Backus, E. M., Lodge

Backus Lodge is a group of eight buildings on about 21 acres at 4,000 feet on Cold Mountain Gap, near Lake Toxaway, North Carolina. Around 1908 Chicago industrialist Edward M. Backus built a 1 1/2 story hunting lodge of unpeeled chestnut logs, with a log stable and caretaker's cottage, beside a small lake formed by damming the Toxaway River headwaters. The logs were hauled by ox-drawn wagons and raised using earth mounds. In 1922 the property became Camp Toxaway, an exclusive girls' camp, and the Davis family added a second story to the stable and cottage, plus a guest house, barn and family cottage. After the camp closed in 1935, the site later served as Canaan Land, a religious and educational retreat, from 1955 into the 1980s. It is considered one of the finest smaller surviving examples of Adirondack-style rustic architecture in western North Carolina and reflects the region's early resort history. It remains in seasonal private use.