A brief history of Lake Junaluska

By Neill Caldwell*

LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. (UMNS) - The name "Junaluska" honors Chief Junaluska of the Cherokee Indians, who were native to western North Carolina.

Junaluska was chief when the Cherokee were removed to Oklahoma in 1838, and he was among those who made the long "Trail of Tears" walk to the west. He slipped away to return to those tribe members who remained hidden in the Great Smoky Mountains and remained chief until his death.

The tallest mountain visible from the cross at Lake Junaluska Assembly is named for him, as is the lake, which was created by damming Richland Creek.

According to a history written by Bill Lowry, Lake Junaluska Assembly celebrates its birth as June 25, 1913, when the Second General Missionary Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was convened in the new auditorium by the lake (which was not yet filled with water). The 4,000 attendees stayed in nearby Waynesville, as the first hotel was not completed until 1914.

In 1913 there were just 13 homes at Lake Junaluska. Today there are more than 700. A larger hotel, the Junaluska Inn, was built in 1917 but burned the following year. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, built a new hotel on the same site and named the Lambuth Inn for Bishop Walter Russell Lambuth. In 1923, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, built a large classroom building, Shackford Hall, at the opposite end of the lake. Both of these buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.

The assembly went into bankruptcy during the Great Depression, but in 1936 the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, organized a "Save Junaluska" campaign, which raised $100,000 and brought the organization out of debt. The assembly became property of the newly formed the Methodist Church in 1940, and in 1948, the church transferred ownership to the Southeastern Jurisdiction. In addition to being a conference center, Lake Junaluska remains home to offices and agencies of the Southeastern Jurisdiction.

The post-war years also witnessed a building boom. Stuart Auditorium was enclosed and a number of facilities were created. The World Methodist Council moved its offices from New York to Lake Junaluska in 1955 (see related story).

*Caldwell is a freelance writer based in High Point, N.C.