In 1943, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park swallowed up the remaining 44,000 acres of Swain County between its border and the north shore of Fontana Lake. The lake itself had flooded over 10,000 acres of Swain County, including the bustling communities of Proctor, Bushnell, Japan, Hazel Creek and others.
“Swain County lost half of its population and half of its jobs to the lake and the park,” said David Monteith, a county commissioner and a member of the North Shore Road Association.
Monteith, like many Swain residents, has strong personal ties to the north shore of Fontana Lake. His family owned a grocery store and lived near Forney Creek.
“They took the most precious part of Swain County — most of the level land. If we still had that 4,400 acres it would be very productive to our county,” said Linda Hogue, president of the North Shore Road Association.
As a way to ease anger in Swain County, the U.S. Department of Interior signed a contract in 1943 that promised to build a road through the newly acquired park lands from a point near Fontana Dam to a point near Bryson City — as soon as Congress appropriated the money. The parties to that contractual agreement were the DOI, Swain County, the state of North Carolina and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Many believed then — and now — that the road would be a boon and help offset the lost of county revenue caused by the creation of the GSMNP.
In an August 1943 edition the Bryson City Times, it was reported that “The National Park Service says that as soon as money is made available after the war it will build a modern highway along the shores of Fontana Lake connecting Bryson City with the TVA access highway at Fontana Dam, making it a through highway to Deal’s Gap 50 miles west of here. Anyone with the smallest amount of imagination can visualize what a road of this kind will mean to Bryson City ... When this highway is built by the Park Service, the developments inaugurated, and we feel confidently they will be soon after the war, then there is nothing that can keep Bryson City from becoming the tourist center of Eastern America ....”
The enthusiasm was unwarranted. North Carolina didn’t fulfilled its road construction agreement until 1959 when it built nearly three miles of road from Bryson City to the park’s boundary. It wasn’t until 1963 that the Park Service began to fulfill its promise to construct a park road.
Between 1963 and 1971, the Park Service completed about six miles of road. That road, which included a bridge across Noland’s Creek, terminated abruptly after a 1,200-foot tunnel. The Park Service halted construction on the road when it encountered anakeesta rock formations. Anakeesta is an extremely acid rock and when exposed to the elements leaches acids and heavy metals which threaten aquatic life.
The Road to Nowhere, as it quickly came to be known, has languished in a politically charged bureaucratic limbo for the last 30 years. Different groups, individuals, politicians and park officials have — in fits and starts throughout the years — offered alternatives and tried to resolve the North Shore Road dilemma, to no avail.
The issue appeared to have faded into the background during the 1990s. Suddenly and seemingly from nowhere, however, during the 2000 election campaign, Sen. Jesse Helms, (R-N.C.) and Rep. Charles Taylor (R-N.C.) came up with a $16 million dollar appropriation for construction of the North Shore Road. While neither Swain County commissioners nor GSMNP officials had any knowledge of the appropriation, Hogue said, “some of us knew. Trying to get money appropriated can be controversial.
Sometimes the fewer people who know, the better.”
The $16 million — plus a visit by Taylor — has rekindled efforts to have the Park Service complete the North Shore Road.
“Our county commissioners, in good faith, signed the 1943 agreement calling for a road from Bryson City to Deal’s Gap to make up for lost revenue,” Hogue said.
“If America’s word is so important, the federal government should keep its word to Swain County. We should not be treated as second-class citizens.”
But some Swain County residents believe that hurt feelings over a broken promise are clouding people’s judgment. Leonard Winchester is technology coordinator for Swain County Schools. Winchester believes the county should seek a financial settlement to the 1943 agreement.
“I’m not casting stones at anyone, but it’s impossible for me not to consider what could be done if this 16 million (dollars) ... for the road were invested for the future of Swain County. Much much more than any Road to Nowhere will ever do in a hundred years .... With money we can give our kids a better education, better skills for better jobs, better technology,” Winchester said.
The idea for a compromise to the 1943 agreement has taken root in the newly formed Citizens for the Economic Future of Swain County. This group is a coalition of county residents and area environmentalist who have been meeting to try and formulate some kind of consensus agreement that would satisfy all parties.
Bob McCollum is chairman of the North Carolina Parks, Parkway and Forests Development Council. He has sat in on a few meetings with the newly formed group. Although McCollum lives in Macon County, his father roamed the streets of Proctor as a boy.
“Much has changed over the 58 years since the 1943 agreement. There is a greater public awareness today,” McCollum said.
“Swain is among the highest counties in the state with regards to unemployment. The industrial base is not diversified, and it has very little land base for taxes,” McCollum said.
He said the group has used a formula based on a 1981 proposal for a financial settlement of the 1943 agreement to calculate a proposed settlement figure. He said the amount would be between $39 and $42 million.
According to McCollum, interest generated from a settlement of that size would generate a steady, annual $2 to $3 million dollars to the county’s coffers. “The trickle of income generated from a ‘park road’ would not equal that,” he said.
Cemetery access is not a part of the 1943 agreement. Hogue and Monteith believe the 1943 agreement is valid and binding and a North Shore Road should be built regardless of cemetery access.
But cemetery access is important to the public, and the Park Service has worked to provide public visitation. Shuttles are scheduled across the lake and Park Service personnel provide transportation to cemeteries on specific dates.
Local Bryson City businessman Jerry McKinney, a member of Citizens for the Economic Future of Swain County, believes cemetery access and proper respect for the sacrifices of the communities along the north shore are important. McKinney said his group would work to include a state of the art museum depicting the life and times of the displaced Swain County residents as well as better cemetery access.
“The North Shore Road would be a duplication of N.C. 28 (which runs around the south shore of the lake to Deal’s Gap) and have dubious economic benefits,” said Roger Turner of the Western North Carolina Alliance.
“WNCA would certainly endorse a monetary settlement plus a museum.”
GSMNP spokesman Bob Miller said the $16 million already appropriated would be a small step toward the estimated $150 million project. According to Miller, the $150 million figure was “based on the cost of constructing the Cherohala Skyway, in Graham County.”
Monteith believes the Park Service estimate is unfounded.
“If the Park Service were to use existing road beds, including part of old N.C. 288, they would only have to build a few miles of new road,” Monteith said.
“Part of the problem is that there is no detailed proposal except the 1943 agreement. We are bound by law to base our environmental impact studies on the two-lane dustless road proposed by that agreement. We have to abide by NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) regulations. If proponents could agree on an alternative proposal, we would consider it,” Miller said.
On Oct. 17, Helms and Taylor will be meeting with new Park Service Director Fran Mainella. The North Shore Road is sure to be discussed.
“Rep. Taylor is committed to proceeding in a manner that best fulfills the long-standing government promise to provide the road, causes minimal environmental disturbance and is cost effective,” said Will Haynie, Taylor’s press secretary.
On Oct. 29, the issue will be discussed again when the Citizens for the Economic Future of Swain County meet with county commissioners to discuss the 1943 agreement.
