1930s
By the 1930s automobile tourism was becoming the rage and local groups were formed to promote routes that would bring the tourism dollars to their area.
The Knoxville Journal, January 17, 1930, pg 13:
DEAL'S GAP ROAD TO BRYSON OPEN
Reported One Of The Greatest Scenic Routes in Nation
MARYVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 16. (Spl.) - The Deal's Gap highway between Maryville and Bryson City is now open, although the road is not entirely completed. This highway was built jointly by the country and state and has been under construction for the past three years. The road when completed will cost more than $300,000, passing Calderwood and the dams of the Aluminum Company of America, and is the first outlet through Blount county to the North Carolina side.
Ralph Kizer, secretary-treasurer of the White Star Bus line, went over the entire highway this week and says that it is one of the most beautiful roads in the United States.
An adjoining article entitled Two Carolinians Killed reported "two men were killed while returning from Blount county to their homes in North Carolina yesterday, four men being in an automobile which fell seventy-five feet down the mountain, landing on its top. Two of the occupants were injured but escaped death." The location of the accident was not given, but possibly could have been on the new road.
The Asheville Citizen-Times issue of January 22, 1930, carried a banner headline on page 8:
Big Celebration Being Planned For Opening of N.C.-Tennessee Highway.
GOVERNORS OF 2 STATES WILL BE ASKED TO ATTEND
Deal's Gap Highway Will Be Completed During Summer
MARYVILLE, Tenn., Jan 21 - Governors of two states will be invited this summer to attend the celebration of the opening of a through highway from Maryville to the North Carolina line, connecting with a similar highway from Bryson city. The Governors to be invited to speak are Governor O. Max Gardner, of North Carolina, and Governor H. H. Horton, of Tennessee, both of whom are strong advocates of the good roads movement.
The Deal's Gap highway that is being constructed from Maryville to the North Carolina line by way of Calderwood will be completed during the summer. The rocking of the highway has been finished above Calderwood and the grading done to the State line, allowing travel in dry weather. The county and State are sharing equally in the cost of the highway, approximately $300,000 being spent.
Skirts Smokies
The new highway skirts the Smoky Mountains practically the entire 90 miles and crosses the mountain at Deal's Gap beyond Calderwood. From it can be seen many of the hydroelectric developments of the Knoxville Power Company, subsidiary of the Aluminum Company of America, and is said to be one of the most scenic and picturesque routes in the Eastern part of the United States. From Calderwood it follows practically the historic toll gate route, famous in the early history of this section, and the only through route to North Carolina. Many decades ago this route was abandoned.
A paved highway has been built from Bryson City connecting with the Deal's Gap highway, and from it can be made connections the main highway between Asheville and Atlanta.
Propose Joint Meet
Citizens of Blount County propose to have a mammoth joint celebration opening the highway as soon as its completed. Calderwood, Bryson City, or some convenient place on the highway has been suggested. J. G. Strikeleather, of the North Carolina Highway Department, and Commissioner Baker of the Tennessee State Highway Department, would also be invited as well as other good road enthusiasts from both states.
The Deal's Gap highway is the only outlet to North Carolina from Calderwood over which an automobile or any other vehicle can travel.
The Dragon in the late 1920s was designated as TN72 on the Tennessee side and NC288 on the North Carolina side. In those days NC288 followed a path that today is underwater in places after the building of Fontana Dam. Today’s NC28 was built more or less along the new south shore of Fontana Lake. Completion of the bridge near Tapoco in 1931 allowed connection of NC108 to NC288. NC108 and TN72 were paved for the first time in 1931 and in 1934 were renumbered as US129.
One of the early adventures over the Dragon took place on February 22, 1930 and was reported in the Knoxville Journal:
Aluminum Chiefs Reach Bryson City
MARYVILLE, Tenn., Feb 22 (Spl.) - F. C. Fickes, vice president and chief engineer, and I. W. Wilson, general superintendent of all reduction plants, of the Aluminum Company of America, had thrilling experiences today when they went over the Smokies in an automobile. The officials left Calderwood this morning accompanied by A. D. Huddleston, assistant superintendent of the reduction plant in Alcoa.
A small car was used in climbing the mountains, the party going through nothing but wilderness with foot trails, old logging roads, big rocks, fallen timbers, brush and briars, and in many places the car had to be jacked-up over huge rocks.
The party went through the Smokies at Deal's Gap and at the Tennessee-North Carolina line the Aluminum officials were met by autos and taken to Bryson City to spend the night.
