Building on Family

For Appalachian Construction owner Jonathan Dodson and his family, a commitment to quality building practices and an obsessive attention to detail are clearly built into the genes. To find out for yourself, visit app-construction.com

(L to R): Brad Leopard, Clay Daves, Grant Dodson, Selina Dodson, Zach Dodson, Jonathan Dodson, Mike James, Abbi Dodson, Mari Dodson, Fidel Mundo, Chris Conner (Not pictured: Isaiah Dodson and Trent Osteen)

Construction is in Jonathan Dodson’s veins. He grew up around and on building sites due to his grandfather and an uncle choosing construction as their professions. He helped and learned, and then as a young adult in 1995 established his own construction firm.

In 1998, his business, Appalachian Construction, was officially incorporated. The livelihood currently involves his wife, Selina, who handles contracts, accounting, marketing, and more, and his three grown sons – all of whom have and continue to be involved in Appalachian Construction to some degree. The Dodson’s sons, Zachary, Isaiah, and Grant, or two young daughters, Mari and Abbi, will one day take over and continue the business. Dodson said he has enjoyed the personal and professional rewards gleaned during his construction career. “Construction is a trade that inspires pride and craftsmanship,” he shared, adding, “We feel like we have built a good reputation.” Most of Appalachian Construction’s contracts are in the Lake Toxaway area, with second new home construction up to $3.5 million as well as significant renovation projects in the works. However, his firm has built homes in the Cashiers and Highlands areas as well. In fact, Appalachian Construction’s unique and custom residential and commercial builds, remodels, and more are showcased throughout prominent Western North Carolina communities.

“We’re hands on, custom-focused,” said Dodson. Dodson shared that the current pandemic-era climate for construction, as it is with many industries, is tricky and often difficult to navigate. “I just talked to a homeowner today,” he offered. “I asked them to please be patient. We’re adapting to orders being delayed, difficulties getting building supplies, difficulties getting certain appliances, etc. Construction costs are not as sporadic, but they are still elevated compared to a few years ago. So, I tell anyone who is wanting our services to try to have a clear plan and path and to also be flexible. Things might have to be adjusted or different materials or appliances selected, for example.” For more information, visit app-construction.com.

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by Deena Bouknight

Mystery of Toxaway’s Translation

The origin of the name “Toxaway” is lost in the fog of years and the clash of cultures.

“Duksa/Y, Dukw’as/Y—The correct form of the name commonly written Toxaway, applied to a former Cherokee settlement in South Carolina, and the creek upon which it stood, an extreme head-stream of Keowee River having its source in Jackson County, North Carolina. The meaning of the name is lost, although it has been wrongly interpreted to mean ‘place of shedding tears’”—from James Mooney, Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees, 1891 Mooney, an anthropologist who spent many years living with the Cherokee, was behind the times, as eastern portions of old Jackson County were incorporated in the newly-formed Transylvania County back in 1861. Also out-of-date was T.W. Reynolds, whose 1966 book Cherokee and Creek commented on Mooney’s entry and added “That ‘extreme head’ is present Lake Toxaway in Jackson County.” A retired engineer and summer resident of Highlands until his death in 1967 at age 82, Reynolds was obsessed with word history and derivation, a.k.a. etymology. He wrote a series of five charming-but-eccentric books that covered local history in Jackson, Macon, and Transylvania counties, and he loved explaining where our place and family names came from, or at least coming up with likely hypotheses. Reynolds thought that he, himself, did know the likely origin of Toxaway: It was a corruption of the Indian pronunciation of “Tuckahoe” (itself an English approximation), an important food source for native Americans.

In Born of the Mountains, 1964, Reynolds mentions the Tuckahoe plant as an indicator of poverty. “Tuckahoe is an Indian name for an edible root they gathered… It is a name used as a poor-mouth name, because some of the early settlers in certain localities had to follow the Indian custom for subsistence.”

The Cherokee town of Toxaway was destroyed by a Scottish Highland regiment in 1760; the site is now under Lake Keowee, along with that of Fort Prince George, which the British built in the fall of 1753, when they were allied with the Cherokees. Back then, as described in colonial records, the headman of Toxaway came to welcome James Glen, royal governor of South Carolina: “…the Raven of Toxaway …accompanied by a hundred warriors who moved toward the governor in the stately maneuvers of the eagle dance. The Governor, not to be outdone by the Indians, formed his laborers and soldiers in martial array and fired three volleys in salute.” And we salute beautiful Toxaway, whatever it means!

by Stuart Ferguson, Local Historian, Co-Owner Shakespeare & Company

HISTORY

Pages 182-185