versial governor of North Carolina (controversial enough to be 

 hanged for insurrection). Upon his return from the swamp, 

 Drummond told of a huge lake in the center. It was subsequently 

 named for him. 



Other famous folk have made their marks in the Great Dismal. 

 William Byrd II led a surveying crew into the swamp in 1728. While 

 his crew withstood the rigors and dangers of the Great Dismal, Byrd, 

 who loved comfort more than adventure, partied in Edenton, then a 

 major North Carolina port. 



But George Washington, in 1763, was perhaps the most famous 

 man to muddy his boots in the Great Dismal Swamp. Washington 

 not only was the first commander-in-chief and a well-respected 

 man, but also an astute businessman. For him, the swamp was 

 far from dismal. 



Washington realized the 

 value of the area's great stands 

 of virgin Atlantic white cedar. 

 He organized the Dismal Swamp 

 Land Company after discovering 

 that the center of the swamp was 

 18 feet higher in elevation than 

 the edges. The company pur- 

 chased 40,000 acres during the 

 next two decades. Huge portions 

 of the wilderness were drained 

 and logged. 



A 5-mile ditch, dug with 

 slave labor on the west side of 

 the swamp, leads into Lake 

 Drummond and still bears the 

 name of our first president. 

 Some historians point to Wash- 

 ington Ditch as the first monu- 

 ment to bear his name. 



Washington's success in the 

 Dismal prompted a sort of swamp fever that resulted in most areas of 

 the swamp being logged at least once. The scars of that 200-year 

 clear-cutting spree can still be seen in the number of ditches and 

 canals that crisscross the Dismal like stitches on a patchwork quilt. 

 Drainage and deforestation drastically changed the swamp's sensi- 

 tive hydrology, changing the face of the Great Dismal forever. 



Roads built along the ditches — first used by mules pulling log 

 barges and later by trucks spewing diesel fumes — blocked the 

 swamp's natural flow, creating huge areas of stagnant water during 

 rainy months. The swamp's greatest wonder, thousands of acres of 

 Atlantic white cedar, was replaced by red maple and other species, 

 particularly gum and poplar. The result of man's first invasion of the 

 Dismal was a drastic decrease in the diversity of flora and fauna. 



Successful logging led to agricultural development as farmers 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 3 



