Life at the Tollhouse
As early as 1880, the Hodge family was responsible for the management of the Warm Springs Mountain tollhouse. By the end of the tool road's operation in the 1910s, there were ten children living at the house "up on the mountain". Much of the data collected about this site is based upon the remembrances of this family.
The tollhouse also served as temporary quarters for the road crews responsible for maintenance of the turnpike. The crew would sleep in the loft with the children during the week and return to their own homes on the weekend.
A common theme in the Hodge family is one of hospitality. According to one story, there was a tollgate at the site, but it was never closed. One particular day, a Hodge child was told to watch the gate. A man came along on horseback and handed the child some money. Not knowing how to make change, the child gave him the money box and said "just take what you want".
Living on the top of the mountain at the turn of the twentieth century afforded the Hodge family an opportunity to watch the coming of technologies that we now take for granted.
"It was around 1902 that I saw the first automobile that passed through Warm Springs.... my grandfather waved to the driver to stop and told him it was a toll gate. Grandfather charged them twenty-five cents toll but said he did not know if he had done right or not as there was no rates for cars". - Roy H. Hodge, Sr.
Marker is at the intersection of State Highway 39 and Homestead Mountain Drive, on the right when traveling west on State Highway 39.
Courtesy hmdb.org