Tennessee State highway officials announced that the Deal's Gap road was "practically completed" on March 16, 1930. It was "finished in high grade gravel." And they went on that "All of the road, except two miles, have been completed".
WRECK ON NEW ROAD was the headline on June 1, 1930 in the Knoxville News-Sentinel. The article detailed a roadster driven by Clyde Cunningham, age 32, went off the new Deal's Gap highway. The driver was pinned under the vehicle and suffered a fractured skull and was not expected to live. A passenger escaped injury.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel published a special THE ROAD TO ROAM on June 29, 1930 detailing a trip to Calderwood Dam.
News Article
In October of 1930 North Carolina highway department announced it would reconstruct the old Calderwood trestle crossing Calderwood Lake at Tapoco to convert it into a highway bridge. That would complete the roadway No. 108 from Robbinsville to Deals Gap. The project would take two months to complete.
The Tapoco Lodge construction was completed in November of 1930 by the Aluminum Company of America. The two buildings featured the extensive use of aluminum. The three story building was the lodge and the two story building was the general store. At the time they were not connected.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel published a map on March 22, 1931 featuring roads to and through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
April 19, 1931 Knoxville Journal:
North Carolina Highway No. 108 from Deal's Gap through Robbinsville to Topton was officially opened May 28, 1931. News articles claimed it could be traveled except in extreme wet weather.
Highway No. 288 from Deal's Gap to Bryson City was still "without a surface" according to an article in the ACT dated May 31, 1931. "In general the road follows the Little Tennessee and often it threads along ridges hundreds of feet above the river and its beautiful power dams and lakes. It is one of the most awe inspiring highways in the state, and it is dangerous in wet weather."
Tourism across the Dragon is not just a new phenomenon. An Asheville Citizen Times article published May 28, 1931 detailed the travels of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Miner from Massachusetts who were two of the first people to cross the newly paved roadway. "They motored from Hollywood, coming by way of Knoxville, Tenn., over the road that was opened last week through Deals Gap by Santeetlah Lake and through Robbinsville and Nantahala Gorge." The Hollywood was likely Hollywood, Tennessee near Memphis.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel dated June 1, 1931, stated that the "Big Steam Shovel" that "Chews Thru Smokies" was on its way back to North Carolina. It evidently had been loaned to Tennessee for use at Calderwood on the Deal's Gap Highway.
And the Asheville Citizen-Times announced "Road Celebration To Be Held At Robbinsville" in the June 23, 1931 issue:
Motorcade Will Travel Scenic Highway From Maryville
ROBBINSVILLE, June 22 - (Special) - Highway enthusiasts, civic leaders and other prominent figures in Graham county and east Tennessee will join in a good-will meeting in Robbinsville Tuesday to celebrate the opening of the new highway connecting Robbinsville with Maryville and other points in Tennessee.
Speakers will include: J. Ross Eakin, superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Judge M. H. Gamble and Clyde B. Emert, of Maryville, and others. Mr. Emert, editor of the Maryville Times, will introduce Judge Gamble, who will lead the the delegation from Blount county, Tenn. Other Maryville speakers will include R. R. Kramer and D. W. Brooks, chairman of the delegation. Prominent citizens of Robbinsville will also participate in the speaking and other features on the program.
Several hundred citizens will join the motorcade which is being sponsored by businessmen of Maryville and Alpaca as a good will venture. The motorcade will leave Maryville at 8 o'clock Tuesday morning and will travel the new highway to Robbinsville.
Tuesday Is Holiday
Tuesday will be a holiday in Robbinsville. The hundreds of citizens who for several years have been anxiously awaiting the opening of the highway into Tennessee and many others will attend the celebration which is schedules to be well underway by noon.
The new highway which joins the Deal's Gap road at the state line, was completed several days ago. The Tennessee side of the highway skirts the southwestern portion of the Great Smoky Mountains National park, and passes the three gigantic power dams of the Aluminum Company of America. At Topton, the road connects with state highway No. 10 leading to Asheville and points east and to Murphy, Gainesville, Ga., and Atlanta.
Already much tourist traffic has been routed over the new highway and traffic through Maryville, Robbinsville and other points has been greatly increased. Thousands of visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National park will travel this route.
Calderwood Dam
The first of the large power projects reached by the highway out of Maryville is the Calderwood dam on Little Tennessee river at Calderwood. This dam is 206 feet high and extends 897 feet from shore to shore. The lake which it forms has an area of 574 acres and a shoreline of 20 miles extending to the Cheoah dam at Tapoco near where the Cheoah river empties into the Little Tennessee. The Cheoah dam is the highest over-flow dam in America and the lake at Cheoah has an area of 663 acres.
