In the midst of World War II, while many Swain and Graham County NC men were fighting for their country, the US Government and the Tennessee Valley Authority decided to build a hydroelectric power dam which would flood 11,000 acres of North Carolina land. The TVA bought or took 67,800 acres of land from Graham and Swain Counties leaving 1,300 families homeless, some of which were widows with children, some who were elderly and many of which had never lived anywhere else. These people received no relocation assistance from the TVA or the government and the ones who refused to sell, had their land condemned and taken.

The government in order to appease these people promised two things: First, to reimburse Swain County for Hwy 288, which would be flooded when the lake was filled, and second to build a road around the park to give access to the more than 28 cemeteries that were left behind when these people were forced from their land. In 1943 the Government did pay approximately $400,000 to the State of North Carolina, which represented the principle which Swain County then owed in outstanding bonds, but Swain County did not actually see any of this money.

Approximately 6 miles of the road, including a bridge and a 1,200-foot tunnel (seen above), were completed by the end of 1969, but the remaining 26 miles was never finished. Many of the people, who were forced to leave their homes, are still waiting for the government to build the road to their ancestral cemeteries as promised and they were extended an olive branch, so to speak, in October 2000 when US Representative, Charles Taylor and Senator, Jesse Helms secured federal funding of $16 million toward the construction of the North Shore Road Project.

Only time will tell if a promise made almost 60 years ago can or will be kept, but the old-timers born and raised in this area have been offered a small ray of hope and they remain optimistic.

For More Information on the North Shore Road Project Click Here!

For North Shore Cemetery List Click Here!

Build The Road

(sing to the tune of John Denver's Country Roads)
Written by Paula Parton for her Grandmother Etta W Welch and all the people who were forced to leave their homes on Hazel Creek.

Almost heaven, North Carolina,
Great Smoky Mountains, Hazel Creek Forever.
Life was good there, communities content,
Everyone was happy 'til, away they were sent.

Where's the Road to take us home?
To the place, we long to go:
Hazel Creek/Proctor, we need a road there,
Take us home, build the Road!

Church on Sundays they remember,
Ancestor's homeland, Hazel Creeks clear water.
Agreements broken. Oh, please tell us why,
We just want a road there, not another lie.

Where's the road to take us home?
To the place, we long to go:
Hazel Creek/Proctor, we need a road there,
Take us home, build the Road!

We hear the voice of our ancestors calling,
The cemeteries remind us that this once was their home,
And goin' cross the lake
We wish we had a road to take us there 'most anytime, anytime.

Where's the road to take us home?
To the place, we long to go:
Hazel Creek/Proctor, we need a road there,
Take us home, build the Road!
Take us home, build the Road!
Oh where's the road to take us home?