HIST 701 Week 7 - Sunken Towns Outside Raleigh
If you live in Durham, Wake, or Chatham counties (NC) outside the Raleigh-Durham area, you have undoubtedly heard of Jordan Lake. It is one of the favorite summertime destinations for recreation. The lake spans about 13,940 acres with a shoreline of 180 miles. The lake is large and deep enough for power-boats, but also has extensions ("fingers") and inlets suitable for kayaks, fishermen, and even a beach for swimming. What most people do not know, however, is that Jordan Lake is not a natural lake! Created in response to devastating floods from the 1945 hurricane, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began building the dam in 1967. Completed and renamed in honor of Sen. B. Everett Jordan in 1974–83, it transformed the New Hope River Valley. Prior to the flooding of the area, there were railroads and towns that existed. For example, the Durham and South Carolina Railroad was relocated from the New Hope basin to higher ground but its stations were not rebuilt, and...