We went to a new part of the
Smoky Mountains to ride last week and I was really intrigued by the
area. We rode the North Shore Trail which is on Fontana Lake on the
border of NC and TN. I came home with more questions about this area
than answers, so had to do some research online, What A Story!
Around East Tennessee it
is not uncommon to hear stories about TVA and how the land was taken and
communities moved, I have even lived in a development that was built on TVA
land. But when you rode through this area called Hazel Creek/Proctor and
saw old foundations, chimneys, cemeteries and some remnants of a railroad, it
was fascinating. At one time this was a thriving community of over
1000 people and they were moved out to create the Fontana dam (part of the TVA
system) to generate electric.
And then there is the story of
"The Road To Nowhere" on the NC end of the trail. This is a road that was
promised to the land owners that gave up their homes as a way to get back to
visit family cemeteries. I believe that about 6 miles of the road was
finished, with a tunnel, and they quit. The families have been waiting for
over 60 years for the other 20+ miles to be completed. I read
somewhere that this is the largest piece of land in the Eastern US without road
access.
Anyway.. the Lake Shore Trail is
about 30 miles long (with access to the Appalachian Trail) and is full of
interesting history. Just thought someone would enjoy reading about
it, so I attached a link and if you do a search there is a lot of info on
it.
