Moses Cone Mansion / Parkway Craft Center

December 2007

All photos and illustrations by Pat Johns ©2009 - present
All Rights Reserved
See links to article references at the end of the article.

Moses H. Cone made his money along with his brother Ceasar in the textile business in the late 1800s. They created the Cone Export and Commission Company in 1891 and focused on manufacturing efficiencies through the assembly line. The Cone brothers moved their company headquarters to Greensboro, North Carolina in 1894 to be closer to the cotton fields, warehouses, and railway transportation.

At this time, new roads in western North Carolina were improving access to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Moses and his wife Bertha began to look for land near Blowing Rock and eventually purchased more than 3500 acres including Flat Top and Rich mountains.

They added three lakes and stocked them with trout and bass. The local farmers whose farms were now a part of the Cone estate were allowed to stay and many were hired as tenants of his new estate. The Cones then built their mansion, the white, 20-room Flat Top Manor.

Moses Cone died in 1908 and his wife lived on the property for 39 more years until her death in 1947. She left the property to The Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro. Three years later they donated the property to the U.S. Government.

Today the Manor House is home to one of the Southern Highlands Craft Guilds shops. According to Southern Highland's website (see link below):
"Chartered in 1930, it would grow to become one of the strongest craft organizations in the country. Second in age only to the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts, the Guild now represents over 900 craftspeople in 293 counties of 9 southeastern states. The Guild has partnered with the National Park Service for more than fifty years. It operates the Blue Ridge Parkway's Folk Art Center. For information on the Craft Fairs of the Southern Highlands, Special Events, the Folk Art Center, The Shops, Membership in the Guild and links to our members that are online, visit our site."

According to a representative of the Parkway Craft Center:

"There are no stables on the Moses Cone Property; there is however access to the Blowing Rock Equestrian Stables from the trails.  And there (are) ABSOLUTLY NO bikes allowed on the trails as a large fine is administered if caught. The trails are for horse, horse and carriage or foot traffic ONLY."

The Manor House and Craft Shop are open seasonally. Check their websites (see links below) or call .

Links related to this article:

• Blue Ridge Parkway website
• National Park Service
• VirtualBlueRidge.com
• Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
• Julian Price Park
• BlueRidgeHeritage.com - Moses Cone Park
• ConeDenim.com
• Summer Times article about Moses Cone
• BlowingRock.org ~ Moses Cone
• BlueRidgeParkway.org - Linn Cove Viaduct
• Southern Highlands Craft Guild
• Wikipedia.com - Linn Cove Viaduct