Editing Tryon, North Carolina (section)

==History==

===Cherokee hunting ground===
The area which Tryon now occupies was originally part of the [[Cherokee]] hunting grounds<ref name=Richards14/> of [[Western North Carolina]]. Archaeological evidence dates indigenous peoples' occupation of the site to the end of the [[Last Glacial Period|last ice age]], more than 11,000 years ago. Successive cultures occupied the river valleys. Semi-permanent villages appeared in the area by about 8,000 B.C.

They later developed towns with a democratic political structure, developing religion, domesticated crops, pottery and skilled, powerful archery. The culture developed cultivated vegetables, and hunted and fished. Each historic Cherokee village had a peace chief, war chief, and priest.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cherokee-nc.com/index.php?page=56 |title=History |year=2010 |work=Cherokee, North Carolina |access-date=May 1, 2011}}</ref>

===Spanish discovery===
{{multiple image
 | align     = right
 | direction = horizontal
 | header = De Soto's Exploration (1539–1540)
 | header_align = center
 | header_background =
 | width =
 | image1 = Hernando de Soto.jpg
 | width1 = 90
 | caption1= [[Hernando de Soto]], Spanish explorer and conquistador
 | image2 = Chiaves-map-xuala-1584.jpg
 | width2 = 200
 | caption2 = Map of a portion of de Soto's route, including Cherokee village Xuala (now Tryon)
}}
Having landed near present-day [[Panama City, Florida]] on May 30, 1539,<ref>{{cite book | title=A Guide to Historic Henderson County, North Carolina |author1=Jones Helsley, A |author2=Jones, G | publisher=The History Press | location=Charleston, SC | year=2007 | page=17 | isbn=978-1-59629-275-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dFwsbCpyaH8C&pg=PA17 }}</ref> Spanish explorer [[Hernando de Soto]] reputedly traveled up to the area of present-day [[Spartanburg, South Carolina]] and then north into western North Carolina.<ref name=AshList/> Traveling on horses, de Soto and 1,000 men arrived in North Carolina in mid-May 1540.<ref>{{cite book | title=Voices from Colonial America: North Carolina 1524-1776| author1=Cannavale, M |author2=Griffin, P  | publisher=National Geographic Society | location=Washington, D.C. | year=2007 | page=21 | isbn=978-1-4263-0032-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=njkY3InHUqMC&pg=PA21 }}</ref> In search of gold, de Soto explored the area of Asheville area and met with the Cherokee in their village of Xuala, the area now known as Tryon. After a day or two, de Soto continued his journey with provisions provided by the Cherokee.<ref name=AshList>{{cite web | url=http://www.ashevillelist.com/Cherokee_Indians_history.htm |title=Cherokee Native American Indian History: 1500s  |year=2000–2011 |publisher=ashevillelist.com |postscript=" Reference: Ho, Cynthia, Sawin, Sheryl, Spellman, W.M., ''The Asheville Reader: The Medieval and Renaissance World,'' Pegasus Press, Asheville, NC, 1998. pgs.395 -396. |access-date=May 2, 2011}}</ref>

Luys Hernandez de Biedma, one of de Soto's officers, wrote of a group of Spanish men who made their way to Xuala on May 21, 1540:

<blockquote>The next day, they went to Xuala which is a town on a plain between some rivers; its chief was so well provisioned that he gave to the Christians however much they asked for: slaves, corn, little dogs [probably opossums]… and however much he had.<ref name=Cannavale>{{cite book | title=Voices from Colonial America: North Carolina 1524-1776| author1=Cannavale, M |author2=Griffin, P  | publisher=National Geographic Society | location=Washington, D.C. | year=2007 | pages=21–22 | isbn=978-1-4263-0032-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=njkY3InHUqMC&pg=PA21 }}</ref></blockquote>

From there, de Soto went to ''Gauxuile'' (since developed as Asheville), which in Cherokee meant "The place where they race," named for the walk around the perimeter of the village.<ref name=Cannavale/>

===Early English settlement, French and Indian War===
In the earliest periods of settlement, the British traders and Cherokee enjoyed peaceful relations. Most of the British colonists settled in the coastal areas, where they had more contact with Algonquian-speaking peoples. A treaty signed in 1730 resulted in a greater influx of white traders and settlers to Cherokee territory.<ref name=Richards14/> An early home, Seven Hearths, was built in 1740, and it is reputedly the oldest clapboard house in the county. It was moved to its present location in 1934. A log cabin that served as quarters for enslaved African Americans was also built about 1740. It was moved and rebuilt next to Seven Hearths in the 1930s.<ref name=PCHP/>

The [[French and Indian War]], the North American front of the Seven Years War, primarily between England and France, ended the peace that had existed between the Cherokee and the English settlers. Both the French and the English recruited Native American allies to aid their militias.<ref name=Richards14/> The French were allied with the [[Muscogee (Creek)|Creek people]] (Muscogee), traditional competitors of the Cherokee. The French tried to make allies of the Cherokee as well, who had been affiliated with the British because of their trading history. The French encouraged the [[Shawnee]] to raid settlements of the English.

As conflict and tension increased, the British built defensive forts along the frontier, including  the "Block House" near the future Tryon.<ref name=Rozema>{{cite book | title=Footsteps of the Cherokees: A Guide to the Eastern Homelands of the Cherokee Nation | author=Rozema, V | publisher=John F. Blair | year=2007 | orig-year=1995 | page=257 | isbn=978-0-89587-346-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gfic5eOnNDwC&pg=PA257 }}</ref> Tensions with the Cherokee continued after Britain defeated France in the large war. The Cherokee were resisting repeated incursions into their territory by English colonists.

