1970s
A news item in the Asheville Citizen-Times dated October 9, 1970 announced that Universal Films of Hollywood California would be filming at Crafton's Motel on Friday October 9. The one day of filming for the movie Two Lane Blacktop would see some 35 or 40 crewmembers.
Deals Gap, the pass through the Appalachians, was named for the Deal family from central North Carolina who ran a trading post nearby in the late 1700s primarily doing business with the Cherokee. The post was in violation to King George's edict which forbade any settlements west of the Blue Ridge. The family later moved west to Middle Tennessee establishing a post at the terminus of the Natchez Trace near the time of the Trail of Tears.
US 129 was only lightly traveled for decades, primarily by locals, hunters and lost tourists. The small motel and diner went through many different owners from the 30s to the 90s. It was owned by the Moodys, the Craftons and was known after that as Macs Motel.
By 1970 moonshining at Deal's Gap had been replaced with marijuana. An Asheville Citizen Times article dated January 21, 1970, confirmed that Graham County Sheriff Arnold Crisp had arrested Zane Plemmons, 36, of Deals Gap. He was charged with possession of 12 and a half ounces of the drug and held under $5,000 bond.
By a freaky chance Hollywood played a part in preserving the early years of this remote mountain crossroads. Crafton's Motel was one of the locations chosen in the 1971 movie Two Lane Blacktop. The storyline of the film was a couple of hot-rod guys decide to drive their 1955 Chevy across the US financed by winnings racing against locals encountered along the way. They pick-up a female hitchhiker and then meet another guy driving a 1970 GTO. They enter into a challenge to race to Washington DC which in the film looks nothing like a competition. In the last ten minutes of the film they all end-up at Deals Gap. The scenes of the old cafe and parking lot show the remoteness of the area at the time. Filming at Deals Gap took place in a single day on October 9, 1970, according to H. L. Crafton, owner of Crafton's Motel.
Two Lane Blacktop was touted as the "Movie of the Year" by Esquire Magazine. The stars were James Taylor (yes, the singer), Dennis Wilson (yes, the Beach Boy), Laurie Byrd (who knows why), and the only real actor Warren Oates. The film was a commercial failure, but has since gained status as a cult classic and was the inspiration for the Cannonball run.
In March 1973 the subject of building the North Shore Road from Bryson City to Fontana was breeched once more. Swain County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution calling for introduction of a bill in the U. S. Congress requesting an appropriation of $56 million to build the road. Again the resolution referred to the original agreement dated October 8, 1943 between the federal government, the State of North Carolina and Swain County.