Saluda, North Carolina

Saluda's name came from the Cherokee word Tsaludiyi, meaning "green corn place". The first name of the area by European settlers was "Pace's Ridge", from the Pace family who inhabited the area. Many of the original families were Scots-Irish who left Pennsylvania around the time of the Whiskey Rebellion in the early 1790s.[8]

Count Joseph Marie Gabriel St. Xavier de Choiseul, French consul to Charleston, South Carolina, and cousin to Louis Philippe I of France, bought land in 1831 from the Barings of nearby Flat Rock and built his home, Saluda Cottages.[9]

In 1878, there were only two houses in the limits of present-day Saluda. The completion of the Southern Railroad that same year brought about a large change in Saluda. The Saluda railroad grade is unmatched by any main line east of the Rocky Mountains with a grade that drops 600 feet (180 m) to the mile.[8] This included 50 curves, some horseshoe, and saved money by going over rather than through the mountains.[10] This section of railroad was originally built as the Asheville and Spartanburg Railroad. The railroad was built with convict labor, which marked the first such use on a large scale,[11] and was supervised by Colonel Andrew Tanner, who operated the first hotel in Saluda and was elected the first mayor of Saluda in 1881.[8] In 1887, eight passenger trains passed through Saluda daily, with about 3,000 visitors a year. The Saluda Grade was infamous for runaway train accidents. In 1880 alone, fourteen men were killed on the 3-mile (5 km) stretch of track.[12] The train no longer runs through Saluda, although there is talk of future passenger train plans.

Saluda is located in southwestern Polk County at 35°14′16″N 82°20′49″W (35.237856, -82.346870).[13] Two small parts of the city extend west and north into Henderson County. The elevation on Main Street is 2,097 feet (639 m) above sea level, while the elevation at the bottom end of the Saluda Grade, in Tryon, is 1,080 feet (329.1 m).

U.S. Route 176 is Saluda's Main Street; the highway leads east down the mountain 8 miles (13 km) to Tryon and northwest 10 miles (16 km) to Hendersonville. Interstate 26 passes just north of Saluda, with access from Exit 59. I-26 leads north 34 miles (55 km) to Asheville and southeast 37 miles (60 km) to Spartanburg, South Carolina.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Saluda has a total area of 1.5 square miles (4.0 km²), all of it recorded as land.[14]

As of the 2010 Census, there were 713 people and 493 households with 310 currently occupied, 141 seasonal/recreational/occasional use houses, and 28 for sale/rent. The population density as of the 2000 census,[4] was 369.1 people per square mile (142.3/km²). The racial makeup was 95.65% White, 2.66% African American, 0.28% Asian, 0.28% American Indian and Alaska Native, and 0.98% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.96% of the population.

There were 265 households, out of which 20.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.5% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.5% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.70.

The City of Saluda was 43.76% male and 56.24% female. The population was 14.59% under the age of 18. The population over 18 was spread into five categories: 2.52% from age 18 to 24, 4.91% from 25 to 34, 17.11% from 35 to 49, 25.10% from 50 to 60, and 34.90% from age 65 and older.[6]

The median income for a household in the city was $39,063, and the median income for a family was $47,188. Males had a median income of $37,917 versus $25,000 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,149. About 3.8% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

The current mayor of Saluda as of 2011 is Fred Baisden, having made permanent residence in Saluda in February 2007. Prior to being mayor, Baisden attended monthly commissioner meetings on the Saluda Planning Board.

The city council is composed of the mayor and four commissioners: Leon Morgan, Mark Oxtoby, Stan Walker, and Paul Marion.

The main street of Saluda is a hub of newly formed restaurants and art galleries. Tourists and cyclists are common on summer and fall weekends due to the many winding mountain roads located around Saluda. The main town festivals are the Saluda Arts Festival, Coon Dog Day, and the Home Town Christmas Celebration. The nearby Green River includes some of the most challenging whitewater in the eastern U.S. and is host to the annual Green River Games kayak race the first weekend in November.[17]

Saluda Elementary is the public elementary/middle school in Saluda, located on Main Street, serving grades pre-kindergarten through 5.

Some of the early residents of Saluda included Benjamin Staton, William Metcalf, Burrell Pope Pace, and Samuel Gordon, three of whom are buried in the Metcalf graveyard in the Fork Creek community. The fourth was buried on a hillside in 1815 in what later became the Old Mountain Page Graveyard. His graveyard is one of present-day Henderson County's oldest graves. Some historians believe Benjamin Staton to be the first white man to live in present-day Henderson County. At the time he built his home in the community of Saluda, this was in Greenville County, South Carolina. The state line was later changed and the land Staton owned at the time is now Henderson County. In 1980, famous television and singing star Perry Como built a vacation home in Saluda together with his childhood friend.

• City of Saluda official website
• Saluda Business Association