See if you can tell where this Mystery Photo is located. You might also see if you can determine what this building was originally used for. It might not be as easy as you think. Send in your thoughts to elliott@brack.net and be sure to include your hometown.
The last Mystery Photo was pretty much of a cream puff. Some people even told me that they didn’t submit an answer, figuring we had plenty. The photo came from Jerry Colley of Alpharetta.
First in was Jayne Bane of Lawrenceville, saying: “Today’s mystery photo is Chimney Rock in Chimney Rock State Park in western North Carolina. My family visited there when I was a small girl as part of a trip through the Great Smoky Mountains.” Dick LoPresti of Berkeley Lake realized that “This is one of the easier ones I’ve seen. It is Chimney Rock in North Carolina!” And Tamara Betteridge of Peachtree Corners said: “The flag is on top of Chimney Rock in Chimney Rock State Park in North Carolina. That is on North Carolina Highway 74 between Lake Lure and Bat Cave. Know it well as I grew up near there.”
Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill also “…grew up 25 miles from there. Back in the day, it was quite famous. When my mother went off to college in the late 1940s and people asked her where she was from, she simply told them she lived near Chimney Rock because everyone knew where that was.”
Bob Foreman of Grayson writes: “That is Chimney Rock near Lake Lure, N.C. This is a privately owned attraction that has been in operation for many years. From the top of Chimney Rock you can see almost the entirety of Lake Lure. The last time we were there the elevator was not working. We would not have used it. The climb to the top is all stairs and is not a difficult climb. Lake Lure is only a three hour drive from Atlanta.”
Other spotting this mystery included Jimmy Simpson, Lilburn; John Moore, Duluth; Gary Cobb, Hartwell; Hill Jordan, Sautee; Ann Odum, Duluth; Dottie Kuhn, Lawrenceville; Linda Seaman, Lilburn; and Aidan Brack, Buford; and Rob Keith, Peachtree Corners;
And of course, we got the right answer from George Graf of Palmyra, Va., who added: “The 26-story Chimney Rock elevator opens into the Sky Lounge Gift Shop and Deli, and a boardwalk from the Sky Lounge covers the final 44 steps to the top of the “Rock,” which gives a sweeping, 75-mile view of the Hickory Nut Gorge, including Lake Lure. The elevator originally opened in 1949 as the tallest in North Carolina. It took eight tons of dynamite to blast the 258-foot-high shaft and 198-foot-long tunnel through solid granite. An alternative to the elevator is the 491 steps on the Outcroppings Trail to the top of Chimney Rock.”
By the way, on the Internet, the current Chimney Rock web site adds: “The elevator is out, but where else can you get a new view with every step?” Are you up for 491?
LAGNIAPPEWalton EMC line technicians place in Lineman’s Rodeo in Kansas
Several apprentice and journeyman line technicians from Walton Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) recently competed and placed at the International Lineman’s Rodeo at Bonner Springs, Kansas. The journeyman team placed third in the EMC division and went on to finish 12th overall out of 206 teams. The team members are, second from left, Bradley McCallister, Ryan West and Preston Roberts readying equipment for the competition, while getting instructions from a judge of the event. The rodeo tests line technicians’ knowledge and skill in building and maintaining electrical distribution systems. Practicing for and competing in the event translates into more efficient and safer work habits that save time, money and lives.
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