SPECIAL COURT HOUSE EDITION OF THE WAYNESVILLE MOUNTAINEER
"iipography Of Haywood Is Ever Changing
Won will be
jGKOiN 1U VEK
Frnm Now
UBody of Water, His
ly Discloses.
VrFD FOR PRESENT
Is and Streams of Hay
d Have Been Chang-
ing Constantly
p..- V.'. ". Allen.
:.!., u'' i.-iids for the Great
'ua:aia' .National Park, now
I,,, final stages, has added
the gee,: 'ical and 'geo
.'cji:t jut of Haywood County.
':r.t! -u'jjecr in the clubs and
YiYavne'sva'le'and the county
a star: toward a keen ap
,a f me vv-aiwr lanu, at our
at I : i S :i.e i.a ue mc iiing-
byfivui
Eastern North
'od County may be described
ri-'iilar elliptical bowl, tilted
. . IT
,he north with a spout at v a-
thruuh which pours tne ac
ons .nt' a hundred water
ivndariit with the Pigeon
:o t:.i- Tennessee Hats. The
lie I v.vl, or basin, is likewise
both I:; direction and sur
county line following for the
rt the crest n the mountain
and tne suuaee nuiiv neie
into lofty peaics or sinking
tfvs ot suimrsin.' beauty.
fully to appreciate, the
i of our mountains, streams,
ys, as we see 1h3m today, we
,'e to take a dive into the te
tfuiojry. One is not always1
lr.vir.ced ot .-.va i; geoiogy seems
at we need hot be as sarea-
i -.. t .. -j.
arK twain was -n spaKing oi
l-.ee of geology as hrought out
iiorteiiinfc' ot the length of the
hip i river .is oesenos-a in nis
LIFE OX THE MlSrflSSlP-
sa'iJ:
le spatice of one hundred and
ix years, the Lower Missis-
has shortened itself two hun-
forty-two miles. That is an
of a trifle over one mile and
per year. X herel ore, any calm
who is not blind or idiotic,
that, in the Old Oolitic Silur-
just a minion years fteo
ember, the Lower Mississippi
lis upward of a million ri:iee
miles lonir and stuck nut over
If of Mexico like a fishing rod.
the same token, anv :erson
hat seven hundred and 1'ortv-
p from now the Lower Missis-
be only a mile and three
loiie, and Cairo and New
will have joined their streets
anu be plodding along under
mayor and mutual Beard
'men. There is some'.hinB'
ng about science. One gets
Resale returns of c.iniprtnrw
uch a trifling investment of
'Zh seolocic.ti science . mav
lead, Ui into ahsnrrl rnn-
as .Mark .Twain" has ;ncen-
;m-ii, Hi! there is enoncrh
that i plain and unrnistak-
to la-ieinatinj truths.. Tti
Mai I Geographic Magazine of
-8, there is an nrtiptrt lit, JnVn
UGorce entitled "Pirate Riv-
ineir frizes " whirh i n
narration of. the supposed
of the water courses of eas
erica in eariy geological pe
the earth's viton nt
IS a theO"i'le-ll .iiJnanfnn
worthy, of - belief-only as the
fading of the topography
fram,in question would" just-
f the most interesting fea-
. ...hub is me as&umea
Ctl anncars tn K ,,:a i v..
-logical conditions that are
a.V, CUrins one of thpa Inmr
' Periods 0f the earth's for-
' (frantic river ran through
North f:irv,Hr,o it. i.
' btnoky Mountains and the
?e,one; prong of it rising in
n Virginia a nA m.Hnr.
p3f. jjown' the valley became
prong wnicn
in southeastern North
' a5d ran tkmm,k
-ction w:th the other prong
-re Asheviilp i n oj
'"ItnUPl tkn .
r V , cuurse to tne
ML v-1,rM(lin of the ter-
la?h whip), tw.
ae run bear out this
'e- shape, and HirenHAn f
I sVm , 'c muay, maxe
fc. !HJ-e. that Hazel-
.-'-'Mlie. I -J
red ,v--;""V"'--ieni river,
,he territory of Hav-
fits .fur"P1K?'
arH e uown the Homi
i;dW ': '"ving to the right
s.ns nf ,v "-vuniy, wnere
N wV,i, Can sti11 te see" in
-iaj 11 Hendersonville.
Vw-k ,w " v, Vl is noted
.w's not now flow in
uun as the ancient
telnver the long
rPtv nf t ' wcause it be
lt fed "ntw? or more pirate
NveiTn iUvitals until it
N. hiA n,gr these Pirates,
t;f offcjisti?ctively the
one gi tne most valiant and violent.
