Article Discussion

Is the town of Roanoke intact under the water? When I paddle around, I wonder how many people were displaced and how many buildings or other structures are below the surface.

I can’t be sure, but the Washington Post article from 1978 says After they’re gone and their homes are razed, after Vandalia and four other hamlets are demolished, after the cemeteries are moved and the roads closed, the corps will build a $117 million dam, named after Stonewall Jackson, and fill its lake. So I presume that they haul all the man-made stuff away. I have been to Summersville Lake when the lake is drawn down for winter, and all that’s left are tree stumps and brush.