Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

C.J. Harris Tannery, Sylva, N.C.

  • wcu_travel-23.jp2
  • C.J. Harris was the most prominent industrialist and entrepreneur in Jackson County, N.C., in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He owned extensive business interests, which included a retail store, bank, electric power company, clay mining operations, and a tannery. This postcard view of the Harris Tannery in Sylva, N.C., was hand-dated November 1, 1922, and postmarked November 2, 1922, from Sylva, N.C. Harris established the tannery in 1901 and sold a share of its operation to Armour Leather Company in 1915. The railroad seen in the picture was part of the Murphy Branch of the Southern Railway. A handwritten message on the reverse expressed the writer's desire to his brother that, 'Again I wish you were along to see this scenery along the Murphy Branch of So. R.R.'