The Old Dude Ranch

 

Gradually most of them became related through marriage. Changes in lifestyle began as the railroad moved into the area bringing new industries and the Marble companies begin mining that valuable resource. Some of the mountain folks began selling their land holdings and moving down to where jobs could be found. Some were able to continue to pay the taxes on their land, but others could not. Sam Tate was one who acquired many acres of mountain land in tax sales. The first major acquisition of Grassy Knob was by John Hendrix and his relatives, John and Joshua Darnell. They had traveled to Californian during the gold rush in 1849. Having found gold they returned to the mountains to buy up thousands of acres at $0.25 an acre. Part of this land is where Bent Tree is now located. Hendrix Mountain is named for John Hendrix. At the start of the 20th Century, the area of Grassy Knob, Hendrix and Mole Mountains was sparsely populated with few roads. By 1910, that all began to change. In 1911, Charles H. Whittington from Fulton County was one of the first “outsiders” to buy up property in the area of what is now Bent Tree. Part of the land he acquired was purchased from that previously purchased by John Hendrix and his Darnell relatives. Whittington purchased 380 acres from Charles Darnell in January. At that same time he also purchased 1,355 acres from Levi Darnell. The Darnell land sold for a little over$10.00/acre. It is reported that his wife, Laura, was in poor health. Thinking that the clean, clear, mountain air would be good for her, Charles built a mansion which later became known as the Dude Ranch. Lillie Mae Pendley, whose father began working at the Dude Ranch when he was thirteen years old, and where she visited many times as a child, described it as a place full of wonders. She said that it was very large. The living room was 40 feet by 40 feet with an enormous fireplace that could hold an 8 foot log. She went on to say that there were fourteen rooms, and a porch that was fourteen feet wide and high off the ground. There were six showers and two indoor toilets! Water was gravity fed down the mountain from Buck Skull Springs in order to provide continually running water in the house. Lillie Mae remembers there being a Monark stove in the large kitchen where meals were prepared. Some of the early Monark stoves had a side unit through which pipes ran to heat water which was stored in a tank. She remembers there was a large tank behind the stove. Gas lanterns provided light. There were servant quarters in the house who undoubtedly handled the meal preparation and cleaning. In addition to the main house there was a guest house called “Twin Oaks.” Lillie Mae said that the house was a sight to see for those who lived on the mountain and had very little, most of whom lived in small one to two room cabins. In Pickens County in the early 1900’s there were other large and impressive homes such as the Pink Marble house in Tate and the Henry Dewar house in Nelson. These mansion, however, were built on main roads and near towns. The Whittington place, way back up in the hills on a dirt mountain road was different. Just getting the building materials, fine furniture and other items into the site must have presented many problems. One would assume that a spectacular mansion such as the Whittington’s would have attracted the Pickens Progress to write a story and publish a picture about it but nothing has been found. The Pickens County Heritage Book has no pictures of the Dude Ranch either although some information is available and no relatives have been located that might have known more about the Dude Ranch.