OK so it's not the famous Old Faithful that everybody in the west knows about. This one is man-made and nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Old Fort, NC. I was certainly surprised to find this thing sitting out in a field on a country road kind of out in the middle of nowhere. There was no town, just a few houses down the road. The thing is named for Col Alexander Andrews, VP of the Southern Railway Company during the late 1880's. The geyser was built in 1885 as a tribute to the 120 men who gave their lives building the railroad through this area. When the geyser was built it was accompanied by a fine hotel which burned in 1903. The geyser is powered by water from a high lake that is gravity-fed in every increasingly small piping. This produces the pressure necessary to launch the water high into the air. Today you can visit earthcache Old Faithful (McDowell County GC10GTF) near the location of a brief Civil War skirmish during Stoneman's raid into the Carolinas. Have fun!Earthcaches
| I am a proud |
 |
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Old Faithful
OK so it's not the famous Old Faithful that everybody in the west knows about. This one is man-made and nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Old Fort, NC. I was certainly surprised to find this thing sitting out in a field on a country road kind of out in the middle of nowhere. There was no town, just a few houses down the road. The thing is named for Col Alexander Andrews, VP of the Southern Railway Company during the late 1880's. The geyser was built in 1885 as a tribute to the 120 men who gave their lives building the railroad through this area. When the geyser was built it was accompanied by a fine hotel which burned in 1903. The geyser is powered by water from a high lake that is gravity-fed in every increasingly small piping. This produces the pressure necessary to launch the water high into the air. Today you can visit earthcache Old Faithful (McDowell County GC10GTF) near the location of a brief Civil War skirmish during Stoneman's raid into the Carolinas. Have fun!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
interesting how they get it to shoot up! great find!
You sure have been finding some interesting places recently. Like Erika said - the height this fountain squirts is amazing.
Post a Comment