Great Depression Era Landmark Has So Much To Do
Tennessee valley Authority, Formed From Roosevelt's New Deal, Built The Norris Dam That Accompanies About 4,000 Acres Of Hiking Trails, Lake Activities & Camping
“We have a saying. We didn’t inherit this land from our grandfathers, we are borrowing it from our grandchildren,” says Ranger Mike Scott, park ranger at Norris Dam State Park in Rocky Top, Tennessee. The park, about 4000 acres of hiking trails, recreational lake activities, and camping, was founded in the early 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corp. The CCC was an organization that formed under President Roosevelt’s New Deal, an organization that built hundreds of state and national parks. Several of the cabins that were built by the CCC are still used.
Another player in forming the park was the Tennessee Valley Authority. The TVA also formed as part of the New Deal to improve the lives of the impoverished in the Tennessee Valley. They built the Norris Dam that was used to control flooding, as well as for power. “To this day, 76,000 homes get their power from the dam,” Scott says. There is a museum on site, the Lenoir museum, that provides photographs and artifacts of this history, as well as the Appalachian history that surrounds it.
In the middle of the lake, there is a full service marina that is leased out from the park. John Marquis, owner of Appalachian Outdoor Center, utilizes the marina to rent kayaks, paddle boards, and canoes. “We don’t really do any guided tours, but people come in and rent kayaks and drop them off and pick them up,” Marquis says.
Marquis comes from Maine. “I worked for LL Bean and eventually became a registered Maine guide in sea kayaking and inland kayaking,” Marquis recalls. To be a guide in Maine is a pretty extensive process. “You have to pay your own money to take classes and learn different skills,” explains Marquis. He started teaching cross country skiing and snowshoeing in the wintertime. “We also started a program to take some kids out of a city school system and trained them to trek down a waterway,” Marquis says.
Eventually, though, he met his wife who was from Tennessee. “She wanted to come back to Tennessee, so I left everything in Maine and came here,” Marquis says. When he first arrived in Tennessee, he was in for a few shocks. “We wanted to put a program like the one we had in Maine,” explains Marquis, “But no one was trained in any sort of rescue or first aide, so we had a lot of work to do.” Eventually, though, he approached people at the marina and helped more people get qualified and he started doing what he likes to do. Then, a historic building went for sale in Norris. “I really liked it but couldn’t afford to buy it,” Marquis says, “However the new owner was excited about the idea of opening the outdoor center there.” They opened Appalachian Outdoor Center in April of 2017.
“People come from all over, especially up north, to visit the lake,” explains Ranger Scott. Scott says that a lot of people from Cincinnati and Nashville come with their boats and camp at the lake. “It has over 800 miles of shoreline and clean water that can be over 200 feet deep,” Scott says. Another big draw to the state park is the Clinch River. “The Clinch River has some of the best trout fishing anywhere,” Scott says.
The Lenoir Museum Cultural Complex is also on the grounds of the state park. The museum is named after Will and Helen Lenoir. The Lenoir’s collected antiques from history, including an 1826 barrel organ, and other pieces of Americana that visitors can see. Along with the museum building there is the Rice Gristmill. It was built in 1798. It was built by the Rice family and operated for four generations. It was setup to power a sawmill, cotton gin, and supplied electric lighting for the Rice’s in 1899. Visitors can go inside and the sea the gears that were carved from Hickory. The Mill was originally in Union County, but was rebuilt by the TVA in 1935 in the present location. Another part of the complex is the Crosby Barn built in the 1830s. The barn was also moved from another location. At the barn, visitors can see what farming was like in Appalachia in the 1800s.
Whether the visit is for history, recreational boating, hiking or mountain biking, or paddle sports, the state park has something for everyone. And the people who run it are there to serve. “You know how they say if you love your job you don’t work a day in your life? That’s how it is,” Scott says. He says that people should come and use the public land that is there for them. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m a steward of the environment for the people,” Scott says.
Andrew Malo
A graduate of Northeastern Illinois University in Education, Andrew has taught for the past decade in Chicago, New Mexico, and Japan. He enjoys tinkering with trucks and motorcycles, woodworking, reading and computer programming.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Clinton / Knoxville North KOA, where even the biggest rigs can set up with ease, thanks to easy-on, easy-off access and large, level pull thru sites. A new Deluxe cabin, camping cabins and tent sites are available. Located conveniently near I-75.