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By Ron Fitzwater
According to the Todd Community Preservation Organization,
the town was born soon after the railroad reached Ashe County,
by way of the Virginia-Carolina Railway (later nicknamed the
Virginia Creeper) that ran from Abingdon, Va., across White
Top to Lansing, West Jefferson and finally to Todd's Elkland
station in 1915. The railroad created a boomtown, as the timber
covered mountains created industry in lumber, tanbark, pulpwood;
and extract wood all to be processed and shipped up to Virginia
and beyond.
In 1910, a cooperative of farmers built a general store that
became the Todd Mercantile Company. By December 1913, Todd consisted
of two stores, a gristmill, a sawmill, the Post Office, two
churches and several substantial houses.
This was the beginning of the industrial history of this sleepy
mountain town, and it is that beginning that has lured Suzanne
Clouzeau and Jim Lewis to join with the Elkland Arts Council
to document and hopefully distribute the Todd story.
"We are working on a documentary about the industrial history
of Todd through the last century with a look forward as to what
the future might hold for the town. Our working title is The
Land and Us: A Todd Story" said documentary filmmaker Clouzeau.
Lewis and Clouzeau are currently looking for people who are
life-long Todd residents, especially seniors who have seen much
of the industrial history of the town along with photographs,
journals, letters and the most sought after prize of all, old
films.
"We want to interview people and get their stories: how
did they live 50 years ago? What goods were traded and who did
they trade with? The whole nine yards. But the cement is going
to be around land use, and what part it plays in building a
rural economy," Clouzeau said.
A Todd native, Lewis said that the town had "seen a lot
of development over the past five or six years and we felt like
it was the right time for the project. Martha [Enzmann] of the
Elkland Arts Center and her daughter, Emily, are the other parts
of this and they come to this with an entirely different perspective
than I would as a developer or Suzanne would as a filmmaker.
"Most importantly to all of us is that we recognize the
old voices of people who remember the train and before. There
are few of them left and if we don't do something now, that
knowledge will be lost. The land is the common theme,"
Lewis said.
The pair would like to begin primarily with the logging and
the mining operations in the 1920's and 30's and then move forward.
To do this, they are making appointments to visit with folks
who might have the stories and artifacts needed to tell the
history of Todd.
Currently, Lewis and Clouzeau are working under a planning grant
from the Humanities Council with the assistance of three scholars,
Doctor Beth Davis and documentary filmmaker, Professor Tom Hansell,
of Appalachian State University and documentary photographer
Rob Amberg to create a three-to-five minute short film.
The film will be shown when the team applies for an additional,
larger grant from the Humanities Council for the main production
which will take between six months to one year to complete.
Following completion of the project, the pair plans a few screenings
of the film, one in Todd and others to promote the film for
hopeful distribution.
"We are going to air it whereever we can," Clouzeau
said.
"In the end I want this to be a conversation starter for
the discussion of where we [Todd] are going as we move into
the future with our land management and preservation of our
home," Lewis added.
If you have any stories, pictures, artifacts and especially
old film and you would like to be a part of telling the story
of Todd, contact Lewis at (336)-877-3263 or email jimlewis@skybest.com.
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