Starting in the 1820s, Dr. John W. Harris (1791-1859), who married Sarah Whiteside, settled in Chimney Rock Township and began amassing hundreds of acres in the Chimney Rock and Rutherfordton area. Sometime between 1782 and 1800 Harris built one of the first inns in Rutherford County on the Hickory Nut Gap Road that became known as the Harris Inn or Harris Tavern (now Pine Gables on Boys Creek Road.) He was also instrumental in developing early trade routes. Dr. Harris was a son of James Harris, a prominent political figure and at that time one of the largest land owners in Rutherford County. The entrepreneurial spirit of this family was then locally famous. Around 1839, the family tradition of innkeeping was furthered when Dr. Harris' daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Bedford Sherrill, built Sherrill's Inn at the Hickory Nut Gap, ten miles west of Chimney Rock. Dr. Harris and several other prominent men petitioned the North Carolina General Assembly to help with improving the Hickory Nut Gap road and to let them develop a toll road from Chimney Rock to Asheville. In 1823 the General Assembly authorized an expenditure for the purpose and appointed Dr. Harris as one of the first commissioners. In 1841 the Assembly incorporated the commissioners as the "Hickory Nut Turnpike Company", empowered it to issue capital stock, set construction standards, and establish rates of toll. The turnpike was completed sometime before May 10, 1847. Several members of the Freeman family on Hickory Nut Creek were contracted to build parts of the road. The Harris Inn was used as the tollgate for travelers going west to Asheville. The first post office to serve the Chimney Rock community was established at the Harris Inn (in what is now the kitchen) on December19, 1843, with John W. Harris as postmaster.
Rose Senehi, Chimney Rock Record, January 2013