As is well known, the Pigeon river at
two distinct points in Haywood Coun
ty, one source in East Fork township
Mid the other in Cecil, and, after
converging near Woodrovv, runs in a
general northerly direction nearly the
whole length of the county and breaks
through the mountains into Tennes-
it.fc.at Waterville.
eologieally, a river runs up stream
but geographically it ilows down
vard. Hominy creek in Haywood and
buncombe counties and Mud creek
in Henderson and Buncombe are all
aiat now remain of that majestic
river of pre-hisrie times. The pack
jt piratical wdives that devoured it
were the Pigeor. ''"rich Broad,
me uaiauga, tne tiiwa--.-ee,. tiie Lit
tle J ennessee. and the No ichm-kv
It's interesting to conlemplate'how
.ne Destruction ot the great river was
accomplished. The procedure of the
dismemberment of the ancient stream,
wnose ueu can sun -je discerr.ed jn cer
tain parts of the countv. mav h. voa.l.
ily understood if we remember that
the process of erosion is forever go
ing on. A river, or creek, is con
stantly cutting its way backward be
yond its source, therefore lengthening
itself in a way that Mark Twain uoes
not mention in his remark about the
.Mississippi, In the remotest geolog
ical period, the source of the Pigeon
was once at, or about where Water-
vine, is now; and, in the course of
ages, the stream has cut its wav back
ward through mountain gorges, en
through Cataloochee, Fines " Creek,
Crabtree, and Iron Duff until it reach
es the batiks of the great river near
where Clyde is now situated, and, bv
continuous erosion and pressure, the
river bank gave way, and a large vol
ume of water turned from its course
into the Pigeon and followed the bed
of that stream widening and deep-
e";g- ii- as it is tooay. ino same
resuit happened when the French
Broad tapped it near Ashevjlle, or
near there, and reduced it to the vol
ume of Mud creek and Hominy. The
Hiwasaee and the Little Tennessee
had tapped it higher up, and the south
prong. was no more. Tne Watauga
and the XoUichueky, cooperating with
the French Broad, had already de
stroyed the north prong..-..
On the siope of the divide just be
yond Canton, on Highway Number 10,
are the headwaters of Hominy creek,
which flows into the Livm-h Broad.
The source of Hominy is now about
half a mile from the bed of Pigeon
river and is slowly and gradually
cutting its way backward toward the
Pigeon with the inevitable result ap
parently that in the natural order ot
events the Pigeo t river will yield to
the pirate raids of Hominy creek, be
diverted at Canton from its course
and made to flow down the Hominy
valley into the
near, Ashev
port, tennesse", as r present. If
this should happen, as it scorns rea-
urab.e from a goologu-il standpoint,
in the next million years, the city of
Canton, which now seems safe" as
tride the Pigeon, wi'l become the prey
of whirling waters and will again be
at the bottom of the revivo 1 ana re
uriected river, .vni.-h will come to
life by the iuactioo of Pige-.i-i river
and Hominy reek. 1 1 that event, the
ancient river, b 'ing restored, wi"
have its revenge upon ;lie Pigeor.,
which assisted in its destruction some
mil'ioii ages befoii1.
As that is yet, if it comes, some
million centuries on, no one now liv
ing in Canton need worry over it.
There will be plenty of time for a
mm-rtop flight to the mountains when
the flood comes. As Mark Twain
"iys. there is something fascinating
;;i;out science. No man has ever
long enough to prove that it
so.
lived
'aint'
the French Broad fit, cr' Pigeon Drainage Area, as it is todav,
llle ins; 'Hi cf near New-1 which occupies nearly all of the couii-
i ty and iies south and east of the Great
Smoky Mountains and noith and west
j of the Blue Ridge Plateau. The coun
ty is almos; entirely confined to this
j drainage are.!, or basin, which is
.-src-titv.es s'pken of as the Haywood
Co'ur.tv tableland.
'I'm ti are two exception? to the
.-ta-t-ment that the Pigeon drainage
' le i cvi-upies a!! i t H..ywoid County.
