Newfound Gap Road in the distance

Newfound Gap Road in the distance

Newfound Gap (N.C. and Tenn.)

Roads -- Great Smoky Mountains National Park (N.C. and Tenn.)

Mountain roads

In the mid 1920s, before the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established, North Carolina and Tennessee agreed to build a road through center of the proposed park. The previous road topped the ridge through Indian Gap, but the new paved road was planned a few miles to the east, through Newfound Gap. The park employed engineer and “master road builder,” John L. Humbard (1892-1955) to oversee the project. Two tight switchbacks were replaced by a wide 360-degree curve, giving the road its distinguishing feature: a road looping over itself. At 5,048 feet, Newfound Gap is located near the geographic center of the park, becoming Highway 441 as it passes through the gap. This photograph, along with a dozen others illustrating park construction, were donated to the park by Mary Clements Decker and John Hazard Decker.

Unknown

Decker Collection

Hunter Library Digital Collections, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723

1935

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

jpg;

photographs

eng

StillImage

22731

https://southernappalachiandigitalcollections.org/object/22731

2015-04-10

All rights reserved. For permissions, contact Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, TN 37738;

Sevier County (Tenn.)

Swain County (N.C.)

6” x 3.5”(dimension)

Great Smoky Mountains - A Park for America