Moving Deadline Near For Fontana Reservoir Residents
1,200 FAMILIES A
HAVE DEPARTED- ? J
FOR NEW HOMES
AVuter Soon Will Begin Inun
23,800 Acres In Swain
And Graham Counties
XNOXVILLE, TENN. ? Moving
"time is nearing an end for folks in
Xfto reservoir area of Fontana Dam,
east of the Rocky Moun
Uarss, which is nearing completion
iti V*e mountains of Western North
<OM\>iina. Also for those in the 44,
?i<cre area which will be added to
'?"U v Great Smoky Mountains National
The final date for vacating is
?Nov. 1.
Jy in November, water will be
rising back of Fontana Dam,
fcixsj of the war power construction
?>-*y<"cts in the present program of
Tennessee Valley Authority. Ap
proximately 10,800 acres will be
i
67,800-Acrcs Involved
3L*#nd purchased and to be pur
totals approximately 67,800
including 44,000 acres to be
^jr-^Jerred to the National park ser
vice.
There were 1,319 families in the
entire area, of which 599 were what
are known as "original families" or
long-time residents, while 720 were
transient families or those which
had settled and sought employment
on the project. When the last count
was made, 1,200 families had moved
? 517 original and 683 transient. That
leaves^! 19 families to be moved. Most
of the orginal families were land
owners, rather than tenants, and
much of their acreage was in wood
land.
Most of the families will remain
in North Carolina with some havina
moved toward Asheville or evWrt5e
yond.
Five Villages Involved
Five villages will disappear. Ja
pan, Bushnell, Almond and Judson
will be under the water level and
P.octor will be in the new park
area.
Nearly all families have been co
operative, according to the TVA.
The majority back at cabins in coves
were eager to move. They wanted
to go where they would have ad
vantages. Some could get those ad
vantages just by moving to better
locations within their own county.
Few had electricity back in the
mountains, but nearly all cabins had
battery-operated radios. The world
came to their door over the radios.
They learned much about what was
beyond the blue horizon without
traveling. Some mountain homes
were above the average. They had
v. aterwheels to produce electricity.
The Proctor CCC camp had elec
tricity from a waterwheel, and both
Judson and Almond had electricity.
One family had an old-fashioned
wheel which was used to grind corn.
Even the cogs were made of wood.
Arrangements have been made to
take the old mill wheel down, piece
by piece, and move it to a museum
at Fontana village..
Agencies Assist
TVA and cooperating agencies
help in relocating families and as
sistance also is given in readjust
ment problems. A helping hand is
given by the agricultural extension
service, the Farm Security adminis
tration, state welfare departments,
American Red Cross, and various
other federal, state and local agencies.
Under the purchase procedure fol
lowed by the T. V. A., all families,'
except in unusual cases, are permit
ted to remove the improvements
from the land and buildings. That
is an important relocation resource.
Materials are being salvaged due
to wartime scarcity which nobody
would have looked at two or three
years ago. In many instances, the
old log houses are torn down and
used for rebuilding. The wood alone
in them is valuable these days.
North Carolina's state extension
service gives help through the coun
ty agent in appraising farms which
families plan to purchase. A list of
available farms is also on hand in
the office of the county agent. TVA
has a contract with the North Caro
lina State extension service for such
assistance.
When TVA buys land, it makes ;
.payjnent to the owner and plans ;
are begun for removal. Often the |
time of purchase is- several months ?
in advance of the date for moving.
Assistance which may be needed in
moving or advisory service is given
both property owners and tenants.
Many Employed
"The TVA has been able to use a
-considerable number of employable
families, which also affords an im
?portant relocation resources," says
\V. T. Hunt, principal population
readjustment representative, who is ]
in charge of the TVA readjustment j
program in the Fontana Reservoir,
with headquarters at Bryson City.
