Big Creek Summer Resort Scheme Quickly Dried Up

Most of my older readers will have heard of the Big Creek Summer Resort, the site of which is now under the lake created by South Holston Dam. Big Creek ran down from the high mountains and emptied into the Holston River just above this dam.

The resort had its remote beginning when a mountain man from that area spent a mid-July night in the Tip Top (later Colonial) Hotel. His hotel room was so steamy hot that he felt compelled to tell how, in comparison, nights on Big Creek were cool and pleasant.

John R. Dickey, owner of the hotel, overheard this man’s remarks. A little later, he and two or three friends went and camped on this creek just to find out if the man’s claim was true. They found that his claim was very true.

Dr. Dickey and his friends returned to Bristol and spread the word. In a short time, lots were laid out there and offered for sale. Several prominent Bristol families bought lots and erected summer homes upon them. In time, it became somewhat of a status symbol to be able to spend summers on Big Creek.

While the fame of this resort was great, it would have been much greater had a certain scheme been brought to completion.

A Dr. Stanton (first name unknown) came to Bristol from Lynchburg, Va., about 1915 and began a practice here. Though he enjoyed a modest degree of success, he still wanted to make much more money.

While spending a weekend at Big Creek as a guest of a local businessman, he developed a plan that he thought would bring much wealth to he and his host. The local businessman, also very fond of making money, quickly agreed to join him in the scheme.

This host had shown him a large spring that flowed from under a low cliff in a little hollow near the village. Those were the days when health resorts, built around purported “healing springs,” were popular and enjoyed much financial success.

As untrue as it was, the doctor would spread the word that he had discovered “the finest health giving spring in all the eastern United States.” He would rename the Big Creek Resort “Eureka Springs.” The businessman would furnish the money to build a grand resort hotel.

They thought that this spa on Big Creek would become the most popular and most financially lucrative development in all East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

But then, a little problem developed. This local businessman had high blood pressure and was being treated by the legendary Dr. Nat Dulaney.

Dr. Dulaney somewhere came upon a small book that put forth a very interesting supposition as to a major cause of high blood pressure.
It seems that the book offered a theory that has had larger acceptance in recent years, that telling lies would cause one’s blood pressure to soar.

The shrewd Dulaney, who may have had a suspicion about the entire matter, lent this book to the local businessman and that man studied it well. He knew that in the promotion of the “Eureka Springs” project, he was lying many times during the day, and he began to fear for his life.

He thought that he could tell when his blood pressure was soaring, so meeting a friend on the street, he began to tell him a big lie about the resort.
He felt his blood pressure soar to such an extent, he thought he was on the verge of having a stroke.

He then and there felt compelled to drop his support of the project and to further confess his wrongdoing in the whole matter. This confession caused Dr. Stanton to quickly leave town, never to be heard of again. Thus, the big “Eureka Springs” bubble burst.

Though there would not be a grand resort and hotel, the Big Creek resort existed until the TVA flooded the area to build the dam sometime in the late 1940s. The local businessman lived on for several years. He died in near poverty in 1944. He is buried in a barely marked grave in our own historic East Hill Cemetery.

I suppose “Eureka Spring” still flows. If it does, it’s under the deep waters of Holston Lake.

BUD PHILLIPS is a local historian and author. He can be reached at (276) 466-6435.