At Tapoco the highway follows the Cheoah river for eight miles to the Santetlah (sic) dam which is 200 feet high and 1,150 feet from shore to shore. The area of this lake is 3,000 acres and the shore line is 85 miles.
In addition to the power projects the highway affords beautiful views of Gregory's Bald, Parson's Bald and other peaks and high ridges along the southwestern end of the Great Smoky Park.
And another new scenic highway opening is announced on page 1 in the June 27, 1931 Asheville Citizen-Times:
NEW ROUTE INTO SMOKY PARK OPENS
N.C. Highway Connects With Tennessee Road At Newfound Gap
GREATER TOURIST TRAVEL EXPECTED
Purple Rhododendron Is Now In Full Bloom In Area
BRYSON CITY, June 26 - (Special) - State Highway No. 107, leading from Smokemont to Newfound Gap, on the North Carolina - Tennessee State line, will be open for travel Saturday, it was announced Friday afternoon by D. H. Corpening, chairman of the Swain county board of commissioners who has been co-operating with road officials in completing the final link.
This announcement marks a milestone in the history of the movement for the development of the Great Smoky Mountains National park, for it means that a motorist, for the first time, may now travel through the heart of the national park area from Bryson City, in Swain county, to Gatlinburg in Tennessee.
Goes By Cherokee
From Bryson City the route is as follows: Bryson City, over State Highway No. 10 to Ela, then over State Highway No. 107 to Cherokee; then by Ravensford and Smokemont to Newfound Gap. At Newfound Gap the North Carolina roads connects with the paved Tennessee State highway, which leads to Gatlinburg. From Bryson City to Gatlinburg the distance is 40 miles. From here to Cherokee is 10 miles; from Cherokee to Smokemont the distance is four miles; and from Smokemont to Newfound Gap is eight miles. The distance from Newfound Gap to Gatlinburg is 18 miles.
The link, connecting the North Carolina and Tennessee roads at Newfound Gap, was completed Friday, With the exception of the last two and a half miles to Newfound Gap the road is wide and in good condition. The last two and a half miles of dirt road is narrow, but passable for automobiles.
Swain county authorities this week sent machinery and men to aid in completing the last link ofn the road in order that the route from Bryson City to Gatlinburg may be available for motor travel at once.
Splendid Scenery
Some of the finest scenery in the national park area may be seen from this road. At Newfound Gap purple rhododendron is reported to be in blom (sic) in great profusion. All over the park area the purple rhododendron is now in bloom, and presents an enticing picture to visitors.
This road is the second within a few days to be opened for travel between North Carolina and Tennessee. As a result, travel between the two states is expected to be increased to a great extent. The other new route is by Deal's Gap and takes the traveler over a road that traverses a country renowned for its beauty. It connects Robbinsville, in Graham county, with Maryville, Tenn., and skirts the national park on the southwest.
The Tennessee side of the Smoky Mountains National Park road was completed September 6, 1930 at a cost of $315,000. The North Carolina section was completed April 6, 1932 with the first few cars making the Gatlinburg to Cherokee trip that day. A Park Service inspection team of 19 officials made the trip on April 9. Since then millions have crossed the scenic highway.
The first documented death on the Deal's Gap Highway occurred on July 1, 1931. According to the Kingsport Times of Kingsport, Tennessee dated July 2, 1931:
HEAT KILLS MAN
Maryville, Tenn., July 2 (AP) - The heat was blamed today for the death of Clarence Anderson, 28, driver of a Gulf Refining Company oil truck.
He was found unconscious on the side of the Deal's Gap highway yesterday, between Maryville and Calderwood. Apparently overcome by the heat, he had stopped at a spring to get a drink.
The Asheville Citizen-Times continued to tout the western North Carolina highways in this July 26, 1931 article:
Nantahala Gorge Tour Offers Mountain Views
Trip Can Be Continued Through Great Smoky Park Area
The motorist seeking scenery as beautiful and as awe inspiring as may be found in eastern American (sic) will do well to visit Nantahala gorge and Lake Santeetlah, at Robbinsville. The trip is a fairly long one and will take up the greater part of the day, However, it not only offers the automobilist fine mountain highways, the best of the scenery and a return loop entirely within North Carolina, but it also gives him an opportunity of continuing his trip into the Great Smoky Mountains National park area in Tennessee.
