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Oral History Interview with Stan Hyatt, November 30, 2000. Interview K-0249. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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  • Abstract
    Although Stan Hyatt, the North Carolina Department of Transportation's resident engineer on the I-26 project, has helped open Madison County to new residents and industry, he is worried about the effect of opening the area to change. Nostalgia and balance dominate this interview: Hyatt remembers growing up in idyllic rural Madison County, but while he misses the past, he sees the corridor construction as a painful but necessary cure for the county's economic ills. He hopes that the environmental damage I-26 brings will not alter too drastically the environment tourists will drive there to see. This interview, like many of Rob Amberg's interviews, is more of a conversation than a question-and-answer session. Later in the interview, however, Hyatt speaks at length about the I-26 project in Madison County. Researchers interested in this subject should look to this interview for essential background on the project as well as construction details.
    Excerpts
  • Concern about the decline of self-reliance in Madison County
  • Remembering a poor but self-reliant family
  • Concern about the decline of self-reliance in Madison County
  • A shift from valuing land for its monetary worth rather than its inherent value
  • Concern about the effect of immigration
  • A short history of US 23
  • A brief history of I-26
  • Environmental challenges when building I-26
  • The massive scope of the I-26 project
  • Pondering the purpose of the I-26 corridor
  • Considering the effects of the I-26 corridor on local wildlife
  • The construction of the I-26 corridor as painful but necessary
  • Madison County's declining population
  • The need to sacrifice to preserve the environment
  • Hoping that the I-26 corridor will bring more good than bad to Madison County
  • Hope for future technologies to ameliorate smog
  • Learn More
  • Finding aid to the Southern Oral History Program Collection
  • Database of all Southern Oral History Program Collection interviews
  • Resources for Educators
  • Change in the Mountains
  • Subjects
  • Madison County (N.C.)
  • Express highways--North Carolina
  • Buncombe County (N.C.)--Social life and customs
  • Ohio University--Students
  • Highway engineers--North Carolina--History--20th century
  • Hyatt, Stan
  • The Southern Oral History Program transcripts presented here on Documenting the American South undergo an editorial process to remove transcription errors. Texts may differ from the original transcripts held by the Southern Historical Collection.

    Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this title.