Biltmore Forest School

Deep in the Pisgah National Forest, this ten-acre district preserves the grounds of the Biltmore Forest School, the first forestry school in the United States. Dr. Carl Alvin Schenck directed the school, and the surrounding valley is where scientific forest management was first practiced in the country. The surviving buildings include Black Forest Lodge, built in 1896 for Schenck's rangers, a heavily timbered frame building with a high roof and heavy beams set into the walls. The Hiram King House, a wooden frame dwelling from the 1880s, later housed students as boarders. Four other buildings, the Schoolhouse, the Commissary, Schenck's Office and the student dormitory called Hellhole, were reconstructed in 1967-68 from old photographs, plans and descriptions. A visitor center dates from 1965. Congress recognized the area as the Cradle of Forestry in America in 1968, and the site is open to visitors in the warmer months.