In a late 1980s photo, Ron Davis nephew William Davis IV and his younger brother Max Davis explore Jakes Creek during a family visit to the Mebane family s Elkmont cabin. Donated photo
Ron Davis Sr. was just 17 years old when he arrived in the tiny town of Clyde, completely alone.
It was 1967, and Davis, a Black man from Knoxville, was there to start the new forestry program at Haywood Technical Institute, now known as Haywood Community College. He worked out a boarding agreement with the only Black person who lived within walking distance of the school, then located in the building that today contains Central Haywood High School, and nervously reported for his first day of class.