THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Observations
from 1934
The Tennessee
Valley Authority conducted an agricultural and industrial survey of
The Tennessee
Valley Authority Act was passed by Congress and signed by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 18, 1933. It was part of his "New Deal"
plan to lift the nation out of the Great Depression. He had requested
Congress to "create a corporation clothed with the power of government
but possessed with the flexibility and initiative of a private
enterprise." The president needed innovative ways to lead the nation
out of economic chaos. History has shown that TVA was one of his most
innovative ideas. Although private power companies opposed TVA because,
when dams were built and power generated, the new corporation could
offer electricity at a much cheaper rate than private providers. David
E. Lilienthal, Director of the Board of TVA, and sometimes called the
"Father of Public Power" had the aim of making electricity affordable
for everyone.
It is
interesting to note some of the items in survey made for TVA in
Mr. W. R.
Woolrich who wrote the industrial part of the survey noted that the tax
rate in Union County compared to most of the other counties in the TVA
area in Georgia was "exceedingly high." The millage rate totaled 30,
with 4 mills for state, 21 for county, and 5 for schools. "Well
informed citizens" told the surveyors that the real and personal
property of the county was assessed at 30 percent of its real value.
As for
"industrial establishments," the only one in the county was a barrel
stave mill employing "not more than ten men," and making the staves for
barrels for alcoholic beverages from white oak timber bought from local
land owners and farmers at $10 a cord. The barrels were not made in the
county, but the staves, when treated and bundled, were taken to the
Louisville and Nashville Railroad depot at Blue Ridge, 25 miles west of
the barrel stave industry. The evaluator saw climate, water power,
processing water, minerals and timber as assets to increase the
industrial output.
The surveyors
saw timber as one of the greatest resources of the county, with large
quantities of oak, spruce, white and short-leaf pine, and beech.
Chestnut trees had died or were dying, but the "excellent chestnut
wood" should be gathered and shipped to tanning factories, or a tanning
industry should be established in Union County.
The farms
yielded fifteen bushels of corn per acre, and sorghum syrup was a money
crop commodity. Fresh vegetables, "the best grown anywhere for flavor
and hardiness" were shipped to cities like Gainesville and Atlanta by
truck.
As to water
supply, the clear freestone water from the Notla, Toccoa and Hiawassee
Rivers and their tributaries could furnish water for many dye works,
bleacheries and industrial purposes.
When TVA really
became active, it was the water power that was used to "make
electricity available for everyone," as the motto indicated. Nottely
Dam (it seems TVA changed the spelling of Notla River to Nottely) was
started in 1941 and finished in 1942. At first, the TVA dams to
generate electric power were focused on the war effort, but after World
War II, TVA was able to fulfill the aim of supplying every home and
business with electricity. Building of Nottely Dam provided work for
many construction workers. The pay scale indicated that skilled
laborers were paid from $1.125 to $1.75 per hour; unskilled laborers
received $.575 per hour; semiskilled from $.65 to $1.00 per hour, and
an apprentice from $.65 to $1.46 per hour.
When Nottely
was finished and operable, several Union County workers moved on to the
Fontana Dam site near Robbinsville, N.C. A town sprang up at Fontana,
with fabricated housing and dorms for workers. In 1943, over 5,000
workers were employed on the Fontana Dam Project, with an aim to supply
more power to Alcoa Aluminum Company, highly involved in the war
effort. Signs at Fontana reminded workers: "Work or fight!" Fontana was
finished in November, 1944, and by January, 1945, was generating
228,000 kilowatts of power.
The TVA Act of
1933, the preparations for war, and World War II all combined to lift
the economic cloud of the Great Depression. "The New Deal" with all of
its ramifications had helped to turn America from rags to riches in a
little more than a decade. The agricultural and industrial survey of
Union County in 1934 no doubt aided leaders in the county to evaluate
what citizens could do to move forward.
[Ethelene
Dyer Jones is a retired educator, freelance writer, poet, and
historian. She may be reached at e-mail edj0513@windstream.net; phone
478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]
Updated June 27, 2018
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