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The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, April 19, 1933, Chamber Of Commerce Edition, Image 8

Image and text provided by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, Chapel Hill, NC

Persistent link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063811/1933-04-19/ed-2/seq-8/

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Plans For Smoky Park Are Unfolding Rapidly
ABOUT 300,000
VISITED SITE
DURING 1932
By GEORGE W. M'COY
In The Asheville Citizen-Times
So much progress was made in
3932 in the land acquisition pro
gram and in other plans for the
Great Smoky Mountains National
Park that it is now expected the
present year will see the comple
tion of the work of acquiring land
so that the national park may he
opened officially ami the general
program of development started.
The outstanding event in con
nection with the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park in 1932
was the completion by members
of the National Park Service staff
of plans for a 10-year program of
development.
The year 1032 saw at least 300,
000 visitors to the Great Smokies,
according to figures released by
the National Park Service head
quarters in Washington, this total
representing a large gain over the
figures for 1031, when, according
to official estimate, 154,000 per
sons visited the national park
area..
The last 12 months also record
ed much progress in the construc
tion of approach roads to the park
and in the making of definite
plans for other approach roads
■which will connect with the roads
to be built inside the area by the
federal government in connection
with its 10-year program of devel
opment.
Last year also saw much prog
ress in the construction of Class A
trails within the park boundary,
this work affording employment
to a considerable number of men.
"General development of the
park should be started by the Na
tional Park Service within a year,
since we believe all lands will have
been acquired by that time." A.
B. Cammerer, associate director
of the National Park Service, said
while on a visit to Asheville last
December.
Mr. Cammerer said that after
the land had been acquired, the
National Park Service will begin
l general development in the park
area.
J. Ross Eakin, superintendent
of the Great Smoky Mountains
i National Park, has announced that
the park development plans, over
a 10-year period, call for a sys
■ tern of scenic highways within the
! park area totaling 230 miles; the
| early establishment of four ma
! jor tourist camps, two each in
I North Carolina and Tennessee;
I the creation of a large lake in
Cade's Cove; and the inaugura
tion of an educational program,
j which will call for the services of
I a permanent park naturalist.
Government engineers have
i been at work for sometime on a
survey of the first of the con
struction uniis of the road pro
gram. This is a seven-mile link
from Newfound Gap to Cling
man's Dome, a part of the pro
posed skyline highway between
Newfound Gap and Deal's Gap
i along the main divide of the Great
j Smokies.
The main park highways will be
j roughly paralleled by a system of
first class 1 rails, Mr. Kakin said.
These trails v ill afford easy
grades for saddle horses. Other
smaller and steeper trails also will
I be built.
The new highway, completed in
1932 across the summit of the
great divide of the Smokies at
Newfound Gap, is now the prin
cipal traffic artery into the park.
The highway extends from Ela on
Highway No. 10 and follows the
valley of the Oconalufty river as
state Highway No. 107. It climbs
through the heart of the lands of
Mhe Eastern Cherokee Indians and
I the slopes of the main divide to
Newfound Gap on the North Caro
lina-Tennessee line. At the gap,
the highway reaches an altitude
of nearly 5,000 feet above sea
level.
On the Tennessee slope, this
road descends by Tennessee Route
' No. 71, near Gatlinburg, where it
j joins Tennessee No. 73, a route
; which skirts the border of the
i park from Gatlinburg to Mary
i ville, Tenn.
On the North Carolina border
I of the park. North Carolina High
I way No. 288, from Bryson City
1 westward along the border of the
area, and State Highway No. 108,
from Topton to the head of the
famous Nantahala Gorge, are pop
ular national park touring route?,
from which many vistas of the
region may be obtained. Near
Waynesville, a new highway is be
ing surveyed to Soco Gap in the
Balsam range. This route, when
completed, will be one of the most
I popular entrance highways from
Hendersonville, Asheville and
Waynesville into the park.
Mr. Cammerer said recently
that a magnificent system of hik
ing trails is being constructed by
the National Park Service within
the park. Many of these are al
ready completed and in use. The
famous Appalachian Trail, the
mountain hiking route from Maine
to Georgia, follows the crest of
the central divide of the Smoky
Mountains, directly through th.?
heart of the park.
The Cherokee Indians, long un
noticed by tourists, have become
a center of interest for park trav
i tiers sincc the construction of the
j new highway through their 60,
! 000-acre domain. The Indians con
tinue many of their ancestral cus
toms, the Green Corn and Eagle
dances and other events.
Along the border of the park
and in nearby cities are hotels and
inns which provide accommoda
tions for park visitors. The na
tional park is approached by a
network of paved roads on both
the North Carolina and Tennessee
j approaches. The new national
park is easily reached from any
section. There are many favorite
routes from the east and north.
From Cincinnati, 0., the Ontario
to Florida route over Federal
Route No. 25 through Asheville
and Hendersonville is popular be
cause it has shortened the dis-i
tance from the Gulf states to the
Great Lakes and offers a choice
of entrances into the park in both
North Carolina and Tennessee,
The 'Shenandoah Valley route
from Washington through Win
chester, Va., Roanoke, Va., to
Winston-Salem or to Bristol,
Tenn.-Va., and thence to Ashe
ville, is also a popular motor tour
ing route to the Land of the Sky
and the Great Smokies.
Travel into the park is expect
ed to increase as spring and sum
I mer advance. The entire area of
428,000 acres of 'tjie park on the
North Carolina side is expected to
be secured and deeded to the Fed
eral government this year. Mr.
Cammerer said reecntly he ex
pects the park service to begin its
general development program
I within the year.
COUNCILMAN FOUND GUILTY
DALLAS, Texas.—(UP).—City
Councilman Joe C. Thompson
•was one of the first found guilty
of violation in a recent drive to
enforce the city's "blue-law"
against opening of grocery stores
after 9 a. m. Sunday.
BOSTON U. CLAIMS RECORD
BOSTON. — (UP). — Boston
University claims the world rec
ord for turning out potential
collcge presidents. No less than
55 of its graduates are active
college presidents, a survey re
veals.
"To Sleep and
Dream No More"
Peace of spirit and peace of
mind are man's eternally,
when he finds rest in the
arms of his Maker. The final
act of dignified funeral serv
ice is the co-operation we |
offer the bereaved, that they
may be relieved of all care
in the hour of grief.
Tom Shepherd's
Funeral Home
South Church Street
PHONES:
Day 25—Night 217
For 30 years rendering a
service of interest and
understanding to the
people of the Hen
dersonville area.
*
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