. As you va.-.s out of ("ml m on High-
way NuiKur 10. gaint' east, you ge
! from tb.e Pigeon to the French Broad
i itrahiagv area. V! '."it twenty-one
, .-.hi a iv miles oi Hay wend County is
i in. the French Broad area. This small
j Men ate- :s drained by North Hominy
i i'-nd South Hominy creeks, both of
1 v-hich flow into the French Broad
j'-ver. The ither ooe)tion is in the
i terrain near Mount I'i-ii-iti. The coun
i ty lire as it runs between Big Pisgah
mm i..t.!e 1'isgah, instead of folllow
ng the ridge, or divide, between the
w i peaks, runs in a straight course
i.b.su' three-fourths of a mile and puts
n ' i.e Buncombe side about two hun
ci ed acres of land that belong to the
Pi-.'oon area.
The Pigeor vtatershed, which is
Haywiul County, has the distinction
of being the mo-t elevated major
drain age area in Western North Car
olina and in eastern North America.
Only the most elevated areas of the sloping hills, affordin? a large per
Rocky Mountain system can boast oficentaga of good farm lands.
grander and more elevated plateau Some of the m.ist beautiful portions.
of the Haywood Cortu,- plateau will
oe in the Great Sm.'.i; M nintaii Na
tional Park. Of the 214.000 acres of
lands donated to the Federal Govern
ment from North Car li'.na, 'J M2.2
acres, or about nine "y-three square
miles, are in Hawo,. J County. Near
ly all of Cataloocu ' township is in
cluded in the Park a :.:!. Only about
12,000 acres will remain in the town
ship untaken.
Tlu Pi'eoi Drainage Areu
So much for the remote geological
history of Haywood County. The re
sult of all these struggles of the rivers
and the smaller streams for existence
and the right of way, as has been re
lated, so far as Havwood Countv is
onoerned, was the formation of the
than Haywood Countv
This watershed, or plateau, is sur
rounded and bounded by a distinct
ively high rim, or ridge of mountains,
which contains twenty-two peaks .-i.
thousand feet or more in height. The
lowest elevation in the county is of
.-our. e, at the outlet of th? basin at
V.'atervlile on '.he State line, where
the Carolina Power .-md Lint Com
pany has its tviguntie power plant.
The surface of the PiL-eor, river a it
i 'caves the Haywood' County side and' Judge Lott: "On the 13th of April
I plunges into Ten:io-,ee. is 1,500 feet you are charged With having insult-
above sea level. At th ' other extreme, 1 ed a lady on Tenth street, who re-
the highest point ;-f land in the eoui;-: fused to -give you money. "
ty i. on top of Jiouiit Guyot 0,t)21 feet, j A. Bum: "That is impossible, for
or ninety teet be the -.- '.lnut ot that day I was working the downtown
.uuuni .inu-neii. i ne next lowest
point in the watershed line is at Can
ton, 2 ii )0 feet, and the thir l at Bal
sam C , ;).;n:5 feet. Haywood Coun
ty borders the crest of
Smoky Mountains and the
Tennessee twenty miles.
The Pigeon Drainage Area, or Hay
wood County, is also unique in that it
b only slightly eroded, cr denuded,
as compared with others in the South
ern Appalachians, which, accounts for
tho many wide flat valieyi and gentlv
; section as a deaf and dumb man."
Mrs. Smith: "I think I'm learning
to shift gears all right, but there's
the Great something wrong with that mirror."
Stale of Instructor: "Why, isn't it adjusted
properly.'"
Mrs. Smith: "No. All I can see m
it is a truck behind us."
FOR QUICK SELLING Let the want
ad column of The Mountaineer
prove its ability as a speedy and
efficient' sales melium.
J ML CELL
AND OTHER JAIL EQUIPMENT IN THE NEW
HAYWOOD COUNTY COURT HOUSE
FURNISHED AND INSTALLED BY THE
MANLY JAIL WORKS. DALTON. GA.
WE are not the Oldest
or Largest General
Merchandising Firm in the
county
BUT-
We'll Save You Money on
all y our needs, Shoes, Cloth
ing, Groceries, Feeds,
Meats and Furniture.
LET'S BOOST OUR
C0UNTY---irS THE
BEST PLACE IN
THE WORLD
TO LIVE
"Come To See Us"
Allen
mm
When You Visit
The Court House
You Will Find That The
Beauty of The
Millwork
Company
Phone 48 Hazelwood, N. C.
Is Most Attractive
We are glad to have been called upon
to furnish the Millwork for Haywood
County's New Court House. Just as
the citizens point with pride to the
Building so do we at our work.
When you want distinctive woodwork for vour home ehmvh
(I schools or any building- remember that we can give you an A-l
job and the cost is no more. Let us estimate your next millwork
j j job. Estimates are cheerfully given with-out cost. i
liDW
Lumber Co
High Point, North Carolina
0 1
, county, was