East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad – Leaders

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Leaders of the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC)

The history of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC), affectionately known as “Tweetsie,” is a tale of perseverance driven by a small group of visionary leaders. Though it started as a failed venture, the railroad was brought to life by the enduring local leadership of the Hardin family, the financial power of Ario Pardee, and the engineering brilliance of Thomas Matson. Together, these men overcame treacherous Appalachian terrain and financial obstacles to build a railway that would serve as the economic and social lifeline of a mountainous region for decades.

The Hardin family: A legacy of Appalachian leadership

Jordan C. Hardin

While Ario Pardee provided the initial capital and Thomas Matson the engineering, the Hardin family, with their deep local roots, guided the railroad for generations.

Photo: Cargille Studio, StateOfFranklin.net

Jordan Hardin, a Johnson City resident with a background in surveying and mining, was a key figure from the beginning. He was an early investor and a member of the Board of Directors, overseeing the railroad’s development within Johnson City. He also served as the depot agent for many years and was a respected civic leader. When he passed away in 1898, the local newspaper mourned the loss of one of the community’s most beloved citizens.

Jordan C. Hardin

George W. Hardin

Jordan’s son, George W. Hardin, took up his father’s mantle with the same dedication. Beginning as a switchman in 1886, George Hardin worked his way up through the ranks, serving as a yard master, station agent, and master of the transportation department. His exceptional abilities were recognized with a promotion to Superintendent in 1901 and later to Vice-President and General Manager in 1918. He was a “giant figure” in the railroad’s development, overseeing its expansion and recovery from disasters, such as the 1901 flood that damaged the Doe River Gorge line.

George Hardin was also a prominent civic leader in Johnson City and a major benefactor for Milligan University (then Milligan College), which named Hardin Hall in his honor. His death in 1922 was a tremendous loss for the community and the railroad he had helped shape. The Hardin family’s commitment ensured the ET&WNC was not just a business but a community institution, solidifying its legacy as the “Railway with a Heart”.

Click here to read more on George Hardin

Ario Pardee: The Pennsylvania financier

Ario Pardee

Photo: Cy Crumley Collection, StateOfFranklin.net

The ET&WNC owes its existence to the investment of Ario Pardee, an already-wealthy Pennsylvania mining magnate. After a post-Civil War charter failed due to a lack of financial backing, the Cranberry Iron & Coal Company, one of whose owners was Pardee, acquired the railway’s rights in the late 1870s. Pardee’s injection of capital turned the impossible into a reality, leveraging a fortune built on anthracite coal and railroads in Pennsylvania.

The revival of the railway also brought a pivotal engineering decision: the use of narrow-gauge tracks. This cheaper, more agile design was ideal for navigating the steep grades and tight curves of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The first 14 miles of track were completed in 1881, and the full 34-mile line from Johnson City, Tennessee, to the iron mines in Cranberry, North Carolina, opened in 1882. Pardee’s strategic investment and the new narrow-gauge construction opened the vast mineral and timber resources of the region, fueling Johnson City’s growth. Pardee, who died in 1892 as one of the richest men in America, left a powerful legacy, including a scenic stop on the route named “Pardee Point” in his honor.

Click here to read more on Ario Pardee

Thomas Matson: The engineering genius

Complementing Pardee’s financial clout was the technical expertise of Colonel Thomas E. Matson, a noted railway engineer from Philadelphia. Recruited to tackle the immense challenge of building through the mountains, Matson was instrumental in the railroad’s successful completion. He served as the ET&WNC’s chief engineer and superintendent for five years. Matson designed the narrow-gauge route through the breathtaking Doe River Gorge, a feat that involved blasting ledges and building multiple crossings over the rushing river.

Matson’s talent for mountain railway construction was legendary; he was known to have used block and tackle to hoist mules up rock cliffs during the building process. Beyond his work on the ET&WNC, Matson also designed the landmark Elizabethton Covered Bridge. His legacy in the region extended beyond the railroad, as he later served as the Mayor of Johnson City from 1892 to 1896 and became the founder and first president of the Johnson City Foundry and Machine Works. Together, the Hardins, Pardee, and Matson laid the groundwork for the legendary Tweetsie, a railroad that was instrumental to Appalachian progress.

Click here to read more on Thomas Matson.

Additional Sources for this article:

The Cy Crumley Scrapbook, StateOfFranklin.net, and Archives of Appalachia

ET&WNC Sources & Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the ET&WNC Railroad. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Appalachian-Railroads.org. Much of the content on the website is verified across multiple sources.

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