"A total of 901 of 1,200 families
have been employed by TVA dur
ing the period of working there. That
started in January, 1942. |
"Many men have worked not only
on Fontana Dam, but in reservoir
clearance near their homes. A third
cf the reservoir clearance personnel
came from around that area. They
have workecT\pn the relocatiorj^-Qf^
the Southern R^lway line^rolri Bry
son City to Wessel^
Some of the women have worked
in the cafeteria.
"All of the people of that section
who worked for us are very good
workers," Mr. Hunt said.
Mr. Hunt has been in population
readjustment work at 11 reservoirs
in the TVA system and he had only
the highest praise for the North Car
olina area, as did J. Ed Campbell,
assistant director of the reservoir
property management department,
Knoxville, who was interviewed too
on the work.
More residents of the reservoir I
have done clearance work than at I
any other project. And a higher I
number of tenants, have become land
owners than at any other.
Buy Own Farms
Stories could be told of mountain
men who have been able to get a
small farm of their own by saving
from what they earned on the Fon
tana project. There was, for in
stance, a typical moujntaineer on
Tuskeegee Creek, in Graham county.)
He was a farm tenant, 39 years old, I
married, with six children. ..For -17
years, since marriage, he had lived
in a three-room box' house on his
father's farm.
He went to work on reservoir l
clearance and made enough to buy I
himself a farm with 15 acres of level |
land. He had two children who
could carry on work at home while
he was at work on the reservoir. He
cut enough timber at his new location
10 build himself a house. - j
One man in Swain [county owned
several hundred acrfcsr scattered
around in little patches. At one time
he operated a little store in Judson.
He had a 'saw mill and cut timber
off his tracts. TVA bought all of his
property except one tract. He took
the money and went over toward
Gateway, s There he bought a nice I
75-acre farm, comparatively level,
and heavy farm machinery. .
He always had an ambition to
raise stock. Now he can cultivate
crops, raise grain and cattle. He
received enough from his four or
five tracts of scattered rough land
to buy the new farm, . with a sub
tarttjal amount of money left to
realize his long cherished hope of
stocking a farm with purebred stock,
including Aberdeen Angus.
Not Much Traveled
Some of those who lived deep in
Lne mountains have. never been far
Crom home. ;
For instance, there is an old
woman who lives back in the Proc- I
lor area, two miles up in a cove,
where it is impossible to take a
:ar. She is rather feeble. Mr. Hunt
was talking to one of her sons ^not
long ago.
"I impressed on him the necessity
for getting out of the cove while]
the weather is good," said Mr. Hunt.
l4He told me that his mother had
r.ot been to Proctor in 30 years and
hi d never been to Bryson City, about
25 miles away. She had never been
in an automobile." j
At one place below the water line
near the dam, a TV A man had been
surprised to see women's clothing
in an old abandoned trailer, which I
nad formerly been used by a con- 1
?truction worker's family. He in- 1
quired around and found the answer I
at a house on a hillside nearby. The
woman explained that she had taken
the clothing to the old trailer "to
=>tore them" until the household be- I
longings could be moved. The trailer I
was nearer a road which would be
used in moving.
School Consolidations
Some school consolidations are re
sulting. All schools in a bend of the
river will be eliminated. There will
oe fewer one-teacher schools.
School bus service has been a help,
Dut many children walk across
-Fountains to catch the bus. One
pupil has been using a path across
i ridge, three miles, to get the school
jus at Highway 288.
There are many churches, served
jy pastors on a circuit." number [
?f churches have moved to new lo- I
jations.
Among the families moving are
:wo of Indians, who have lived on
property belonging to Cherokee In- 1
iian Council.
In one community, it was found
hat out of 163 families, 58 had
lived there all their lives, 2^ more
,han 20 years, 27, 10 to 20 years, |
27, five to 10 years, and 25 up to
five years. That indicated a fairly
stable native population. It showed
that more than 35 per cent of the
families have lived in the commun
nity all their life and nearly 70 per
cent at least 10 years.
Many of the families have gone
into places where farming condi
tions and methods will be somewhat
different. It is considered important
tkat these families have some fol
lowup assistance if they are to make
a success of their new relocations.
