Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

Proctor, N.C.

  • wcu_travel-7.jp2
  • Proctor, N.C., located along Hazel Creek in Swain County, N.C., was a center of logging activity for the W.M. Ritter Lumber Company from 1909 to 1926. The community had a population of about 500 in the mid-1910s. As rail connections were vital in order to ship large amounts of timber products, the W.M. Ritter Company also operated the nine mile long Smoky Mountain Railway from the settlement of Ritter, N.C., through Proctor some four miles away, and on to the Bone Valley area.