From Asheville the way is west on State Highway No. 10, through Waynesville, Bryson City and on to Topton, a distance of approximately 95 miles, A few mile this side of Topton, the road runs through the Nantahala gorge, but the beauty of the rugged valley can not be appreciated until the turn is made north at Topton on Highway No. 108. This road runs along the side of a very steep mountain. At one point, no far from the turn, a lookout has been built so that visitors may take full advantage of the view.
Add To Beauty
Many hundreds of feet below runs the Nantahala River, with the highway nearby. Halfway between the observation point and the bottom, is the railroad track, disappearing frequently into deep buts or tunnels. In summer time, the foliage on the slopes is luxuriant, and usually clouds are present to add to the beauty of the scene.
From Topton to Robbinsville, the distance is 12 miles. The road winds first along the mountainside, then runs fairly straight down a valley. Lake Santeetlah, where the water for the Tallassee Power company hydroelectric plant, many miles away on the Little Tennessee river, is impounded, is just beyond Robbinsville.
This lake has a shore line of 126 miles and is one of the largest and most beautiful in western North Carolina. The road skirts one side of it, following for miles the edges of the blue water. The motorist many times is convinced he has left the lake behind, but he encounters it again and again. The last sight of the lake is at the dam, a gigantic mass of concrete wedged in a narrow valley, and a most impressive sight.
No. 108 winds along the Little Tennessee river, crossing it just below Tapoco dam. Climbing a well graded road to the crest of the mountain, the traveller (sic) reaches Deal's gap (sic) and the Tennessee line. Here he has two alternatives. He many (sic) turn to his right on Highway No. 288, a well graded but somewhat narrow road, possibly slippery in wet weather, and return to Bryson City, following the Little Tennessee and the Tuckaseegee valleys. This takes him by way of Fontana and Bushnell. A part of this road will be eventually covered with water when the Aluminum company of America carries out its project.
Is Near 250 Miles
From Robbinsville to Deal's Gap it is 24 miles, and from Deals Gap to Bryson City, 50 miles. Bryson City is 70 miles from Asheville. The total distance of this trip is around 250.
The other alternative is to continue into Tennessee to Maryville. There, the traveller (sic) may turn east into the Great Smoky Mountains National park area, before him lie Gatlinburg near Mt. LaConte, and a fine highway to the Smoky crest at Newfound gap.
From Asheville to Robbinsville the way is paved. From Robbinsville to Deal's gap, there is an excellent all weather surface of gravel.
Tourism begins on the newly completed Deal's Gap Highway. In October 1931, Miss Mary Coleman of the Automobile Club Touring Bureau reported hearing from R. R. Carter of Trenton, New Jersey after she had recommended the route from Asheville trough Deal's Gap to Knoxville. After completing the trip Carter commented, "It is the most beautiful drive I have ever taken. Next year I'm coming back when I can make longer stops at some of the points of most scenic interest." Knoxville News-Sentinel October 2, 1931.
By 1931 a group of "road enthusiasts" from Pensacola Florida began to push for the newly designated Highway 129 to be completed to their area. A number of meetings were held with enthusiasts from Georgia, Alabama, and Florida to determine the final terminus for US129. The original plan was for the roadway to veer southwesterly from Macon and pass through Fort Valley, Georgia; then Eufaula, Clayton, Clio, Brundidge, Troy, Elba and Florala, Alabama; then Crestview, Florida and terminate at Pensacola. The depression and then World War II interupted the enthusiasm for this route. By 1947 Tampa was pushing to get US129 routed from the then southern terminus of Jasper, Florida to Chiefland and US19.
By September 1947 a number of interested Florida groups including chambers of commerce, highway associations, and town officials were pushing to promote US129 as "The Scenic Route of the South".
The Depression Hits
In the summer of 1932 sightseeing buses were in operation to tour the Smoky Mountain National Park. The Loop tour was a two-day trip leaving Asheville and touring Waynesville, Cherokee Indian Reservation, Indian Gap and arriving at Gatlinburg for the night. The next day the tour included Elkmont, Little River road, Maryville, Deal's Gap, Lake Santeetlah and Bryson City before returning to Asheville.
In July 1932 Great Smoky Mountain Park superintendent Ross Eaken announced that construction of a new 40-mile stretch of highway from New Found Gap to Deal's Gap would commence shortly. This "skyline drive" would pass the summits in many places, including Clingman's Dome the highest peak in the Park area.
