On August 1 2009 we met Dianne's sister Donna, her husband Larry, and her Mom at Lake Lure NC to celebrate her 85th birthday. Lake Lure is about 2 hours from their home in Charlotte, NC and 1 hour from our house in Simpsonville, SC.
When we all arrived we went to lunch at a really good restaurant, La Strada, which overlooks Lake Lure and the beautiful Inn and Spa. After lunch we went to a picnic area in a cove of the lake and had the best granny apple cake which Dianne made for her Mom, and it was delicious. Needless to say, I was the only one that stepped in some dog poop while there, but was able to remove with some scrubbing in the grass.
After the cake, we went to Chimney Rock which is only several miles from Lake Lure and you can actually see Chimney Rock from the lake. It was so hot that Dianne, Donna, her Mom Elizabeth and our sweet Bella went for a dip in the river. Larry and I went back to a cool area and waited for them. The humidity was so bad. Elizabeth needed her coffee, even in such hot and humid weather, so we went to a diner on the river and listened to some live music while she had her coffee. Well, I had a coffee too.
Lake Lure has been named one of the top 10 most beautiful man-made lakes in the world by National Geographic which is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. It has 21 miles of shoreline and is as deep as 115 feet at some points. It is about 27 miles from Asheville and sit sits in the Hickory Nut Gorge. You can look up and see Chimney Rock from Lake Lure.
Lake Lure was the filming location for scenes from the movies Thunder Road, Dirty Dancing, A Breed Apart, Forrest Gump, The Last of the Mohicans, The Passion of the Christ and Firestarter. The lake is owned by the town of Lake Lure, with private homes surrounding most of the lake. You can rent a pontoon or electric boat, canoe or kayak at the marina, and guided tours of the lake are available.
The greater Chimney Rock State Park currently encompasses roughly 3,500 acres on both north and south sides of the gorge and expansion efforts continue to bring more of the gorge’s rich natural resources into conservation. Ultimately, a master plan for the entire park will be devised to fully protect the natural heritage and offer outdoor recreation options. Hickory Nut Gorge is a ntural gorge that was formed by the Rocky Broad River and was named for the boulders that line its winding path down the mountain to Lake Lure.
"The concept for Lake Lure started when Dr. Lucius B. Morse purchased 400 acres around Chimney Rock in 1902 to create Chimney Rock Park. He eventually acquired 8,000 acres over the next several years. Dr. Morse conceived the idea of building a dam on the Rocky Broad River to create a lake and a year-round resort. The dam was completed in September 1926, forming the lake which was named Lake Lure by Dr. Morse’s wife, Elizabeth Parkenson. The Town of Lake Lure was incorporated in 1927.
The lake was named Lake Lure by Dr. Morse’s wife, Elizabeth Parkenson. He also used the financial backing of his brothers Hiram and Asahel and Dr. Morse purchased Chimney Rock (400 acres) from Jerome Freeman in 1902 for $5,000 in the name of Chimney Rock Mountains, Inc. Subsequently the company acquired enough acreage in what is now the Lake Lure area to bring the total to 8,000 acres or 12.5 square miles, including the valley in which Lake Lure lies and the hills and mountains above.
The dam was completed in September 1926 and the beginning of Lake Lure started, and Lake Lure was completed in 1927. At ordinary water levels, Lake Lure covers approximately 720 acres and has a shoreline of approximately 27 miles.
The power plant began operations in 1928 with the sale of electricity under a 10-year contract to Blue Ridge Power Co., the predecessor of Duke Power Co. The town continues even today to contract with Duke Power for the sale of electricity.
The Town of Lake Lure was incorporated in 1927,and the boundaries of the town included the entirety of Lake Lure.
The dam was completed in September 1926 and the beginning of Lake Lure started, and Lake Lure was completed in 1927. At ordinary water levels, Lake Lure covers approximately 720 acres and has a shoreline of approximately 27 miles.
The power plant began operations in 1928 with the sale of electricity under a 10-year contract to Blue Ridge Power Co., the predecessor of Duke Power Co. The town continues even today to contract with Duke Power for the sale of electricity.
The Town of Lake Lure was incorporated in 1927,and the boundaries of the town included the entirety of Lake Lure.
The plans for a resort development stopped in 1929 with the failure of the economy. On October 24, 1929 banks foreclosed their mortgages, and Company established the Lureland Realty Company to dispose of the property that had been secured by the property owned by Chimney Rock Mountains, Inc. One of the first acts of the Lureland Realty Company was an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the bed of Lake Lure. By January of 1942, the Lureland Realty Company had disposed of all of the property that had been owned by Chimney Rock Mountains, Inc.
Stroud & Company continued to operate the Carolina Mountain Power Company. On August 12 1931, the assets of the Carolina Mountain Power Company were transferred to the Carolina Mountain Corporation. William C. Rommell, President of Stroud & Company, operated the Carolina Mountain Corporation from 1931 until Lake Lure was acquired by the Town of Lake Lure in 1965.
The Town of Lake Lure had been operating the recreational facilities located at the lake for almost thirty years before Lake Lure was acquired by the town from the Carolina Mountain Corporation. There operations were based on a year-to-year lease arrangement between the Town of Lake Lure and the Carolina Mountain Corporations Powers. The acquisition by the town was facilitated by legislation enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1963 that authorized the Town of Lake Lure to issue revenue bonds for the purpose of acquiring Lake Lure. The acquisition was completed on July 26, 1965.
Property that once belonged to the Carolina Mountain Corporation was now the property of the Town of Lake Lure. This included all of the property which has been, or at any time hereafter may be, submerged by the dam erected across the Broad River at the site known as Tumbling Shoals, Chimney Rock Township, Rutherford County, North Carolina, lying below 995 feet above sea level, as based upon the official bench marks of the United States Geological Survey. This property, which comprises the bed of Lake Lure, lies within the limits of the Town of Lake Lure."
God bless............Bruce
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