- City:
- Black Mountain, NC
- Site Type:
- Dams, Civic Facilities, Parks and Recreation, Infrastructure and Utilities, Community Centers, Lakes and Ponds
- New Deal Agencies:
- Civil Works Administration (CWA), Work Relief Programs, Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
In 1934 the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Lake Administration (FERA) constructed a dam to impound a recreational lake: Lake Tomahawk, in Black Mountain, North Carolina, as well as a community building and boathouse at its shore. The lake “was officially opened on Labor Day weekend in 1934.”
The community building featured shingle siding and a large room for social gatherings and boating and bathing facilities. The building is still in use today and the lake continues as a gathering spot.
“The community house, built at Black Mountain, in Buncombe County, under project No. 11A-B11-2, is situated on the shore of a lake developed as a part of this same project. This community house is finished with shingles and provides a large hall as a gathering place on the main floor, and facilities for boating and bathing from the lower floor.”
Source notes
Emergency Relief in North Carolina. A Record of the Development and the Activities of the North Carolina Emergency Relief Administration, 1932-1935. North Carolina Emergency Relief Commission, State administrator, Mrs. Thomas O'Berry. Edited by J.S. Kirk, Walter A. Cutter [and] Thomas W. Morse (pp. 207, 225, 226, 457): https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/emergencyrelief/emergencyrelief.html
"Work On Dam Resumed At Recreation Center," Asheville Citizen-Times, March 7, 1934 (pg. 27): https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/196238683/
https://www.facebook.com/svmuseum/photos/a.489271138086/10158558978438087/
Site originally submitted by Sarah Downing on September 13, 2015.
Additional contributions by Evan Kalish.
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