I have read that there was originally a native settlement "by the old lime-sink in McVay Heights" (my parents' neighborhood). On the 1807 Cherokee Land Lottery survey map, there was some sort of body of water just north of where my parents' house sits today (to the left in the 1930 and 2013 aerial views).

In the early 20th century the town built a "big ditch" to counteract flooding downtown, which seems to have drained into this area (not sure if the section of the creek running east was original or not). Also, some old-timers said that the "lime-sink" area was used as a dump for the college after the civil war (I have found lots of late 19th/early 20th century trash--bottles, pottery, etc--when metal detecting in the back yard). I have also found pieces of arrowheads and native pottery, though.

What strikes my curiosity, though, is that I recently found an account of the area allegedly told by a 100 year old native man who called himself "The Gopher" in the 1920s. He claimed to have lived deep down in a hole by the lime-sink.

My parents' house was built in 1963 on the side of a hill by a long-gone art professor at the college, and I can't help but wonder if there may be some sort of old dwelling buried underneath the place. I found a buried cement box (hidden storage place, I'm assuming) near the creek maybe 30 feet from the house. And both my dad and I believe there may be some sort of hidden room underneath the carport.

Anyway, could anyone take a look at the aerial views and tell me what you think?