Before we leave Lake Norman behind, here's one more conversation with Michael Connor.

One of the joys of recording oral histories is discovering where a conversation can lead. Sometimes those moments become the heart of an episode. Other times, they deserve a moment of their own.

In this bonus episode, Michael shares stories that take us from family history to The Color Purple, Quincy Jones, and LeVar Burton—unexpected connections that reveal how deeply our stories, communities, and memories are intertwined.

It's one last stop at Lake Norman before we head to Jordan Lake for the final chapter of the Submerged Towns series.

Featured Voices:

Michael Connor – Community member sharing family history and lived experience.

Music credit:

"Sunshine" – Sister Sai https://sistersai.bandcamp.com/album/ideal-2

What happens after the water rises? The story of Lake Norman didn't end when the flooding began. In this final chapter of our Lake Norman series, we explore how communities adapted, rebuilt, and carried their histories forward. Through conversations with Michael Connor, Richard Eller, Chuck McShane, and Katie Dickinson, we discover that while landscapes change, memory endures—and preserving those stories is what keeps history alive.

Keep Exploring

• Page Leggett, "One Love." SouthPark Magazine https://southparkmagazine.com/one-love/
• Untouchable Panthers https://untouchablepanthers.com/
• "The Perfect Season." Our State Magazine https://www.ourstate.com/the-perfect-season/
• "The Fate of the Long Island Mill." Long Island History Project https://www.longislandhistoryproject.org/the-fate-of-the-long-island-mill/
• Hall, Jacquelyn Dowd, et al. Like a Family: The Making of a Southern Cotton Mill World. University of North Carolina Press.
• McShane, Chuck. A History of Lake Norman: Fish Camps to Ferraris.

Featured Voices

• Michael Connor – Community member sharing family history and lived experience.
• Richard Eller – Historian from Catawba County.
• Chuck McShane – Historian of the Lake Norman region.
• Katie – Huntersville resident sharing childhood memories of Lake Norman's creation.

Music & Sound Credits

Sound Effects

Small Lake Waves by Mick_ https://freesound.org/s/705035/ License: Creative Commons 0 (CC0)

Music

"Long Way" – Rexlambo Source: SoundCloud License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC BY 3.0) Free Download / Stream: https://audiolibrary.com.co/rexlambo/long-way SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/rexlambo/rexlambo-long-way Promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/EVvMLfDoJwQ

"Sunshine" – Sister Sai https://sistersai.bandcamp.com/album/ideal-2

Before Lake Norman existed, the Catawba River shaped daily life across the Carolina Piedmont. Farms, mill villages, churches, and family communities lined the riverbanks for generations.

But in the early twentieth century, that relationship began to change.

In this episode of Made in Carolina, we explore the early creation of Lake Norman and the growing influence of Duke Power along the Catawba River. Through oral histories and historical context, we trace how industrial expansion, the Great Flood of 1916, and hydroelectric development reshaped both the landscape and the lives of the people who called the river home.

Featuring the voices of historians and community members, this episode examines how communities experienced these changes differently—through opportunity, displacement, loss, and memory.

This is the story of when the river began to change.

Featured Voices

• Michael Connor – Family history and community memory
• Richard Eller – Mill villages and labor history
• Chuck McShane – Regional history of Lake Norman and Duke Power
• Katie Dickinson – Childhood memories of watching the lake form in Huntersville

🌊 In This Episode

• The Great Flood of 1916
• The rise of Duke Power along the Catawba River
• Hydroelectric expansion across the Carolinas
• Mill villages, farming communities, and displacement
• Watching Lake Norman take shape in real time
• Community memory and land loss

🎶 Credits

Created, produced, and hosted by Lolita Rowe

Original music by Sister Sai

Additional audio:

• “steady rain_wind gust 158.wav” by leo153 — Freesound.org (CC0)
• “Long Way” by Rexlambo — Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

🌐 Resources & Further Reading

• A History of Lake Norman: Fish Camps to Ferraris by Chuck McShane
• North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources — Flood of 1916
• Duke Energy Illumination: “From Great Flood, New Life for Catawba River” by Akeem Flavors
• French Broad Adventures — “Remembering the Flood of 1916”

💛 Support the Show

If this episode resonated with you, consider supporting Made in Carolina by sharing the show, leaving a review, or buying me a coffee.

Every bit of support helps sustain independent storytelling, oral history, and community memory projects like this one.

☕ Support the podcast: buymeacoffee.com/madeincarolinapodcast

🌐 madeincarolinapodcast.com 📧 madeincarolina2022@gmail.com

Before it became Lake Norman, this landscape was home to farms, mill villages, and generations of families who built their lives along the Catawba River.

