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Correspondence regarding the naming of Mount Kephart

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Item’s are ‘child’ level descriptions to ‘parent’ objects, (e.g. one page of a whole book).

  • COPT defjktoxbt of tie xbtbrior uiiwd 3tatis geological surtey Washington Office of the Director August 18, 1924. Mr. I. I. Stearns, Sryeon City Pump Works Company, Bryson City, forth Carolina. Dear SUP. Stearns: In reply to your letter of August 9: fhe mountain pesic falling on the Mount Guyot, Tennessee-north Carolina, topographic map that you propose naming Mount Kephart is an unn" . i t so far as the Geological Survey has any record, the long established practice of the Survey has been to confine the names used on its topographic maps to those found to be in approval local usage, or to those newer names that are approved by the United States Geographic Board. Your letter with Its inclosed petition has, therefore, been referred to the United States Geographic Board for a ruling, but I have suggested for the Board's consideration that if the signers of your petition live in the immediate vicinity it is obvious that this mountain peak will soon hava a locally recognized name. Very truly yours, (Signed) Geo. Otis Smith Director.
Object
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).

  • Mount Kephart was named for author and woodsman, Horace Kephart in 1928, in a rare act of honoring a living person. Originally, a mountain known as Mount Collins was the site of Kephart’s namesake, but in the early 1930s, the name Mount Collins was restored and a different peak was given the name Mount Kephart. This new peak, the current Mount Kephart, is north of Clingmans Dome. Horace Kephart (1862-1931) first published “Camping and Woodcraft” in 1906 and “Our Southern Highlanders” in 1913. Throughout his life, he wrote many articles supporting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.