Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research during Hunter Library's Special Collections business hours, or by appointment.
Copyright Notice
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question, unless otherwise designated.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Flood of 1940 (Cullowhee, Jackson County, North Carolina) Photograph Collection, Special Collections, Western Carolina University Hunter Library, Cullowhee, NC, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Gift
Processing Information
Processed by George Frizzell, 2003 March
Encoded by Anna R. Craft, 2008 August
Historical Note
On the morning of Friday, August 30, 1940, the Tuckasegee River (also spelled Tuckaseigee) in Jackson County and Swain County, North Carolina, flooded at the highest levels recorded, with flooding continuing into August 31. At least four people died in Jackson County in the disaster and flood waters destroyed all of the bridges along the river in Jackson County. The
Jackson County Journal (Sylva, N.C.) newspaper reported heavy damage in the community of Cullowhee.
For more information see:
Jackson County Journal (Sylva, N.C.), August 29, 1940, page 1 (dated August 29 but with details of the flood for Friday morning, August 30).
Sylva Herald (Sylva, N.C.), August 31, 2000, Tuckaseigee's Most Damaging Flood Was 60 Years Ago.
Max W. Williams, ed.,
The History of Jackson County, Sesquicentennial Edition (Sylva, N.C.: Jackson County Historical Association, 2001), Flood (pages 454 - 456).
Content and Scope
Ten (10) photographs featuring the aftermath of the flood of August 30, 1940, in the vicinity of Cullowhee, in Jackson County, North Carolina. Two of the pictures show the flood waters before they had receded, and were taken near the bridge across the Tuckaseigee River at Cullowhee on old N.C. Highway 107. Four of the pictures show the damage to the bridge after the waters had begun to recede. One picture shows a temporary wooden plank bridge at Cullowhee across the river. Three pictures show the countryside around Cullowhee and the effects of the flood. Each of the photographs is 4.5 inches wide by 2.75 inches high.
Arrangement
The collection is in single-folder arrangement.