In this episode of Made in Carolina, we explore what life looked like before the water rose. Through oral histories and historical context, we hear from those who experienced the region firsthand—and from those who have studied its past.

From family farms near Caldwell Station to the rise of textile mill communities, this episode traces the rhythms of daily life in the Carolina Piedmont—where land, labor, and community were deeply connected. It also examines how systems like mill villages and company stores shaped everyday experiences, and how broader forces like industrialization and segregation influenced opportunity and survival.

This is the world that existed before Lake Norman. And it is the story of what stood to be lost.

Featured Voices

• Michael Connor — Community member sharing family and farm life memories
• Richard Eller — Historian, Catawba County
• Chuck McShane — Historian of the Lake Norman region

Sound Credits

Original Music Music by Sister Sai

Sound Effects & Ambient Audio

• Gentle Waves – Sand Point Beach at Sunrise (6-20-24) by Ambient-X https://freesound.org/s/743340/ License: Attribution 4.0
• Queen Street Mill, automatic loom starts and runs.wav by phonoflora https://freesound.org/s/201176/ License: Attribution 4.0
• Queen Street Mill, loom running then stops.wav by phonoflora https://freesound.org/s/201181/ License: Attribution 4.0
• Crickets, Grasshoppers, Birds.wav by editor_adp https://freesound.org/s/144457/ License: Creative Commons 0
• Restless Cattle Mooing by NickTayloe https://freesound.org/s/813363/ License: Creative Commons 0
• Factory whistle / train whistle by kentspublicdomain https://freesound.org/s/477827/ License: Creative Commons 0
• Baseball Hit and Crowd Cheer by AmishRob https://freesound.org/s/214989/ License: Attribution 4.0

Additional Music

• “Long Way” by Rexlambo Source: SoundCloud License: Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 (CC BY 3.0) Free Download / Stream: https://audiolibrary.com.co/rexlambo/long-way Listen: https://soundcloud.com/rexlambo/rexlambo-long-way Promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/EVvMLfDoJwQ

Image Credit: North Carolina Route 1006 Bridge, Catawba River, Catawba County, NC. Library of Congress (HAER NC,18-STOPT.V,1–4). No known restrictions.

Before Lake Norman, there was a river. A river that shaped the lives of the Catawba Nation and the communities that lived along its banks.

In this bonus episode of Made in Carolina, we explore the early vision that transformed the Catawba River into a hydroelectric system—and set the stage for the creation of Lake Norman.

This episode is a reflection on change, memory, and the landscapes that exist just beneath the surface.

Resources & Credits

🎧 Audio & Music Credits

• Original Music – Sister Sai Used with permission
• “Long Way” – Rexlambo Source: SoundCloud License: Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 (CC BY 3.0) Free Download / Stream: https://audiolibrary.com.co/rexlambo/long-way Stream: https://soundcloud.com/rexlambo/rexlambo-long-way Promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/EVvMLfDoJwQ
• “reenactment3.aif” – alienistcog Source: Freesound License: CC0 (Public Domain)
• “small lake waves.wav” – Mick_ Source: https://freesound.org/s/705035/ License: CC0 (Public Domain)
• “NATIVE DRUM LOOP B 16BARS 100BPM.wav” – sandyrb Source: https://freesound.org/s/86653/ License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)

📚 Research & Historical Sources

• Lake Wylie History https://lakewyliecarolinas.com/history/
• About the Catawba Nation https://www.catawba.com/about-the-nation
• History of Cornelius, North Carolina Provided by the Cornelius Jaycees https://www.lakeandvillage.com/blog/history-cornelius-nc/

🎙️ Podcast Credits

Created, produced, and hosted by Lolita Rowe 🎧 Made in Carolina Podcast 🌐 https://www.madeincarolinapodcast.com/

☕ Support the show: Buy Me a Coffee

Follow, share, and leave a review wherever you listen.

The conclusion of the Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie story

Episode 7 explores the aftermath of the flooding of the Santee Basin – how families relocated, rebuilt, and carried memory forward across generations. Through conversations with Dr. Robert Hart and Dr. Kelsey Moore, we explore the migration, federal resettlement programs, church-community rebuilding efforts, and the archival silences that obscure Black lived experiences. From sharecropping and wartime job shifts, to the promise of land and the reality of displacement in the Lowcountry, this story invites listeners to remember what’s often submerged — in water and in memory.

