Black Mountain

Lake Tomahawk July 24, 2024

Friday, July 19, 2024

At Lake Tomahawk

From the Swannanoa Valley Museum and History Center;

In the early days of 1913, there were plans to create a Methodist colony just northwest of Black Mountain. Part of this plan included the construction of Lake Tomahawk. However, when the colony's plans fell through, the town decided to use the area for a recreation center instead. With funding from the Civil Works Administration and later the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the town began developing the site. On Labor Day weekend in 1934, Lake Tomahawk and the Community House were officially opened with a fun-filled day of water sports. Unfortunately, a few years later in 1938, the lake had to be closed to swimmers due to water quality issues, and a pool was constructed to continue providing recreational activities for the community.


For my Sepia Saturday contribution (above) I show an old post card, undated. It was good to capture the history of the development of the lake. It's almost unrecognizable due to lots of bare areas without the current trees and homes. The roads ring true however. The dam is in the lower quadrant. Lakeview Center building had a red roof, and all along that north bank of the lake, a lot of little fingers of land had not yet been formed, nor the island.

There is little space in the aerial photo for the pool which was built on the landward side of the center building...but it's there now!
 

Looking up from the lake level at the bank that leads up to the swimming  pool. This bank has been planted with wildflowers. The building behind these photos is the pool house with showers.





The umbrellas and fence delineate the pool.

Yesterday while I ate lunch in the dining room on the second floor of the Lakeview Center, I saw a friend with her daughter and granddaughter at the pool. Unfortunately for them, a sweat bee got inside granddaughter's suit and stung her 3 times. It was the first time I knew sweat bees could sting when they feel threatened. Not the kind of thing one wants to learn!

I also learned that one should really not make big decisions when sick! Hey, I knew that!

I decided to use the last day of Amazon Prime's special discount days to purchase a new microwave. It's been a week without, and I really don't like living without one. So I picked one out, and a little boom box so I could play my CD's,  since all my current players have died.

I placed the order. Then when confirmation came it was all mixed up  (anything to do with my not having ordered often, or the sick brain?) There were two microwaves ordered, on two separate orders. And the boom box had been $37 on sale but I was being charged $46 for it. Not being in the mood to straighten anything out (it's impossible anyway) I just canceled the extra microwave and the boom box. Fortunately they don't place the charges until items are shipped! Then I remembered something else.

I hadn't paid that much attention to the size and they all look the same size in the photos on line. But I remembered 15 inches. So I got out my trusty yard stick, and found I barely had 15 inches clearance. Looked back at the model I'd ordered, and (you guessed it) it is 15.9"... so I canceled that microwave too.

And I checked on line this morning and there are no charges from Amazon!


Today's quote:

Everything you've learned in school as "obvious" becomes less and less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the universe. There's not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines. -R. Buckminster Fuller, engineer, designer, and architect (12 Jul 1895-1983)


Sharing with Floral Friday Fotos and Sepia Saturday



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Today's quote:

The man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without. -Ernest Hemingway, author, journalist, Nobel laureate (21 Jul 1899-1961)

15 comments:

  1. Hello,
    I am glad you caught the mistakes on amazon and could cancel.
    Pretty images from the lake. Take care, enjoy your day and happy weekend!

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    1. Thanks for good wishes. There are times my brain is way off base.

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  2. ...the postcard shows how the lake got its name!

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    1. I had to look hard and then could see that there's a resemblance to a tomahawk with the road as handle.

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  3. Quite a history on the lake, and the development seems to go on. That was a fun Amazon order. I just made one as well but just ordinary stuff.

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    1. Well, I am patiently waiting till I feel better, but having to relearn stove top cooking!

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  4. Thanks for the info on the lake, I like old postcards, they are so interesting to see and read. It's good you cancelled your order in time beforing getting charged. Have a wonderful weekend.

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    1. Me too, and this one is special because I go to lunch there every day. Yes, I was relieved to see that cancelation went through! Whew!

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  5. The one reason I shop with Amazon is because they are generally very good about cancellations and returns. Hope you eventually get what you need. :) Meanwhile, Tomahawk Lake looks much more inviting 'in person' than it does on an overview. I've always thought, from your pictures of it, that it would be a lovely place to walk. I wonder why it was really named Tomahawk Lake? Maybe because of the shape? But I'll bet there's more to it than that?

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    1. Hi Gail: I like getting free delivery, since I seldom drive into Asheville where the big box stores are. With this bronchiectasis thing, I'm sure not driving any distance. Not sure why it was named Lake Tomahawk...I think there's even a mountain peak by that name.

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  6. It's easy to forget in our time how novel views taken from the air must have been back then!

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  7. Great photos of the flowers. That’s a good Hemingway quotation. Words to live by.

    Susan

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  8. Looking at Lake Tomahawk on Google Maps, I see the shape of the lake deviates from the one on your image. Was it reshaped over time?

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  9. I think Lake Tomahawk is pretty charming for a man-made park. When my son was getting married in 2016 my wife and I were given the task of finding an outdoor venue in WNC. Lake Tomahawk was a bargain compared to other wedding resorts and would have been my choice, but I got overruled. Instead we found a very nice venue in rural Leicester, a former farm/dairy with a large purpose built banquet room. Your story of Amazon orders made me laugh though I'm sorry for your trouble. I've made that mistake on appliance sizes too. I hope the cooler weather forecast for this week brings some relief for you.

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  10. From Scotsue - I was pleased to read more about the history of Lake Tomahawk. I did not realise from your earlier post that it was man made.

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So glad to have your comments...whatever they may be. I'm one who likes to reply sometime or another, so others will see that; or you might happen back sometime and see what conversation might have started.