Monday, February 13, 2012

Curious And Unknown Structures

In Early December I spent a short while at the city park in Estill Springs:
This morning, on a cool and again overcast day, I stopped briefly in Estill to run an errand.
Dressed and ready to head to the base afterwards to go trail run, I on the spur of the moment pulled off the four-lane highway that runs between Estill Springs and Tullahoma.
The spur of the moment plan was to stop only briefly at the city park, be close to the water for a short time, and then continue on to the base.
I never made it to the base today..............

Parking close to the wooden bridge I climbed out of the truck, walked the length of the bridge and stood for a few moments looking out over the lake.
I was stunned at just how low the water was and how much sandy lake bottom was actually visible.
The place looked so different from my last visit.
In fact it looked bleak.
Low water level, grey cloudy sky, leafless trees, brown and grey everywhere I looked.
As I stood on the bridge that extended out into the lake I was suddenly over-ready for spring, and at that moment still believed that my visit to this place would indeed be very quick...............
I snapped this picture from the bridge and looking down towards the newly visible ground along the shore of the lake.
I had no idea what it was but it was interesting, linear, architectural, artistic.
I studied it for another few moments wondering just what the heck it was before turning around, walking off the bridge, climbing a few stone steps leading to the paved driveway that extends through the park, and crossed the road to view the lake on the other side............
On the opposite side of the driveway I looked down at the lake and confirmed again that the the water was indeed down significantly.
And then I noticed something that I had not seen on my last visit.
A very small pathway that led down to the water, and to a stone wall.
I regarded the unexpected wall for a moment, both surprised that I had not seen it the last time I was at the park and wondering (for the second time in less than 10 minutes) exactly what it was that I was looking at.
With sudden interest and renewed curiosity, I headed down to, and then walked on top of this wall...........
Standing on the rock wall I looked across the now-narrow lake and realized that the rock wall directly across from me, that was now on dry ground, had been completely surrounded by water on my last visit.
That fact was a little disorienting for a moment.
The wall had been in water the last time I was here and was now in dirt. 
I had missed the wall I was standing on altogether.
And the lake looked completely different.
Climbing down from the wall I searched for (and soon found) a small trail that led directly to the beach/shore.
In another month or two the water level of all lakes will be raised again, and I quickly decided to walk the shore for a while to see what else I could find while I had this unexpected chance to do so..............
Looking back at the wall I had been standing on.............
The "beach" was sandy and rocky and I walked it slowly, smiling inwardly as I realized that a quiet adventure had unexpectedly started.
When I first pulled off the highway and drove down the paved driveway towards the point at the end of the park, I had planned on being there for only a brief visit.
And now here I was walking a new beach and finding unexpected and hugely interesting things.
A few minutes after I hit the beach I found this...............
I tried to do research online to see if there was any mention of this structure, but could find nothing.
 I climbed from the beach up onto the stones that made up the rounded wall of the structure, curious to see more of it, and then like a little kid playing Queen of the Castle stood on the very top concrete support.
A picture looking down from the top..............
Heading down the wall on the opposite side of the inlet I continued further down the beach..............
After the initial surprise at seeing so much beach and the water so low, the one thing that really struck me was how many gnarly and warped logs jutted out of the water that I had not seen before during my last visit.
They were everywhere and dominated this new version of the lake..............
Eventually I bushwhacked my way up the hill towards the driveway again, pushing my way through thick vines and thorny briers, thankful as I have been on other outings recently, that I was wearing a couple of protective layers of clothing on top.
Crossing the driveway again I found yet one more short trail that led down to............I did not know what.
Again wondering how I could have missed this trail as well during my last visit.
The trail opened up to the water and I spent a few moments quickly looking around me, trying to get the lay of the land.
I was standing on a large flat concrete..........something.
To my left were woods at my level and rocky beach lower down, and a square stone structure with a large circular opening at the top.
To my right was..........another something.
What the heck WAS all of this???
I had no idea but had unexpectedly stumbled onto exciting and interesting and (to me at least) deeply mysterious.
By this time I was completely enamored.
And also starting to realize that I was not going to get to my run today.
There was obviously more to see at this place than I had realized during my first visit and I wanted to see it.
Rocky shore across the inlet from me...............
Turning back from the large flat concrete floor I had been standing on I precariously worked my way down a short root-filled trail and headed towards this structure.
It was constructed of large stones, was obviously abandoned and I thought that it was beautiful.............
I eventually wandered back to the flat surface, searched for and quickly found one more short and gnarly and vine filled trail that I took so that I could take a closer picture of this...........thing.
Something to do with a dam?  A power generation station?  I really had no idea but I was very glad that I had listened to my spur of the moment impules and visited this place today.............
The main structure on the way back up the trail towards the driveway..............
As I had begun to head down the trail I had noticed the tell-tale straight-lines of some kind of man-made concrete and stone structure beside the driveway, almost (but not quite) hidden in the vines and bushes and fallen leaves and dead grass.
I had blown by them initially, but had resolved to investigate once I was done with the trail.
Now that I had been down the trail, had seen the large structure spanning the width of the small cove and realized that everything was all somehow tied together, I looked at the straight lines with newly inquisitive eyes.
They are difficult to see in the pictures but will enlarge if you click on them.............
To the right of the structure I found this sign almost completely obscured in the woods...............
I searched for (and eventually found) a climb-able way up, and quickly found myself on top of the structure.
It was covered with grass and leaves and bushes and vines.
And two of these things................
A view of the cove from the top of the structure.................
I have no idea what I found and after showing the pictures to LC neither does he.
I will keep trying to research it and hope to find an answer.
Maybe someone who reads this blog may know the answer.
My unexpected finds were wonderful, curious, obviously old and now abandoned, and incredibly exciting to find.
I finally, and after a long time spent curiously exploring, left the stone and concrete structures, and walked on the beach around the point.
Another blog for another day.................

*A day after posting this blog I found my answer:

A few miles upstream another hydroelectric facility was constructed at Estill Springs, o­n the foundations of a razed factory, formerly the Tennessee Milling Company. It was reconstructed for use as a power plant by the Nashville firm of Foster & Creighton in 1922 for the Southern Cities Power Company. Its dam was of square masonry, 14 feet wide at the base and 5 feet at the top., and 300 feet long, spanning the Elk River. Water was diverted to the hydroelectric generators, expressing design continuity with the example of the nearby Loop Plant, just 6 miles downstream, through the narrow horseshoe bend in the Elk at the site. The dam is no longer extant, although remnants of the dam abutments and an earthen embankment are visible, as are the stone masonry head and tail race facilities and the foundation of the power plant. The dam was destroyed in the 1960s by the TVA to create Tims Ford Lake.

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