Other roads connecting to the proposed Skyline Drive were planned in the early 1930s. One road would descend the Smokies at Ekaneetlee Gap into Cades Cove. It would then split with one fork going southwesterly to Chilhowee and the other following Laurel Creek to Little River Road. Superintendent Eaken also favored flooding Cades Cove by constructing dams to form a huge lake that he believed once existed there. The only road actually built was the Laurel Creek Road and Cades Cove was never flooded.
Several complaints had been publicized about the mountain roads in the area. Both the Deal's Gap Highway and the Newfound Gap Highway which were macadamized (graveled) became extremely dusty in dry weather. The solution at the time was to oil the roads. It would only be a year or two before both roads were paved with asphalt.
Additional highway construction in western North Carolina was well underway by 1933. In April of 1933 construction of a roadway through the Soco Gap near Cherokee was commenced. And ACT article dated March 26, 1933 commented that this road "will follow one of the old Cherokee Indian trails." And "Modern highways have been built through practically all of the old Indian trail ways, such as Deal's Gap, Newfound Gap, Balsam Gap ...."
The Depression hit hard and funds for road construction were hard to come by. This proved to be the downfall of a number of planned roads in the Great Smoky Mountains. By 1933 a number of Civilian Conservation Corps had been established in the Smokies. Eleven new camps were formed in the Smokies in late 1933. One of the C.C.C. camps was located at Deal's Gap and was tasked with landscaping the roadway and cleanup.
The Deal's Gap Highway was closed May 30, 1934 as work commenced to macadamize and apply oil topping to the roadway from Calderwood to the North Carolina line. The project, which would take several months, closed the roadway. Alternate routes were Indian Gap (Newfound Gap) and Tellico Plains Ducktown route. Highway officials changed the closure after many complaints. The road would be open each weekday from 11 am to noon, and again from 7 pm to 8 pm. Sunday traffic would be allowed several hours longer.
In 1933 a new mountain route was under consideration. This 44-mile Skyway would connect Newfound Gap with Deals Gap at a cost of $80,000 a mile. The idea was hotly contested by two sides; one favoring the scenic mountain highway and the other wanting to preserve the natural settings of the Great Smoky Mountains. Construction actually began along the ridgeline heading southwest from Newfound Gap. Work was halted in 1934 after 7 miles had been completed when the conservative elements and the Great Depression forced cancelation of the project. The short section that had been completed was opened as a dead end to scenic Clingman's Dome. It would be another 60 years before a similar project also called the Skyway would be completed between Robbinsville, North Carolina and Tellico Plains, Tennessee.
By the early summer of 1935 the 11.6 miles of the Deal's Gap Highway had been given an "asphalted-concrete" surface from Calderwood to the state line.
A severe winter storm hit the area of east Tennessee in late February 1935. The Knoxville News-Sentinel of February 23 described the damage: "Long stretches of road on the Walland highway and Deals Gap road must be rebuilt." And "Heavy freezes and subsequent thaws, the rains and 14-inch snow falls of this winter have reduced the road system to miles of muddy thoroughfares practically impassable in many instances."
A ceremony honoring Joyce Kilmer, author of the poem "Trees" was held Thursday, July 30, 1936. The dedication was held in Poplar Cove which included a message from President Roosevelt. The date was the 18th anniversary of Kilmer's death in World War One. The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest contains 3,800 acres of virgin timber.
An article in the August 23, 1936 Knoxville Journal featured the New Found Gap road:
Another storm, this time a summer torrential rain, caused extensive damage to the area of Calderwood in east Tennessee: An article in the Knoxville News-Sentinel of August 5, 1938 summarized the damage:
DAM IS STRUCK BY LANDSLIDE; BRIDGES OUT
Store Washed Away as Roaring Fork Rises; Cottages Marooned
SEVEN INCHES OF RAIN
Calderwood Has Greatest Damage; Power Service Is Disrupted
A midnight cloudburst in the Great Smokies caused an undetermined amount of damage all through the mountains and to towns at both ends of the park.
Greatest damage was Calderwood, on the Little Tennessee River at the western end of the park, where it was reported that seven inches of water fell in little more than an hour.
A landslide at Calderwood Dam threw thousands of tons of earth and rock down on the dam, it was reported, and many small creek valleys were swept clear ot trees and huge stones by the force of the water.
....
A new concrete, heavy duty bridge across Tab Cat Creek a mile north of Calderwood, built especially to carry a new turbine to the Calderwood power house was washed away. The new heavy duty asphalt road up the mountain toward Deal's Gap also was reported badly damaged and almost impassable at several places.