Locks on the Greet Dismal Snomp Canal.— (Photo by Hemmer. >
The Dismal as a Resort
Duellists and elopers were especially
solicited to visit the Lake Drummond
Hotel, also widely known as "The
Halfway House." It was convenient to
both, for it straddled the North Caro-
lina-Virginia line, the location serving
to complicate the enforcement of laws.
The hotel opened in 1X30 on the
aanks of the then new and sensational
Dismal Swamp Canal, and apparently
enjoyed a vogue among fashionables.
For, while it is hard to think of the
iwamp as a vacation spot, the wild
jteauty of the immense forests and its
nelancholy lake attracted the adven-
urous. It also provided a hideout for
omantic couples, and headquarters for
•turners.
Not only that, but the canal, and
is adjacent toll road, came to be a
nain artery of travel from northeast¬
ern North Carolina to and from Vir¬
ginia, and it was widely used by travel-
-rs of all sorts.
The Halfway House wras preceded
ty another swamp hotel nearby, this
THE STATE. SCBTCMDCO 26. 1964
one called Farangc's House. It appar¬
ently was well known, too. and in ISIS
entertained President James Monroe
and a party on a goodwill tour. Com¬
petition between the two hotels was
spirited, and apparently neither was a
sensational success financially.
Both the Great Dismal Swamp and
its canal seem to be in danger of ex¬
tinction. Once said to cover 2.2(H)
square miles, drainage and cultivation
have whittled the swamp down to less
than a third of its former area. It was
early discovered that this was no use¬
less sinkhole, but was higher than the
land on three sides. 'I he lake in its
center, named for Governor William
Drummond, was about 20 feet above
sea level. It is an oval bodv of amber
colored water, about 7 miles by 5.
William Bvrd, who surveyed the
state line and was perhaps the first
literate visitor to the swamp, is credited
with suggesting a navigation canal.
George Washington was more inter¬
ested in the timber, and he organized
a company to get it out. Several canals
to float barges were cut by this com¬
pany, none of them, however, related
to the Great Dismal navigation canal.
Washington visited the swamp several
times, and at his death owned 20.000
acres of it.
The main canal was proposed in
17X4 by Governor Patrick Henry and
others, and the Virginia assembly in
17X7 passed an enabling act. North
Carolina's legislature passed a similar
act in 1790. A private company, the
Dismal Swamp Canal Company, went
to work in 1793. using hired slave
labor.
Muck taken in the process was
thrown up onto a high bank and was
levelled into a tow path. This was
made into a toll road and opened for
foot and horse traffic in 1X04. It re¬
sulted in establishment of stage coach
service between Norfolk and Elizabeth
City.
To obtain enough water to lift ves-
( Continued on page 33 )
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