June 5, 2008 issue
Celebrating a Vital Period in Local History
Shull’s Mill Documentary To Be Shown in Banner Elk June 13
Story by Sam Calhoun
On Friday, June 13, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina (ET&WNC) Railroad Historical Society will view a video titled Timber Town: The Story of the Forgotten Town of Shull’s Mill, North Carolina during its annual convention at the Banner Elk Best Western Mountain Lodge, located on Highway 184. The general public is invited free of charge.
Timber Town is the creation of Kyle Grove, a recent electronic media/broadcasting graduate of ASU. Grove created the 10-minute documentary on Shull’s Mill for his senior project, and it is receiving great reviews from local historians.
“It’s receiving rave reviews around the area,” said Grove, 33. “I am pushing to do a bigger video that would be marketable to PBS and other cable providers.”
Grove has been fascinated with trains since a young age, but became particularly interested 10 years ago when he began learning about trains in the High County.
After his mother’s family purchased a piece of property that contained ruins of the original general store for Shull’s Mill, Grove’s interest piqued and he teamed with Dr. David Spiceland at ASU to learn more. With help from Spiceland, Grove researched archival video footage at East Tennessee State University and at the Appalachian Collection at ASU. In addition to the video, Grove obtained a diary of Mamie Shull—a resident of Shull’s Mill who lived to be 109 years old.
Using research, videos and the journal, Grove pieced together Timber Town as a pilot to a much larger project that he hopes to gain funding for in the near future. Timber Town tells the story of North Carolina’s fastest-growing town in the early 1900s—a town that was originally slated to be Watauga County’s county seat. Timber Town outlines how Shull’s Mill lived and died by the railroad, ultimately becoming a ghost town after the flood of 1940 destroyed the railroad.
“I just want to make Timber Town bigger and more in depth,” said Grove.
The new documentary video, Just a Stop Along the Way, will be 60 minutes long when completed and will include an informal style of narration, interviews with Shull’s Mill residents and archival footage and photos from ASU and East Tennessee State University.
“I’m trying to preserve the High Country’s history through video—trying to document it through video,” said Grove. “I’m asking for the community’s help to fund this. I have the resources, the skill; I just need the backing to pay for my time while I do this.”
Copies of Timber Town will be available for a small donation at the event. Grove will also be there explaining his proposed project and soliciting donations for the 60-minute video.
For more information on how to contribute to the project or become part of the video process, contact Grove at 828-406-0508 or rockridgeproductions@yahoo.com.
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