The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 95

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Sim June 4 1972 5F Flat Top Manor Is The Showplace Of Cone Estate passes through the Cone available to all by the Blue Ridge Parkway which now Cross Country CAMP GROUND OPEN Year Round chard and 30 miles of walks with rhododendron all along both sides There were vegetable gardens for the kitchen and flower gardens for the parlors The trustees of the Moses Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro deeded the Blowing Rock estate to become a part of the National Parks System Mr and Mrs Cone are buried on the estate near the top of Flat Top Mountain Flat Top Manor now houses the Parkway Craft Center a craft shop sponsored by the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild Here in gracious and beautiful surroundings work done by skilled craftsmen from nine mountain states is displayed and sold The magnificent scenery of the mountains has been made Moses Cone the builder of Flat Top Manor was born in the hills of East Tennessee and always had a longing to go back to the mountains to live Born at Jonesboro Tenn in 1857 he lived there until he was 13 years old when his family moved to Baltimore He was the oldest child 21 and had nine younger brothers and three younger sisters He was hard at work helping his father support the family Before Cone was 30 he had traveled by horse and buggy throughout the Carolinas soliciting orders for his wholesale grocery business He often stayed overnight with his customers the owners of the stores He made friends easily and listened to the problems of his friends He noted the abundance of intelli gent fine workmen on the little farms Most of the jobs in the United States were in New England factories or on railroads to the west Cone James Duke and other industrial pioneers were to show Southerners how to use the native crops of cotton and tobacco to make jobs in the Carolinas Their enterprise survived the money panics of the last of the 19th century and the present Cone Mills headquartered in Greensboro is testimony to the business genius of Moses Cone Meanwhile Cone wanted to get back to the hills He saw what the Vanderbilts were creating at Biltmore Forest He began to accumulate some forest land around Blowing Rock beginning with Flat Top Mountain and extending across the valley to Rich Mountain On a shoulder of Flat Top he built Flat Top Manor for his home with servant quarter stables milking barns and bowling lanes In front of Flat Top Manor he planted an apple orchard with varieties that matured from early summer until late fall At the foot of this orchard he built a lake and stocked it with bass He fenced an extensive chestnut forest and stocked it with deer Behind Flat Top Manor Cone dammed another valley and stocked the lake with trout On the shoulder of Rich Mountain he pastured a flock of sheep The entire farm known far and wide as the Cone Estate was nearly 4000 acres on which were built 30 miles of carriage roads an observatory half a dozen small caretaker farms with houses a second apple or FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY Swimming Pool Air Conditioned recreation building Teen pad for dancing Oath houses Camp store Children's playground Fishing Hiking Binge every Friday night Squore dance Saturday night Sunday morning worship 930 AM Minioture golf course 200 ACRES OF FACILITIES 1 Mile East Of Hwy 16 On Hwy 150 12 Miles From Newton 25 Miles From Charlotte BLOWING LARGEST AND FINEST GALLERY BLOWING ROCK GALLERY OPENING THURSDAY EVENING JUNE 22 8 PM Outstanding Selections From The Largest Estates Throughout The World THERE ISA DIFFERENCE IN QUALITY AUCTION COME SEE FOR YOURSELF AUCTION SALES DAILY! 10:30 am 7:30 pm MAIN STREET (ACROSS FROM CITY HALL) BLOWING ROCK 704295-4716 Daniel Parker Lee I Joseph Sherwin Bernard Kaye Auctioneers.