Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

Report of the North Carolina Park Commission

  • wcu_great_smoky_mtns-2850.jpg
4 / 62
Item
  • REPORT OF NORTH CAROLINA PARK COMMISSION Great Smoky Mountain area lying in North Carolina and Tennessee as the most suitable area for a National Park, and one that fulfilled all the requirements for a great National Park, the findings of this Committee were adopted by the North Carolina Park Commission, and by a similar commission appointed by the State of Tennessee, and steps were taken at once to raise the necessary funds . . . "The . . . General Assembly of North Carolina (1927) made provisions for taking over the lands in North Carolina. Looking to this end, it created a new commission with definite powers. This Commission was composed of the following: Eugene C. Brooks, Raleigh; D. M. Buck, Bald Mountain; John G. Dawson, Kinston; Plato Ebbs, Asheville; R. T. Fountain, Rocky Mount; J. A. Hardison, Wadesboro; Frank Linney, Boone; J. Elmer Long, Durham; Harry Nettles, Biltmore; E. S. Parker, Jr., Greensboro; and Mark Squires, Lenoir." The General Assembly of 1931 provided as follows: That the term of office of the members of the North Carolina Park Commission, named in the original law, shall expire on January first, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-three, or as soon thereafter as their successors shall have been appointed and qualified. At the time of expiration the Commission was composed of the following members: Mark Squires, Lenoir, Chairman; Eugene C. Brooks, Raleigh, Secretary; Plato D. Ebbs, Asheville, Treasurer; D. M. Buck, Bald Mountain; John G. Dawson, Kinston; R. T. Fountain, Rocky Mount; Frank L. Dunlap, Wadesboro; Stuart W. Cramer, Jr., Cramerton; J. Elmer Long, Durham; Harry L. Nettles, Biltmore; and F. M. Hanes, Roaring Gap.r Copy riglited Materiaf Western Carolina University Section 3 of Chapter 212, North Carolina Public Laws, Session of 1933, provided as follows: Hunter Library "That chapter forty-eight of the Public Laws of one thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven be and the same is hereby amended by changing the number of commissioners to be appointed by the Governor to five instead of eleven commissioners as now constituted." In 1933 Governor J. C. B. Ehringhaus appointed a new commission which was composed of the following members: Mr. W. W. Neal, Marion; Mr. Thomas Wadley Raoul, Biltmore; Mr. John W. Aiken, Hickory; Mr. Foster Hankins, Lexington; and Mr. C. A. Cannon, Kannapolis. The organization meeting of this new Commission was held in the Governor's office on August 1st, 1933. The present Commission, appointed in 1937, is composed of the following members: Mr. W. W. Neal, Marion; Mr. Thomas Wadley Raoul, Biltmore; Mr. Foster Hankins, Lexington; Mr. C. A. Cannon, Kannapolis; and Mr. Charles A. Webb, Asheville. The organization meeting of this Commission was held in Asheville on July 23, 1937. The work of the Commission is now virtually completed; there remains to be done, however, (1) an accounting of the Cash Balance at December 31st, 1939, amounting to $19,373.50, and (2) the Commission has agreed, jointly with the Department of Conservation, State of Tennessee, to sponsor the dedication of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Respectfully submitted, W. W. NEAL, Chairman G. F. HANKINS, Secretary
Object
  • This North Carolina Park Commission Report was completed at the close of 1939 and submitted to North Carolina Governor Clyde R. Hoey. The 62-page publication, compiled for the Commission by Albert H. Blake, begins with a letter to the governor reporting that all of the land on the North Carolina side of the park has been purchased and conveyed to the federal government. The report includes an auditor’s report, information about the Rockefeller fund, and a copy of the 1927 law that brought the commission into being. The report includes lists tracts of land, family names, and values paid for purchase. W.W. Neal was chairman of the commission at the time and G.F. Hankins was secretary.