GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (U.S.). Proposed Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina-Tennessee. U.S. Geological Survey, 1926. 610 x 750 mm. Imprimé en couleurs. Fine example. U.S. Government Mapping in the Smoky Mountains. In 1926, the same year that Congressional approval of the concept of a park allowed private fundraising to begin, the USGS produced an outstanding topographic map of the "Proposed Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina-Tennessee" at a 1:125,000 scale. It was based on the surveys done for earlier maps. The map shows the topography of the area by using contour lines at two hundred foot intervals. The area proposed for the park is outlined in red. Proposed Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina-Tennessee. 1926. The Geological Survey also published a large-scale set of maps of the proposed park between 1926 and 1931, including an index map . At a scale of 1:24,000, with twenty foot contour lines, these maps were extremely detailed and were probably used for planning purposes and to record the complex land purchases the park required. This set of maps was drawn at a scale that was very unusual for the time. It was not until 1950 that the primary USGS map product adopted this scale for the 7.5-minute topographic quadrangles replacing the earlier smaller-scale maps. The need for these maps was undoubtedly generated by the many obstacles to creating a park in the Smoky Mountains that persisted even after Congress approved a plan for the park. In addition to opposition from some local residents and long-established mining and lumbering interests in the area, there was the larger problem of financing. Unlike the western national parks, which were carved out of the public domain, the land for this park would have to be purchased from thousands of owners who held more than sixty-six hundred tracts of land. The initial plan required that all of the funding be raised independently of the federal government. The amount of funds that had to be raised was considerable. Lumber companies, reluctant to sell their land, raised the price per acre of their holdings, which included many of the most beautiful sites designated for the park. Even though the 1926 legislation authorized the purchase of lands in Tennessee and North Carolina which would then be deeded to the federal government for the park, no authority was given to the states to condemn land. Property obtained for the park had to be purchased from owners willing to sell, and was often offered at an inflated price. By the spring of 1926, groups in each of the two states had raised more than $1,000,000. The North Carolina and Tennessee legislatures each donated approximately $2,000,000. With $5,000,000 in available funds, the advocates of the park began buying parcels of land. When the prices demanded for some of the most scenic parcels, including upper Greenbrier, Mt. Guyot, Mt. LeConte, the Chinmeys, and a side of Clingman's Dome owned by the Champion Fibre Company, far exceeded available resources, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Donated an additional $5,000,000 in memory of his mother, through the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Fund. Today a marker at Newfound Gap, on the boundary between North Carolina and Tennessee, commemorates his generous gift. In U.S. Government Mapping in the Smoky Mountains: USGS and the TVA In 1926, the same year that Congressional approval of the concept of a park allowed private fundraising to begin, the USGS produced an outstanding topographic map of the "Proposed Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina-Tennessee" at a 1:125,000 scale. It was based on the surveys done for earlier maps. The map shows the topography of the area by using contour lines at two hundred foot intervals. The area proposed for the park is outlined in red. Proposed Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina-Tennessee. 1926. The Geological Survey also published a large-scale set of maps of the proposed park between 1926 and 1931, including an index map . At a scale of 1:24,000, with twenty foot contour lines, these maps were extremely detailed and were probably used for planning purposes and to record the complex land purchases the park required. This set of maps was drawn at a scale that was very unusual for the time. It was not until 1950 that the primary USGS map product adopted this scale for the 7.5-minute topographic quadrangles replacing the earlier smaller-scale maps. The need for these maps was undoubtedly generated by the many obstacles to creating a park in the Smoky Mountains that persisted even after Congress approved a plan for the park. In addition to opposition from some local residents and long-established mining and lumbering interests in the area, there was the larger problem of financing. Unlike the western national parks, which were carved out of the public domain, the land for this park would have to be purchased from thousands of owners who held more than sixty-six hundred tracts of land. The initial plan required that all of the funding be raised independently of the federal government. The amount of funds that had to be raised was considerable. Lumber companies, reluctant to sell their land, raised the price per acre of their holdings, which included many of the most beautiful sites designated for the park. Even though the 1926 legislation authorized the purchase of lands in Tennessee and North Carolina which would then be deeded to the federal government for the park, no authority was given to the states to condemn land. Property obtained for the park had to be purchased from owners willing to sell, and was often offered at an inflated price. By the spring of 1926, groups in each of the two states had raised more than $1,000,000. The North Carolina and Tennessee legislatures each donated approximately $2,000,000. With $5,000,000 in available funds, the advocates of the park began buying parcels of land. When the prices demanded for some of the most scenic parcels, including upper Greenbrier, Mt. Guyot, Mt. LeConte, the Chinmeys, and a side of Clingman's Dome owned by the Champion Fibre Company, far exceeded available resources, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Donated an additional $5,000,000 in memory of his mother, through the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Fund. Today a marker at Newfound Gap, on the boundary between North Carolina and Tennessee, commemorates his generous gift. In 1931, two years before the federal government contributed the final $2,000,000 needed to complete the land purchases, the USGS published another map of the park at a scale of 1:125,000. Although this edition of the map is not part of the Library of Congress map collections, the map was reprinted without revision in 1978, as it appears here. A map based on surveys conducted between 1927 and 1931 was published by the USGS in two sheets in 1934. It was drawn at a scale of 1:62,500. The set of maps produced by the USGS between 1926 and 1931 at the 1:24,000 scale is closely related to later maps of the areas surrounding the park and completed the quadrangle mapping to the park. The data on the set of maps showing areas inside the park were eventually integrated with data on base maps showing areas outside the park to make the first complete topographic quadrangle maps of the park and its vicinity.1931, two years before the federal government contributed the final $2,000,000 needed to complete the land purchases, the USGS published another map of the park at a scale of 1:125,000. Although this edition of the map is not part of the Library of Congress map collections, the map was reprinted without revision in 1978, as it appears here. A map based on surveys conducted between 1927 and 1931 was published by the USGS in two sheets in 1934. It was drawn at a scale of 1:62,500. The set of maps produced by the USGS between 1926 and 1931 at the 1:24,000 scale is closely related to later maps of the areas surrounding the park and completed the quadrangle mapping to the park. The data on the set of maps showing areas inside the park were eventually integrated with data on base maps showing areas outside the park to make the first complete topographic quadrangle maps of the park and its vicinity.