Discover Smith Mountain Lake
SUMMER 2016
23
22
MONROE
4
THE UNDERWATER
TOWN OF
Over the years numerous accounts have circulated about
a town at the bottom of Smith Mountain Lake, nearVista
Pointe. Numerous fishermen have supposedly claimed to
have hooked weird things, like pieces of clothing and other
articles that people might have left behind when their
homes were covered by water.
There was even a rumor that someone had seen what
appeared to be a church beneath the waters’ surface.
George Phillips, III, a scuba diver from NorthernVirginia,
saw some such postings on a website where scuba divers
exchange information, and he became fascinated…
“hooked”, you might say!
“I would read message board posts of people seeing all
kinds of strange things,” George said, “Like even a church
steeple peering up from the depths. I was always frustrated
that nobody could give precise coordinates of where they
were seeing this stuff.To be honest, it was fascinating to me
to think that a town could get covered by damming a river,
and I got a little obsessed with learning all I could about it.”
Diving in SML is quite risky, according to George and
other experienced divers.The fact that there are fully
grown trees at the bottom of the lake makes entanglement
a real concern. One posting by a diver who was on a body
recovery mission at SML had this to say to other divers
about his experience:
“I would avoid diving Smith Mountain Lake, it is a flooded
valley and deep...50 feet from shore, we were in 90 feet of
water. Upon entering the water and making the descent, it
was nice for the first 30 feet.Then we started going down
through tree tops in a flooded forest.At the bottom there
was silt, tons of tree limbs and mud... Upon coming up,
we had to thread our way through the forest. Definitely a
spooky dive...”
He went on to warn of the heavy boat traffic, a major
problem for divers, as you can imagine. Other postings
warned of fishing line and lures, lost beneath the surface
over the years by folks fishing SML, which also add to the
risks.
Such warnings may have kept George from actually
searching for the underwater town on a dive, but it didn’t
keep him from locating it on old maps. Its name was
Monroe, and George knows exactly where it is!
“The Smith Mountain Road that today terminates atVista
Pointe, would actually keep going, bending south for about
800 feet before turning east for 1200 feet.A final turn
to the northeast for 1000 feet would bring it to Monroe,
just south of the Anthony Ford Bridge.The ‘town’ sits at
coordinates 37o 02’06.2” N x 79o 34’43.6”W under about
155 feet of water.The bottom of the old river is about 175
feet deep,” George says, adding, “Smith Mountain Parkway
that terminates at Parkway Marina would have kept going
south-south-east for about 2500 feet and hit the bridge on
its north side.
“That would be an interesting dive for sure.”
Although George is pretty certain that buildings were
removed by APC before the flooding took place, seeing the
foundations of buildings and the remnants of old bridges
would be fascinating to a diver.To locate Monroe, George
used old photos from 1949 USGS (United States Geological
Study) photography, and overlaid them onto present day
satellite photos.
In an article appearing in the summer 1998 edition of
The Pittsylvania Packet, a publication of the Pittsylvania
Historical Society, historian Herman E Melton tells of the
founding of the town of Monroe and of its demise.
In the article, entitledThe ForgottenTown of Monroe,
Melton tells of two brothers,Abner and Charles Anthony,
who bought over 300 acres of ground in Pittsylvania County
in 1814.The Anthonys, who settled in Campbell and
Bedford Counties in the mid-1700s, had vast landholdings
in those counties along with a grist mill and three ferries
(fords): One ferry crossed the Otter River in Campbell
County; the second one crossed the Staunton River at the
northeast corner of Pittsylvania County; the third ferry was
downstream toward Leesville. Note:An 81 mile section of
the lower course of the Roanoke River inVirginia is known
as the Staunton River.
The land which they bought in Pittsylvania County was
across the river from the second ferry.They obviously saw
the potential for development of a community.Abner, who
became the guiding light, quickly divided 50 acres of the
land into lots, which went on sale on July 7, 1818.The
description of the lots indicates that Abner was planning a
bustling town, Melton says.
Melton found tax records for 28 lots. He also learned
of a petition for the founding of theTown of Monroe in
Pittsylvania County that was sent to theVirginia General
Assembly along with 119 signatures in December of 1818.
The petition was quickly approved.
“There is evidence that some commercial activity transpired,
and some indication of population density in the area at one
time,” Melton writes, adding that it is likely that a post office
was established in the town.The town stayed on the land
records through the CivilWar, but disappeared from tax
rolls in 1869.
Melton found that there were very few land transfers once
the initial 28 lots were sold.There is proof that at least one
pub was established in the town. Benjamin Rives of Monroe
applied for a license to sell “ardent spirits and operate a
house of private entertainment”.The cost of the license was
$4.50 for one year.
Melton’s findings concur with what George found on old
maps –Vista Pointe might be sitting on or near what was
once a Monroe town lot. “It is certain that the Anthony’s
Ford (ferry) crossing lay on what is presently County Route
626,” Melton writes, “Its route no doubt ran through the
Town of Monroe, since there are 19th Century maps that
label that road as the ‘Monroe Road.’”
Anthony’s Bridge replaced the ferry sometime in the 1800s,
and when Smith Mountain Dam was built downstream
Anthony’s Ford Bridge had to be abandoned and removed.
Melton also made the observation that had Monroe thrived
like some other towns in the area, its presence might have
prevented the construction of Smith Mountain Dam. He
speculated that Monroe’s isolation in a rugged terrain might
have been a significant factor in its demise.
Sources not mentioned in text:The Franklin
News Post,April 2, 1984; South BostonVirginia
News article byTom McLaughlin and Susan
Kyte, October 24, 2012;Appalachian Power’s
Website;Wikipedia; scubaboard.com.
