Oral History Interview with Jerry Plemmons, November 10, 2000. Interview K-0506. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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Abstract
At the time of the interview, Jerry Plemmons, a lifelong Madison County resident, worked for the French Broad Electric Membership Corporation, consulting on energy conservation and working toward community development. In this interview, he reflects on the influence of development, particularly highway construction, on Marshall, North Carolina, a town known as "a mile long, street wide, sky high, and Hell deep." Plemmons sees roads as both constructive and destructive forces—they bring new money and new people to communities, but they also offer residents the chance to leave, invite environmental damage, and balloon property values, thus driving out longtime residents. Rural North Carolinians, then, must work not only to protect their economic and environmental stability, but also the stability of their community values.
Excerpts
Today's farming is not the farming of Plemmons's youth
Electric power comes slowly to Madison County
New roads bring in businesses, but can let them out as well
Hope that his town can lure business
Decline of solidarity and self-reliance in Madison County
Older residents can pass their knowledge to newer ones
Pros and cons of economic growth
Damaging aspects of economic growth
Lead-up to the construction of the I-26 corridor
Fear that the I-26 corridor will displace mountain residents
Seeking balance in a time of growth
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Change in the Mountains
Subjects
Farm life--North Carolina
Madison County (N.C.)
Express highways--North Carolina
Plemmons, Jerry
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