Remembering The Past to Build a Community's Future: Butler, TN — The Town that Wouldn't Drown

by Gary Burkett and the citizens of Butler — Old and New

State Route 67, between Mountain City and Hampton in Johnson County, is a scenic winding road that traverses the shores of beautiful Watauga Lake. The lake is a TVA impoundment 21 miles long, over 300 feet deep, and with 110 miles of shoreline. The motorist on this highway also passes by the small, unincorporated community of Butler. The past relationship between the lake and the community of Butler contains a secret known to fewer people with each passing year; among the sparse remains of the foundations of buildings that still lie at the bottom of Watauga Lake are the remnants of the original community of Butler — the only incorporated town to be flooded by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Few visitors to Watauga Lake, whether camping on its shores, hiking the nearby Appalachian Trail, boating on its waters, or simply enjoying the spectacular vistas of mountains and clear water, are conscious of the considerable human price that was paid to purchase these benefits. For fifty years — since the gates were closed on Watauga Dam in December, 1948 — former residents of the old community of Butler have wanted to commemorate their town and share their story. The story is about the community they lost and also about that sense of place, sense of community they are trying to preserve.

While the Butler story is unique in its particulars, aspects of it are shared — not only by other displaced residents of the Watauga Valley and of other river valleys flooded by TVA dams — but also by thousands, perhaps millions, of others who have been displaced by new highways, shopping malls, parking lots, schools, and other symbols of progress. The Butler story needs to be told and heard because we all need to be conscious of the sacrifices that individuals have had to make on behalf of the welfare of the larger community. It also needs to be told so that people who live in the present town of Butler can be reconnected with their heritage.

Former residents of "Old Butler" have dreamed of establishing a museum to tell the Butler story. This vision has been perpetuated by members of the Watauga Academy Alumni Association (Watauga Academy being an historical school in Butler prior to the construction of the dam) and the Butler Ruritan Club. Community members have actively and creatively worked to determine how best to tell their story through interpretive exhibits and other programs — such as a walking tour of some of the 40 to 50 homes in the present community that were moved from old Butler.

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