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Historic Blue Ridge

Zachary-Tolbert House

The Zachary-Tolbert House, operated by the Cashiers Historical Society, is an architectural and cultural treasure that remains today just as Mordecai Zachary, the son Cashiers Valley pioneer Col. John Zachary, built it. It has been preserved as an example of life in Cashiers Valley, first as a self-sufficient farm that took in summer visitors and later as a summer retreat.

By 1833, Col. John Zachary had traveled up the road to Cashiers along paths carved centuries earlier by the Cherokee in their pursuit of buffalo. His skilled sons helped clear the land, build, and establish a home for the family. Sensing the need to trade goods, his son Alexander opened a store; his store ledger remains today giving clues to their life.

Another son, Mordecai Zachary, selected a home site on a creek near the Chattooga River that offered a clean running spring. He cleared the land, milled lumber at the family sawmill and built a large 8-room Greek Revival Home. He and his wife, Elvira Keener, daughter of Rev. Ulrich Keener, the first Methodist Missionary to the Cherokee Indian, raised their family of 11 children in the home during the next 21 years.

The three families that followed used the house only as a summer dwelling, never adding electricity, plumbing, central heat or paint to the interior walls. The plain-style furniture crafted by Mordecai was sold each time with the house and remains today. Through the years each family left messages (graffiti) on the walls, denoting business transactions, birthdays, visitors and some secrets yet to be deciphered. The Tolbert family enjoyed and cared for the house throughout the 20th century until its purchase in 1996 by Tom and Wendy Dowden. The house is now on National Register of Historic Places.

Visitors are also encouraged to walk the trails that prehistoric Indians may have walked, visit the two springs on the property, and view the archaeology exhibits.

Zachary-Tolbert House Hours of Operation
The Zachary-Tolbert House is open for tours from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June through mid-October. Group tours may be scheduled in advance for any day of the week. Trained guides conduct tours of the house and grounds. Special interest tours on a wide range of topics are also available including plain-style furniture, Civil War, and the graffiti on the walls of the house.

Zachary-Tolbert House Admission Fees
Guided tours are $5 for adults. Group rates are available by request. There is no charge for walking the trails and grounds.
*Prices are subject to change without notice & from what is listed on this website.

Zachary-Tolbert House Location
The Zachary-Tolbert House is located on NC 107, approximately 2 miles south of the intersection of US 64 in Cashiers, North Carolina.

Zachary-Tolbert House
1940 Hwy. 107 South
Cashiers, North Carolina 28717
828-743-7710
http://www.cashiershistoricalsociety.org/