Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama Blog

Queens of Blowing Rock: A Review

On Chapter 1: Susie Parker Stringfellow

Although many who are familiar with Susie Parker Stringfellow’s legacy in Anniston, AL, of the Stringfellow Memorial Hospital and the Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama and have admired her philanthropic spirit for a woman in the early 1900’s, most would not be aware of the impact her life had on the small town of Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

Susie was searching for a cooler summer climate for her husband, William Stringfellow, who suffered from tuberculosis, in the hopes of improving his health. One of their New York friends, the artist Elliott Dangerfield, suggested Blowing Rock, NC, where he spent time painting at his summer home. They visited the area and spent the summer there, falling in love with the area and becoming seasonal residents. William purchased some acreage known as Silverlake and began building their home and improving the lake, landscaping beautiful gardens, and renaming it Chetola.

Being devout Episcopalians, they became active in the little Episcopal Church there. In 1918, Susie donated funds to build a new Episcopal Church. During the construction of the church, Susie became ill and died in 1920 before the church was completed, but William continued funding the building, which was later named the Susie Parker Stringfellow Memorial Church. Over the years, Elliott Daingerfield donated one of his most famous works, “St. Mary of the Hills,” a Madonna holding the Christ child on her left side and a lily in her right hand, to the church, and it was renamed St. Mary Episcopal Church and still stands on Main Street in Blowing Rock.

Dr. Barry Buxton has written a book, Queens of Blowing Rock, dedicated to eight of the most influential women in the history of the town, and describes Susie Parker Stringfellos as one of the most important and impactful women in the town’s history, honoring her with the very first chapter in the book. Present-day Chetola has been expanded to include a restaurant, a hotel, and additional on-site condominiums, and the backdrop hosts many lake activities, such as summer concerts and fireworks.
 

A Review of Chapter 1 of Queens of Blowing Rock by Barry M. Buxton

Review by Susan Waldron