OUR HISTORY
In 1853, McKewn Johnstone, son of a wealthy rice planter from Charleston, South Carolina, purchased the property that is now known as Glen Cannon. He and his two brothers owned most of the area referred to as the “Upper French Broad Valley” area. McKewn’s wife was Martha Cannon Webb, a woman of Scottish descent, and it is thought that the name “Glen Cannon” originated because of her heritage.
The family built a small farmhouse and farm in Glen Cannon and were living here when the Civil War began in 1861, which coincidentally was the same year Transylvania County was established. The land was cleared with the aid of Albert Cannon, owner of Horse Shoe Bend Farm, using slave labor. It is said there is a slave cemetery located near where the original farmhouse was located. It is rumored that the property also had a grist mill on it at one time. For fifty-two years the Johnstone’s would call Glen Cannon their home and the Scottish names of the streets act as a reminder of its beginnings.
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The land was acquired by Levi S. Clough in 1907, owner of timberlands in several states. In 1925, the land was deeded to L.S. Clough Land & Timber Company. In 1939, the property was deeded to Irving J. Reuter, an engineering graduate from Purdue University who worked for General Motors and inventor with six patents issued under his name.
Reuter sold the property to E.C. Langston and his wife, Jennie, in 1944. Seven years later, in 1951, the property was then deeded to DeCamo Romfh and his wife, Donna Lynn. A warranty deed to Glenn Cannon Falls Inc. was registered in Romfh’s name in 1958 only to be quitclaimed within the same year to Jules M. and Emily N. Romfh.
Jules loved the sport of polo and it is rumored that polo ponies were raised in Glen Cannon at that time. In 1964, an indenture was registered between Elmer and Frances Gooden, husband and wife, and R.H. Burns, the Trustee, to facilitate the execution of deeds for the sale of the property.
In 1965, thirty-five investors from Brevard purchased the 1,300 acre tract for the purpose of building a golf course and residential community. The golf course opened in 1966 on 155 acres in the center of the community. Four of the original investors acquired the remaining Glenn Cannon Land Inc. shares in 1975 and began to develop the residential land around the golf course.
In 1982, they sold their interest to developer, John Nichols Jr. and he continued development until the majority of the home sites were sold. The remaining common areas, including 12 acres of trails and waterfalls along Camp Creek were then turned over to the Glen Cannon Property Owners Association and are still managed by the POA today. Like many golf courses in the United States, semi-private, Glen Cannon Country Club ran into financial and management difficulties that ultimately resulted in the foreclosure and sale of the golf course and clubhouse to Le Parc. Inc. in 2014.
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Glen Cannon is home to just less than 300 custom homes ranging in price from the mid $200,000 to over a million. Glen Cannon is known for its larger lot sizes and its beauty with many of the homes featuring creeks, small waterfalls and year-round or winter views of the surrounding valley and the lights of Brevard. It is also home to 48 condominiums within the community in an area called Glen Cannon Point. There are many privately owned, buildable lots for sale within Glen Cannon. Please contact your favorite NC realtor to check on availability.