Talk:Great Dismal Swamp

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This article is within the scope of WikiProject North Carolina, an effort to create, expand, organize, and improve North Carolina-related articles to a feature-quality standard.

lots of this page appears to have been copied from one of the links - official site National Park Service, Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. It might be worth checking the licence of this material.

Its a governmnent site. I wouldn't worry about it. --NoPetrol 02:34, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] so why is it called the great dismal swamp?

surely that's the number one fact people would be looking for on this page? It was for me. - stib 13:28, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)

That is an excellent question. Here is one source.

"Dismal Swamp is the area's historical name, believed to date back to colonial times. While there are a number of stories about its origin, the most credible is that it was named in 1828 by Government Surveyor John Wedge who was exploring the area at the time under the instruction of Governor Arthur.

It is recorded that the group had a "dismal" experience surveying the swamp. They were constantly wet and had to sleep on fallen logs and in trees to try to keep dry at night. The neighbouring swamp apparently offered some respite from the damp and hence earned the nickname Welcome Swamp. [1]

However, in apparent conflict with that source, there are other indications that the label "Dismal" was applied to the swamp earlier, perhaps by William Byrd II of Westover Plantation, who wrote "Description of the Dismal" He was born March 28, 1674, and died Aug. 26, 1744.

I wasn't able to find a quick source on where the "Great" label came from either. I'll do a little more digging, try to get more sources, and see what we can work into the article. Vaoverland 17:05, Apr 15, 2005 (UTC)

That page seems to be about another Dismal Swamp in Tasmania. Apparently many different people, upon encountering swamps, find them dismal, and this is an experience that recurs on several continents.
Personally, I'd rather be in the Great Dismal Swamp Chamber of Commerce. That way, I could have a bunch of brochures printed up inviting people to spend their vacation in the Great Dismal Swamp, or relocate their business to the Great Dismal Swamp; and I would eagerly hand them out to anyone who got within striking distance. Smerdis of Tlön 20:20, 18 November 2005 (UTC)