Sprinkle Creek, North Carolina

NCDOT geologist, Rick Lochamy, looking for site to set up drill to do core rock sampling, Sprinkle Creek, NC, 1994. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.
Driving into the woods on Sprinkle Creek with NCDOT geologist, Rick Lockamy, to conduct core rock sampling, Sprinkle Creek, NC, 2994. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.
NCDOT geologist, Rick Lochamy, studying maps in preparation for doing core rock sampling, Sprinkle Creek, NC 1994. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.
NCDOT geologist, Rick Lockamy, and co-worker studying map in preparation for doing core rock sampling, Sprinkle Creek, NC, 1994. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.
Drill set in the woods at Sprinkle Creek to do core rock sampling, Sprinkle Cree, NC 1994.
Drilling for core rock samples, Sprinkle Creek, NC, 1994. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.
Howard and Lucille Babbitt in their apple orchard at Sprinkle Creek, which was removed for I-26, covered with 200 feet of fill direct, with the new Visitor Center on the top, Sprinkle Creek, NC, 1995. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.

Lucille Babbitt: "I don't think it was God's will that it be done, but I think God has an important part in having the people accept it and deal with it. When change comes, progress comes, and this road coming, I don't think it was maybe God's will for it to be, but as long as it did happen, He gives the people that are affected the stamina and the strength to deal with it. Now, that's God's will. It makes us a stronger person."
Doormat from house soon to be removed from I-26, Sprinkle Creek, NC, 1996. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.
Grapevine, Sprinkle Creek, NC, 1997. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.
Grapevine, Sprinkle Creek, NC, 1997. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.
Chestnut tree stump on the I-26 right-of-way, Sprinkle Creek, 1997. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.
Burn piles stripped hillside, Sprinkle Creek, NC, 1997. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.
Stripped hillside, Sprinkle Creek, NC, 1997. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.
NCDOT aerial marker indicating the highway right-of-way, Sprinkle Creek, NC, 1998. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.
Looking at I-26 from Dale and Lurethra Fluty’s yard, near the head of Sprinkle Creek at Buckner Gap, Sprinkle Creek, NC, 2003. Photo courtesy of Rob Amberg.

Lurethra Fluty: "I don't like to sound like I'm whining or complaining or whatever, and I know when people look at what we have, most of them would not understand why we would even have a frustration. But it's just knowing what you had and what you were used to, and why you came here to start with, and to have those things taken away. You either accept it or you move. And we had talked about moving. But there is a lot to turn our backs on. Like I said, the heritage, my family heritage, and I feel like if I move I'm taking that away from my sons. I don't want to do that. My dad, I just cannot imagine uprooting with him, and Dale's parents, at the point in their lives that they're at now. I'd hate to leave them. I feel a responsibility there for my parents, and for his parents. That old cemetery, that's another reason not to. My niece is buried down there. Who would take care of that?"