Once upon a time there was a small, idyllic village named Fonta Flora in western Burke County, nested in Linville River Valley within the shadow of Shortoff Mountain.

Homes, stores, a ball field and horse racing track dotted these rolling hills. Today she lies beneath the blue, cool waters of Lake James.

By the early 20th century, Fonta Flora was a thriving farming community of perhaps 100 souls that succumbed to rising demands for hydroelectric power. Lake James, named for cofounder of Southern Power Company (a.k.a. Duke Energy), was constructed between 1916-1923 with three dams on the Linville and Catawba rivers and Paddies Creek.

No known photographs or paintings exist of the valley before impounded waters slowly covered Fonta Flora. We can only image the allure of this small community from its name — in Latin fontis floris — which suggests a valley with fountains of flowing mountain waters and beautiful flowers.

Fonta Flora was known before the War Between the States for its wagon trail to Lenior and Morganton and Sardis Church, an interdenominational church for blacks and whites. Hampton’s “North Carolina Guide” of 1877 mentions its post office but provides no count of its residents. By contrast, Hickory is recorded with a population of 1,300 white and 175 colored.

My interest in Fonta Flora was renewed recently when Nettie MacIntosh shared a copy of “The History of African-Americans in Burke County.” This booklet includes stories about her McGimpsey family that lived in the area — and provides an interesting snapshot on an important period of Burke’s history.

Riley McGimpsey and his wife, Christian Moore, were born into slavery, worked on separate farms into their teens and eventually married in 1871. Although Burke County’s farms never attracted many slaves, its timber, railroad and mining owners sometimes acquired hundreds of slaves.

Freed from slavery after the war, dozens of black families remained in the Linville area to prosper as sharecroppers, small business entrepreneurs and eventually property owners. They founded Shiloh A.M.E. Church in a log cabin and, today, continue a traditional annual week-long camp meeting.

Riley and Christian raised eight children and enjoyed some 25 grandchildren. While they lived as most Burke Countians did at that time as small-time dirt farmers, Riley operated several other enterprises on the side.

Records of Riley’s transactions on file at the History Museum of Burke County include the regular sale of corn, wheat and molasses. By 1908 he was able to purchase an International Harvester (hay?) binder and pay its $50 price in two years, it seems, by loaning/renting the equipment to others. Most likely he was also involved with livestock and timber as well.

The three oldest children, Cornelia, Joseph and Sarah, married and migrated to New York City. Joseph did after graduating from A&T State University in Greensboro. A younger child, Margaret, attended High Point College, taught in Burke County schools and then went to New York City to work as a child care nurse.

The remaining children set their roots in Burke County and prospered. The youngest, Henry, worked as a lumberjack and at the dam that one day flooded Fonta Flora. Henry later operated a saw mill with his three sons. Through connections with nieces, nephews and cousins the heritage of Riley and Christian McGimpsey is found today across Burke County and in several states, including the McGimpsey’s of Spartanburg, S.C.

Citizens of Burke County have an opportunity during Black History Month to learn more about this family and others at the History Museum of Burke County. An exhibit prepared by Phyllis Wogan, with assistance from the N.C. Room at the Burke County Library, is on display through February.

As the waters of Lake James flooded Fonta Flora, Nettie McIntosh writes, “the people simply moved to the waters edge and settled.” Several prominent knolls, however, were not covered and one was a burial ground still tended today. While this community has been lost to view, its memory continues to live in the hearts and minds of her descendants.

And the name Fonta Flora has not been forgotten by others: Lake James Cellars Winery produces a Fonta Flora Blush and there’s Fonta Flora Road in Nebo.

Lake James Real Estate has a Fonta Flora development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture describes certain floodplains of the southern Appalachians as Fontaflora soils.

Once again, we remember and learn about the grand heritage of Burke County.

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