The agricultural extension service of
the University of North Carolina is
doing along that line.
GAY NEWS
By Mrs. Roy Beck
Mrs. Walter Wilson has received a
cablegram from her son, Lester, stat
ing that he is now serving in France.
Little Mr. Kenneth Ray Buchanan,
four year old son of Mr. and Mrs.
Perry BiTchanan, is spending a few
weeks with his aunt, Mrs. Joe Pyatt,
of Oak Ridge, Tenn.
S. Sgt. Paul S. Buchanan of Fort
Jackson, S. C. is spending a ten-day
furlough with his wife and parents of
G*y- ? .
?
}
RITZ THEATRE TO
SPONSOR PICTURE
OF ARMED FORGES
. The Ritz Theatre has signed a con
tract with the Progressive Picture
titled "We Americans" to be run on
tneir screen in the near future.
The picutre will be made up of
photos of local men and women in
the armed forces, who are serving in
all branches of ? the army and navy;
it was learned from R. C. Allison,
manager of the Ritz Theatre.
Anyone desiring a member of their
family or a friend or sweetheart who
is in the service to be in the picture
are asked to leave the photograph
or snap shot at the box office of the
theatre.
In leaving the pictures, which are
lo be incorporated into a patriotic
theme, the name and rank of the per
son in service is wanted by Mr. Al
lison.
The pictures will be sent to the
laboratories to be reproduced on film
with music and sound and then start
ing some time in November the first
group of the pictures will be shown
c>f the Ritz Theatre, and the'Vrogram
will be followed through thereafter
until all the pictures have been shown.
The pictures are not an advertising
medium and there is no commercial
connection to the program as far as
tne public is concerned, it was point
ei out by Mr. Allison.
Everyone who has realtives in the
.service are asked to submit a photo
graph so that when the parade of
Jackson county men and women in
service is shown on patriotic occas
ions in the future years, there will be
no one left out, it was explained by
Mr. Allison.
The photographs will be returned
after the picture has been made.
Friendly Atmosphere
I TASTY FOOD!
I If you are busy with war
work, suggest to the fam
I ily an evening meal at
I Stovall's Cafe. You'll
enjoy low-priced dinners
I in a friendly atmosphere.
STOVALL'S
CAFE
WALLACE SWANN
Manager
Where Time Doesn't
March On...
... unless you step in now to help men in German prison
camps fight that deadly " barbed tvire" boredom
The clock has a hundred hours
on its dial and each hour has 600
minutes when you're penned behind
barbed wire.
Nothing to see but that wire, the bar
rack's wall, and a sentry's back. Nothing
to hear but the tramp of his feet, the
ibeefs of your comrades.
So you go slowly, grimly, and some
times not-so-quietly, progressively
towards the "barbed wire disease"
finless . . .
Unless you're lucky enough to have
the folks back home get behind the War
Prisoners' Aid (one of the 19 participat
ing agencies of the National War Fund)
and provide the money to provide the
things to feed the hunger of your heart
and soul and mind.
Books and baseballs and tennis
rackets. Textbooks and technical equip
ment so you can continue studies the
war interrupted. Grease paint and play
sdripts for your own camp shows. Games
of every .sort. Anything and everything
it's humanly possible to provide to start
iTime marching on again.
This is just one of the many vital jobs
your contribution helps to take care o?
?when you support the National War
Fund by giving to your local Com
munity War Fund. Your dollars go to
work on six continents and in ninety-one
countries ? including your ottm, because
this united campaign covers the big
home-front needs too.
And don't just give a "token" con
tribution. The job is too big for that.
Give? realty give! Remember that no
matter how much any of us gives in
money it's still little compared to what
the people you'll help have been giving
in "blood, sweaty and tears."
GIVE GENEROUSLY TO YOUR
Community War Fund
/
REPRESENTING THE National War Fund
THIS UNITED WAR FUND) ADVERTISEMENT SPONS ORED BY . . .
Kirk - Davis Chevrolet