Notes from the Archives
Step back in time with us. From rare photographs and historic documents to personal accounts and scientific breakthroughs — stories of the people, places, and discoveries that shaped our legacy.
A Stranger No More
George Masa photographed the Smokies into a national park, mapped its trails with an odometer he built from a bicycle wheel, and changed his own name four times. Two of his photographs and one extraordinary 1932 fold-out map are held at the Highlands Biological Station — the map reproduced here at full resolution, to explore stream by stream.
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Earlier Stories
Highlands Mineral Society, 1955–1962
Lydia Sargent Macauley (1932–2025)
Franklin Reed Dulany, Sr. (1897–1982)
Margaret Louise Cannon Carr Howell Clarkson
Tabled for 80 Years — A Mystery Solved
Step Back in Time: Interactive Masa Photograph of the Sam T. Weyman Laboratory Dedication
Ralph Millard Sargent and Louise Alexandria Anderson Sargent
Laura M. Bragg — 1941 Summer Director of The Highlands Museum of Natural History
The Clark Foreman Museum: Now the Highlands Biological Station Nature Center
Samuel T. Weyman Building
E. E. Reinke
Have a Story to Share?
Notes from the Archives is a living record, shaped by volunteers, researchers, and community members who care about the history of the Highlands Plateau. If you have photographs, documents, or a story to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.
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