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Descendants urge commissioners to honor lost communities and support cemetery upkeep
Summary
A descendant of families displaced in 1943 asked commissioners to reconsider naming a proposed middle school and to support long-term funding and meeting space for local community cemeteries and reunions.
During public comment, Henry Chambers, representing the North Shore Cemetery Association, urged Swain County commissioners to preserve the history of families who lost land in the 1920s and 1940s and asked the county to support cemetery upkeep and community events.
Chambers said he represents descendants of about 700 families who "had to give up their land in 1943" and asked that a new middle school not simply use the name "North Shore" as a singular honor. Instead he suggested alternative names such as "Remembrance, Legacy, Heritage, Parkview, Parkside," and proposed naming classrooms for the specific communities that were lost, including Lefty, Ravenswood, Bear Springs, Hubbard, Medland, Procter, Wayside and Fairview. He also suggested naming an auditorium for an individual, David Monteith, as an option. Chambers said some small cemeteries such as Dehart are "in horrible shape" and that Loueda is running out of donations; he asked the county to "try to fund a stable source of money for community cemeteries."
Chambers also requested use of the Morgan Pavilion from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the association’s annual reunion and asked to meet with park staff at the county business center in March. The board listened during the public-comment period; no county action was taken at the meeting.
