Memories of Flat Rock in the Fifties
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A young Cam Boyd and his horse.
When Cam Boyd’s family purchased Flat Rock’s historic Saluda Cottages in 1955, Cam was just 11 years old and not particularly pleased with the move. His life of riding bikes and playing sports with a crowd of neighborhood kids was no longer in the cards. But as is so often the case, change can be both good and bad. “Growing up in Flat Rock was a mixed blessing,” Cam recalls now. “I did not realize how lucky I was until later in life.”
Cam’s father, Lewis Campbell “L.C.” Boyd, Sr., was a successful car dealer having founded what is now Boyd Automotive. L.C. grew up in Raleigh and moved to western North Carolina during the depression to live with his sister who had married a lawyer from Hendersonville. L.C. got his start in business when his new brother-in-law, Monroe Redden, loaned him money to purchase a Gulf Service Station at the corner of Church and 4th Streets. He soon started selling Pontiacs off the lot and the business began to take off.
L.C. later met and married Helen McGary, the daughter of the mayor of Coral Gables, FL. They settled into a home on Hyman Street in Hendersonville and started a family that eventually included three children - Mary Helen, Cam, and the youngest sibling, Paula. Cam Boyd still recalls those days on Hyman Street fondly. “We lived in a neighborhood with 10 to 15 guys my age within 3 or 4 blocks of where I lived. We rode our bikes to town, played ball in each other's yards, and lived the life of city kids.”
Boyd’s Gulf Service on Church St. in Hendersonville.
In 1955, L.C. Boyd, Sr. was well established as a successful Henderson County businessman and purchased the 125 acre Saluda Cottages estate in Flat Rock, NC. L.C. kept the home and approximately 30 acres surrounding the estate for his young family. The rest of the property he eventually developed into what is now the Flat Rock Forest neighborhood.
The original structure at Saluda Cottages was built in 1836 by Count Joseph Marie Gabriel St. Xavier de Choiseul, French Consul to Charleston. The Boyd’s undertook extensive remodeling to make their new home a year-round residence. The house's 17 fireplaces were supplemented with a heating system and the baths and closets were updated to handle a growing family.
Cam recalls the move as a “lonesome” time. Flat Rock was certainly not the bustling village we know today and Cam felt far removed from his days as a young man freely riding his bike all over the streets of Hendersonville. In fact, his new home was not on a paved road - Little River Road at the time was still an unpaved one-lane clay road with very little traffic. “My only neighbors were the Sandburg's and The Playhouse,” he says.
Saluda Cottages
To help with the transition to country life, L.C. and Helen Boyd bought horses for Cam and his sisters and pastured them in the fields surrounding their new home. Cam’s parents also made sure that the children’s friends were frequent guests to the home. “The horses were a lot of fun,” says Cam. “We could take Midnight and Sunset and go out and explore all of Flat Rock. And we always had a house full of friends invited over.”
Ironically, as the son of a successful auto dealer, Cam spent much of his youth on the back of a horse. He recalls those times fondly. “We could go anywhere. We rode through all the old Flat Rock estates. I could ride my horse to the Hendersonville Country Club, tie him to a fence, go swimming, and jump back on him and head home.” Cam would also ride his horse downtown and remembers going to Brock’s Drive-in, tying his horse to the speakers used for drive-in orders, and going inside to get a sandwich.
Flat Rock in the 1950s was much less developed and was replete with logging roads and bridle trails that crisscrossed Flat Rock's larger estates - perfect for riding horses on warm summer days. Cam remembers riding through the Argyle estate and being welcomed by Alexander Campbell King, Jr. “He was delightful,” Cam recalls. “He would insist that I come in and have a glass of lemonade or cold water from the spring.”
Cam’s world was modernized considerably at age 13 when his father threw him a set of keys to a jeep and told his son to go learn to drive. “The rule was I could only drive on dirt roads. I could cross a paved road, but only drive on dirt roads.” Fortunately for Cam, there were plenty of dirt roads in Flat Rock in 1957. Still, some of the lessons about driving were hard. “I turned that jeep over a few times,” he says with the nonchalant grin of a teenage driver.
Cam Boyd with his mother, Helen and his older sister, Mary Helen
Cam has many memories of “Old” Flat Rock that reach back into the history of the village. The Boyd’s were neighbors to Lillian and Carl Sandburg and Cam would see them often. Occasionally, he was tasked with returning a wayward donkey that belonged to the Sandburg’s. “That donkey wanted to live at our house with our horses instead of with Mrs. Sandburg’s goats. About once every two or three weeks, I would lead the little donkey back to the Sandburg's house.” Cam found Mr. Sandburg, despite his fame in other circles, to be just another resident of Flat Rock. “He was a very quiet, unassuming, nice old man. You know, he was just a neighbor to me.”
Cam also has many memories of trips to Peace’s Grocery at the corner of West Blue Ridge and Greenville Highway - now The Wrinkled Egg. “I knew Mr. and Mrs. Peace who owned the store in the 50s better than Clarence Peace who came later. Like most families in Flat Rock, we had a charge account there. So I could just go in and get whatever I wanted. I would get a drink and talk with the neighbors as they came in to get their milk and bread. Mr. and Mrs. Peace were great and always treated us well.”
Riding a horse to The Wrinkled Egg today would be hazardous, to say the least. But in the late 1950s, traffic was not an issue. “I can remember sitting on the front steps of the old post office (now Historic Flat Rock’s Cultural Museum) with friends and there wouldn't be 10 cars that would drive by in 30 minutes.”
Other hangouts for a young boy and his horse included Jim Markley’s blacksmith shop. “We’d ride one horse down there to get it shod, and then ride home on our second horse.” Young Cam also spent time at the Flat Rock Playhouse. “In the summer we’d sit and watch as the actors practiced for their plays. Sometimes we would go swimming in the old quarry that is just behind the playhouse.”
Winters in Flat Rock were much quieter than the summer months. The seasonal residents would have packed up and headed back to Charleston, Florida, or other permanent residences. But winter still held a lot of charm for the children who lived in Flat Rock year-round. “We used to ice skate on the pond off of Boyd Drive. At night, the adults would point their car headlights at the pond so we could skate after dark. And when it snowed, we’d have people come over to go sledding down our big hills. My dad would take the Jeep and pull us up the hills.” Cam’s eyes still light up when he talks about those days. “We had so much fun.”
Summers in Flat Rock featured large picnics every Sunday after church with a dozen different families and a small horde of children at Lake Summit. Cam and the other children spent their Sunday afternoons playing games, swimming in the lake, and learning to ski.
Cam in his Air Force uniform on the porch of Saluda Cottages
Eventually, it was time to move on from childish things and Cam left for college and four years in the Air Force - including one year spent in Vietnam. He returned home in 1969 to help his dad with the business after the elder Boyd suffered a heart attack. Cam married the pretty girl named Sally that he’d known for most of his life and they started a family of their own. He eventually took over for his father and purchased the dealership in 1982. Under Cam’s guidance, the business continued to flourish. He and Sally also bought Saluda Cottages from his parents and raised their children there.
Even after a lifetime of business success and civic-minded contributions to his hometown, Cam Boyd has never forgotten the magical, halcyon days of his youth growing up in the Flat Rock of the 1950s. “It was a wonderful time. It was total freedom. I wouldn't trade that time for anything."
Cam and Sally Boyd.
Photo by Times-News.
