June 1999

NARC Plant at Bemberg

I'm glad I shot a few pictures of the old NARC plant this year. This building is all that's left, after the February 2000 fire. The fire devastated the old landmark that kept the ET&WNC busy during the war years, and even up to the present. The Watauga River runs right behind this plant and, unfortunately, chemical runoff from the firefighting ruined a section of the river for several years. I do think it's back up to standards now, however.

This is a coal-fired boiler powerhouse providing steam and electricity for the main plant. Note the conveyor (I'm assuming for coal) coming up from the right. This whole complex is massive, and the neighboring Bemberg plant is almost as big. Amazing for the time in which they were built. This was German state-of-the-art textile manufacturing in the late 20s.