1957 Map of Farner

About this map

Apalachia Lake and the Hiwassee River anchor this mountainous boundary land where the Cherokee National Forest and Nantahala National Forest meet. This mid-century landscape is defined by the heavy infrastructure of the Apalachia Dam and the industrial backbone of the Louisville and Nashville railroad, which snakes through the river valley and the community of Farner. Settlement patterns follow the hollows and gaps of the Unicoi Mountains, with small clusters at Turtletown, Ironsburg, and Cataska. Local history is preserved in family-named sites like Brock Cem and Hamby Cem, while the Unicoi Highway and trails near Buck Bald trace the traditional routes across the Tennessee and North Carolina state line. The map captures the region's character as a managed wilderness, balancing hydroelectric power generation with isolated mountain homesteads.