Thomas Brigham
Thomas Hindley "Doc" Brigham, Sr (born October 3, 1925 in Vermont; died November 25, 2008 in Birmingham) was a dentist and land developer who created the first ski resorts in the Southern United States.
Brigham earned his degree in dentistry at Tufts University. He moved to Birmingham to teach at UAB and opened a private practice. A staunch Republican, he chaired the state party in 1963-64.
An avid skier since his childhood in Vermont, Brigham became fascinated by a mention of the generation of artificial snow in a 1959 Reader's Digest article. He immediately began plans to bring skiing to the Southern Appalachians. He served as the first president of the Birmingham Ski Club in 1961. Beginning in 1966 he created the Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain resorts in North Carolina and Snowshoe Mountain resort in West Virginia.
Brigham and his wife, Marye had two sons (Tommy and Peter) and a daughter (Anne) and eleven grandchildren. His oldest son, Tommy, founded Brigham-Williams Realtors and served as Chairman and CEO of RealtySouth.
Brigham was a member of St Peter's Anglican Church. He died in 2008 and was buried at Elmwood Cemetery.
References
- Calhoun, Sam (December 11, 2008) "Saying Goodbye to the Father of Southern Skiing" High Country Press
- Stock, Erin (January 4, 2009) "He gave skiing its Southern exposure." The Birmingham News
External links
- Thomas Hindley Brigham at Findagrave.com