Early mapping of the NantahalaWritten by George Ellison The
economic destiny of a given region is ultimately determined by
its geology, flora and climate. That’s certainly been the
instance here in the Smokies region, where logging and mining
have been supplanted as the major industries by recreation and
ecotourism. A casebook example of this transition exists in the
southwestern tip of North Carolina. A key figure in this story
was Arthur Keith, an early twentieth century geologist who has
been largely (if not totally) neglected by regional historians.
The Murphy Marble Belt is an elongated, lens-shaped mass of
marble and related sedimentary materials up to three miles wide
that extends in a crescent from northwestern Georgia into
Cherokee and Swain counties. This lens also contains talc,
limestone, soapstone, and calcareous soils. The first two
materials are still mined at the Nantahala Talc and Limestone
Co. in the Nantahala Gorge. But it was marble that was once the
linchpin of the area’s mining interests