s; and
Whereas, in 1992, the Tryon Business Beautification Association, now the Tryon Downtown Development Association, was created by concerned citizens to foster improvements in downtown Tryon; and
Whereas, March 11, 2010, marked the 125th anniversary of the original Town Charter; Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
SECTION 1.  The General Assembly honors the memory of the founders of the Town of Tryon and expresses its appreciation for the contributions that these citizens made to the State of North Carolina.
SECTION 2.  The General Assembly joins the citizens of the Town of Tryon in celebrating the Town's 125th anniversary and encourages the people of this State to participate in activities planned through March 10, 2011, to celebrate the Town's historic anniversary.
SECTION 3.  The Secretary of State shall transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the Mayor of the Town of Tryon.
SECTION 3.  This resolution is effective upon ratification.