In 1767 [[William Tryon]], [[Governor of North Carolina|governor]] of the North Carolina Colony from 1765 to 1771), traveled to the area and negotiated a peace treaty with the Cherokee. They established a boundary line between a location near [[Greenville, South Carolina]], the highest point on White Oak Mountain (renamed Tryon Peak by the settlers). Settlers, though, did not commit to the boundary. With the outbreak of the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], some Cherokee hoped to expel the white settlers from their lands.

In the spring of 1776, Cherokee met on Round Mountain and planned an attack on the "Block House", Earl's Fort in [[Landrum, South Carolina]], and Young's Fort near the current town of Mill Spring, North Carolina. Aware of the plans, a Cherokee named Skyuka went to the "Block House", where he warned his friend Capt. Thomas Howard of the impending attacks. Howard and the assembled local militia took a trail toward Round Mountain, where they met and defeated the Cherokee at a gap in the valley, now known as Howard Gap.<ref name=Rozema/> Settlers honored Skyuka by the naming of Skyuka Creek, Skyuka Road, and the [[YMCA]] Camp Skyuka on Mount Tryon.<ref name=PCT>{{cite web | url=http://www.polkcounty.org/county/tryon/tryon.htm |title=A Short History of Tryon |year=2011 |publisher=PolkCounty.org |access-date=January 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221023344/http://polkcounty.org/county/tryon/tryon.htm |archive-date=December 21, 2010 }}</ref>

===Post office===
[[File:Map of Polk County North Carolina With Municipal and Township Labels.PNG|thumb|250px|Map of Polk County, North Carolina with Municipal and Township labels]]

In 1839 a post office was established at the Top of Howard Gap and Holberts Cove Roads run by the Thompson Family, named the Tryon Post office ,In early Polk what is now the Saluda township was called the Tryon township, present day Tryon was in the Columbus Township;<ref>1860 census</ref> until Tryon city was established in 1885 both were named after Governor Tryon.

===Rail service and hospitality===
By 1877 the railroad provided regular transportation from [[South Carolina]] seaports around [[Charleston, SC]] to [[North Carolina]], [[Tennessee]], and the [[Ohio Valley]].<ref name=TDDA>{{cite web | url=http://downtowntryon.org/index.php/download_file/45/84/ |title=Historic Tryon Walking Tour |author=Gloria Underwood (research) |year=2010 |work=Tryon |publisher=Tryon Downtown Development Association |access-date=May 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110213034611/http://downtowntryon.org/index.php/download_file/45/84/ |archive-date=February 13, 2011 }}</ref> The particular spot that became the town of Tryon was the point where construction of the railroad to [[Asheville]] stopped for two years. West of Tryon, the railroad ascends the Blue Ridge along the [[Saluda Grade]], which was the steepest railroad grade in the country before it became inactive.

At the peak of railroad expansion in 1885, Tryon was incorporated.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.exploretryon.com |title=Welcome |work=Tryon Visitors Information  |access-date=May 1, 2011}}</ref> By the 1890s, the railway made six daily stops in Tryon.<ref name=TDDA/> The current depot building, built in 1922, is the third depot built. After expansion of individual automobile use, railroads restructured their offerings and passenger service to Tryon ended in 1968.<ref name=TDDA/>

{{multiple image
 | align = right
 | direction = horizontal
 | header = Oak Hall
 | header_align = center
 | header_background =
 | footer  =
 | footer_align = right
 | footer_background =
 | width =
 | image1 = Oak Hall_Tryon_NC.jpg
 | width1 = 200
 | caption1 = Oak Hall, Tryon, NC
 | image2 = New Oak_Hall_complex.jpg
 | width2 = 208
 | caption2  = Condominium complex at the previous Oak Hall location
}}

Oak Hall, originally built as the Tryon Hotel in 1881, is located on a bluff that looks over Trade Street.<ref>{{cite book | title=Literary Trails of the North Carolina Mountains | volume=2  | author=Eubanks, G | publisher=Accessible Reading Publications | year=2008 | page=108 | isbn=9781458715913 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ftNwsGkq6AgC&pg=PA108 }}</ref> It had notable guests into the 20th century, such as [[Henry Ford]], [[Thomas Edison]], British film actor [[David Niven]], Sherlock Holmes actor [[William Gillette]], writer [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]], composer [[George Gershwin]], First Lady [[Grace Coolidge|Mrs. Calvin Coolidge]], [[Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor|Lady Nancy Astor]], and [[George C. Marshall|Mrs. George C. Marshall]], wife of the World War II general.<ref name=TDDA/> The hotel was redeveloped as a condominium complex in the early 21st century.

Appreciative of the ice cream served at Misseldine's drug store (previously located at the bank site on Trade Street), F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the following ditty,

{{poemquote|Oh Misseldine's, dear Misseldine's,
A dive we'll ne'er forget,
The taste of its banana splits
Is on our tonsils yet.
Its chocolate fudge makes livers budge,
It's really too divine,
And as we reel, we'll give one squeal
For dear old Misseldine's.<ref>{{cite book | title=Literary Trails of the North Carolina Mountains | volume=2  | author=Eubanks, G | publisher=Accessible Reading Publications | year=2008 | page=111 | isbn=9781458715913 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ftNwsGkq6AgC&pg=PA106 }}</ref>}}

===Tropical Storm Helene===
On September 27, 2024, [[Hurricane Helene|Helene]] caused considerable damage in Tryon.<ref>Puckett, Jason. "[https://www.wbtv.com/2024/10/03/polk-county-community-shows-that-post-helene-donations-recovery-efforts-are-working/ Polk County community shows that post-Helene donations, recovery efforts are working]," ''WBTV Channel 3'' website, Oct. 3, 2024. Retrieved Oct. 8, 2024.</ref>