Featured Voices: Dr. Thomas Robert Hart, Dr. Kelsey Moore

Created, Produced, and Hosted by: Lolita Rowe Original Music: Sister Sai Website: Tiffany Messer-Bass

Sound Engineering: Saira Raza

Music Credits – Sister Sai

“Wanderer”

“Cerulean Mood”

“Dandelion”

🎧 Sound Effects – Freesound.org (CC0 License)

Old Piano – Somber Chords.wav — DeVern

Hitting Nail into Wall with Hammer — Kate_is_yellow

Samsung Smartphone Hammering — designerschoice

Pond Water & Ripples at Chappaquidick Bridge — Filmscore

Waves Gently Breaking on Lakeshore — leonelmail

Archival Audio – Library of Congress

John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip (AFC 1939/001),

American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Call to Action: Follow the series and share your reflections using #MadeInCarolinaPodcast

Support the show: ☕ buymeacoffee.com/madeincarolina

Resources:

Archival Image Credit: Many families tore down their houses in the Santee–Cooper Basin to rebuild them outside the flooded area. Near Bonneau, South Carolina. March 1941.Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division:LC-USF34-043456-D [P&P], LOT 1533 (corresponding photographic print).Other Number: E 5985.

Related links:

Great Migration – National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/migrations/great-migration•

The Truth Behind “40 Acres and a Mule” – PBS: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/the-truth-behind-40-acres-and-a-mule/

Beneath the still waters of Lake Marion lies the ghost of a forest — and a town named Ferguson. Before the Santee River was dammed, the Santee River Cypress Lumber Company had already stripped much of the swamp bare, cutting and milling its centuries-old cypress. By the time the flood came, the forest that once sheltered the town was already gone.

This episode traces how the Santee Basin itself was transformed — not only socially but ecologically. Thousands of acres were cleared, burned, and drowned to make way for progress, yet pieces of that past remain: the stumps of Sparkleberry Swamp, the ghost forests along the coast, and the memories carried by the water. Through the words of historian Dr. Robert Hart, we follow the making of a waterscape — and reflect on what progress submerge.

Featured Voice

• Dr. Robert Hart, historian — on the environmental and coastal consequences of the Santee-Cooper Project

Credits Created, produced, and hosted by Lolita Rowe Original music by Sister Sai Website by Tiffany Messer Bass, with production support from Saira Raza

sound effects/field recordings from Freesound.com

S: Lake Waves 3.wav by Benboncan | License: Attribution 4.0

S: forest wind 1111AM 220617_0400.wav by klankbeeld | License: Attribution 4.0

S: Life underwater at Mamori.wav by laurent | License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

S: Forest Birds Crow Wind by atks_ | License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

Songs (all by Sister Sai)

- Ossabaw Sunrise (unreleased)

- Wanderer (from Extempore)

- Dandelion (from First Flight)

Archival Image: Cut-over land in the Santee-Cooper Basin.Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division,LC-USF34-043522-D [P&P], LOT 1533 (corresponding photographic print).Other Number: E 173.

Call to Action Visit madeincarolinapodcast.com for show notes and more stories waiting under the water. Share your reflections using #MadeInCarolinaPodcast or support the series on Buy Me a Coffee.

Next Episode Preview Next time, we follow the families who moved with the water — tracing how they rebuilt, remembered, and redefined home after the flood.

Across the Santee Basin, communities built lives rooted in land, labor, and belief. In the years after emancipation, Black, Indigenous, and European families shaped intertwined identities through farming, faith, and community — stories that still echo in the cemeteries, churches, and waters that remain. The Ground Remembers explores how race, land, and belief shaped who belonged — and what endures beneath the water.

Featured Voices: Dr. Thomas Robert Hart, Dr. Kelsey Moore Created, Produced, and Hosted by: Lolita Rowe Original Music: Sister Sai

Sound Credits: Tukinuitto, uitto / Log driving by YleArkisto — freesound.org/s/322618 — CC Attribution 4.0 ST Slide Guitar Blues Riff 2 by juskiddink — freesound.org/s/58493 — CC Attribution 4.0 African Drums at Night by hutsvoid — freesound.org/s/202419 — CC NonCommercial 4.0 Old Piano – Somber Chords by DeVern — freesound.org/s/427307 — CC0 BELLLrg – Cool Spring Baptist Church Recording by Nicholas Judy — TDC Gentle Waves – Sand Point Beach by Ambient-X — freesound.org/s/743340 — CC Attribution 4.0

Image Credit:Negro tenant farmer who had to move out of the Santee-Cooper basin, near Bonneau, South Carolina. LC-USF34-043512-D [P&P], LOT 1533 (corresponding photographic print). Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division — hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8c04944

Call to Action: Follow the series and share your reflections using #MadeInCarolinaPodcast.

Support the show: ☕ buymeacoffee.com/madeincarolina