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"Forgotten Past" I call this forgotten past because it is the last remains of a ghosttown in northeastern North Carolina. The town called Lebanon was startedaround 1740 along the upper reaches of the Pasquotank river. It wasformed as a place of commerce because the ocean going ships would travelfar up the Pasquotank river to get water, the high acidic levels in thetanned water of the Great Dismal Swamp keep the water drinkable for avery long time. Even now you can find ballast stones from the ships alongthe rivers edge. Around 1826 the Dismal Swamp canal was finished, andbasically the whole town moved about five miles north to the southernwater lock of the canal and was renamed SouthMills. The remains of thetown over time withered away in the swamp, and almost all of theremaining buildings were destroyed by occasional logging and naturaldecay. The neatest part of this tale is that only a very few older"natives" in the area know about this ghost town and the younger onesdon't even care to know of their past. That is what is so powerful to meof QTVR, it can preserve the experience of being there for futuregenerations. Oh yea, the remains that you see here are from a clearing ofthe land for a new housing development." Clay RodgersGreat Dismal Design CompanyVirginia, US |