In 1892, denim millionaire Moses Cone began buying land in North Carolina; his 3,600-acre mountain estate later became a public park on the Blue Ridge Parkway

If you have ever worn a pair of blue jeans, there is a good chance that you you will enjoy this story. Moses Cone was a textile industrialist who built one of the most visited stops on the Blue Ridge Parkway. According to the National Park Service’s profile of Moses Cone, he was a “successful businessman” who rose from being the son of a Jewish-German immigrant grocer to running one of the country’s largest denim operations. While Moses Cone’s life follows the typical ‘rags to riches’ American narrative, the way events unfolded at the end of his life is particularly noteworthy, given how relevant discussions of wealth preservation and public access to nature are in current political and social discourse.

From a grocer’s son to the “Denim King”

Moses Cone was born in 1857 in Jonesboro, Tennessee, the oldest son of Herman and Sophie Cone. Herman had immigrated to America as a teenager and changed the family name from Kahn to Cone. Moses was raised in Baltimore alongside his 12 younger siblings. Moses and his brother Caesar began their careers as traveling salesmen for their father’s wholesale grocery business. This experience would later prove useful for the brothers, as their sales tactics allowed them to establish a prosperous textile mill that produced denim. In 1891, the brothers opened their own textile factory, which, in 1895, began manufacturing denim.

In fact, Moses Cone’s textile mills were producing a third of the world’s denim, earning him the nickname the “Denim King.” Moses Cone purchased land in the area near present-day Blowing Rock, NC, and began constructing his summer home in 1899. The house was completed in early 1901 and continued to be used as a summer residence by the Cone family until Moses’s passing in 1908. The manor, named Flat Top Manor, was modest in comparison to the large European-style estates built by other Gilded Age millionaires. However, it still boasted 23 rooms, including 11 bedrooms, a music room, and an expansive layout covering 14,000 square feet across three floors.

A mountain escape with surprisingly modern vibes

It was also surprisingly modern, featuring telephones, hot and cold water, a central heating system, and gas lighting. Electricity was not introduced to the manor until 1927, 26 years after its completion in 1901. While Moses Cone was a “gentleman farmer” who engaged in commercial farming and growing apples, his wife Bertha had her own dairy farm. There were also 32 families who lived and worked on the land owned by the Cone family.

In addition, there were a number of African American servants who lived in two cottages on the territory of Flat Top Manor, working as cooks, chambermaids, and other domestic servants. These workers’ names were not recorded, due to the high likelihood that they were employed through a local agency. The one thing that sets Moses Cone apart as a Gilded Age millionaire is the fact that his wealth was used to benefit the local community. In fact, Moses Cone was one of the first to open his property to the public.

Public access to the estate

Cone opened the estate to the public from the start, keeping the grounds accessible daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and allowing visitors to use the 25 miles of trails, including for horseback riding. He was also among the first in the area to install telephone lines on his property.

How a private estate became a local park

Moses Cone passed away unexpectedly in 1908 at the age of 51 due to heart disease. His wife Bertha continued managing the family estate until she died in 1947. Moses and Bertha Cone never had any children, and as per the will drawn up in 1911, the money from the Cone estate was to go into establishing the Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro. This hospital opened its doors in 1953 and was responsible for maintaining Flat Top Manor as a “pleasuring ground” for the public.

Eventually, Flat Top Manor and its surrounding 3,600 acres, were donated to the National Park Service, becoming a part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Per the National Park Conservation Association’s article on Flat Top Manor, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation helped fund the exterior restoration of the manor in 2021. This information is corroborated by the National Park Service’s official page, funded in part by the nonprofit Blue Ridge Parkway. Moses Cone’s estate stands as a historical example of a Gilded Age industrialist directing private wealth toward public use: the park built from his fortune has remained free and open to the public since it was established.