AUGUST 1940. ASHE COUNTY, NC. – The ground was already soaked with water when another storm hit. A category 2 hurricane rolled into Beaufort, South Carolina. It came inland through Georgia, traveled north along the Appalachian Mountains and then turned west, making its way to Ashe County where it stopped. The rain poured over a four day period causing widespread flooding and destruction in Ashe and surrounding counties. My family and I lived in the Sturgills area of Ashe County near Helton Creek. I was a child at that time.
In 1980 I visited an older neighbor lady who lived beside Helton Creek. She remembered the 1940 flood. Edna said, “It had rained hard for three days and the water kept rising. The low crossings were already covered or gone.” She and her husband were taking their livestock to higher ground when they saw my Dad. He was on the other side of the creek, coming up the steps to get on the high foot log bridge. Edna said she waved her arms and screamed at him, “Greely! Go back! It’s going to fall!” The supports on their side were about to wash out. Dad could not hear her over the loud roar. Across he came and had just gotten off when the bridge collapsed and was quickly taken away by the raging water. After a scolding from the neighbors, my Dad climbed the hill behind their house and went up the ridge safely home.
The rain continued, changing Helton Creek into a moving force. It carried our little white Sturgill’s Baptist Church some 200 yards down stream, while two oil lamps sat firmly on the pulpit. Then it stopped by the solid ground on which stood the humble home of our beloved preacher Lee Dolinger and his wife, Minnie. Men from the church and community used horses to pull the building back to its usual resting place. They rolled it over logs. That was a slow process, but it worked. Established in 1933, the little church is still going strong today. With a full house every Sunday, it is a helping hand and a light to the community. It is blessed.
