The original town of Glenville sits at the bottom of Lake Glenville. That town was established in the 1800s, but was called Hamburgh, and then Hamburg. In 1891, the name changed to Glenville, inspired by an inn, The Glenville House owned by Elisha Hedden.
About 240 people and 40 homes along either bank of the Tuckasegee River populated the town in 1890. A two-story high school, a Baptist church, and a dozen or so businesses could be found in Hamburg, soon to be called Glenville. At one end of the little town, the river plunged over a 200 foot waterfall.
With the new name of Glenville, the post office name changed from Hamburg to Glenville, and several leaders convinced the NC legislature to look into incorporating the town in 1891. An interim mayor and town commissioners were chosen; when the town became incorporated and other townfolks found out, there was a lot of unhappiness that the deed had been done without a referendum. Arguments for months convinced all that there was no need to hold an election for mayor and commissioners, the town became unincorporated, and the name Glenville stuck.
Glenville, in 1891, was the largest town in Jackson County. In 1926 a new school for grades 1-11 was built on a hill and was the high school for that area of Jackson County. This building served as a school until 1975 with the combination of Glenville School and Cashiers Elementary to open Blue Ridge School.
Back to the town at the bottom of a lake----the Nantahala Power and Light company, owned by ALCOA, started building a dam in June 1940---ALCOA Aluminum needed more hydroelectricity for its nearby plant to produce aluminum for B17s. 1500 men working 24/7 finished the dam in October 1942. As the Tuckasegee River and smaller creeks were dammed up, the lake filled; townspeople of the Old Glenville evacuated and the current area of Glenville was built. They rescued and moved Hamburg Baptist Church and the cemetery to higher ground. These creeks flow into the reservoir today--Hurricane Creek, Norton Creek, Mill Creek, Cedar Creek, and Pine Creek. The reservoir’s first name was Thorpe Lake, named after the president of Nantahala Power and Light during the lake’s construction.
Fast facts about the lake—26 miles of shoreline, 5 waterfalls, 4 public islands, Ralph J. Andrews public park for camping and recreation, 1470 acres of surface area.
Duke Energy owns Lake Glenville now and has information about lake recreation, water levels, data, and so on. A highlight several times during the summer is the High Falls water release. People like to hike down that trail, stay out of the way of the released water, and appreciate its beauty and power. Kayakers further downstream ride the release. The release schedule will be posted next summer on this website’s Calendar page, as it was for summer 2023.
By the way, the town and zip code for homes in Chinquapin are Glenville and 28736. And, there’s a post office in Glenville still.
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